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British Council staff freed unharmed from offices in Khartoum British embassy in Khartoum sets up emergency line for Britons in Sudan
(about 3 hours later)
Nine staff had been trapped in building amid clashes in Sudanese capital Foreign Office says it is looking at all rescue options as embassy staff begin compiling evacuation list
British Council staff trapped in their offices in the Sudanese capital have been rescued from the intense street fighting and returned to their homes unharmed, the UK cultural organisation has said. The British embassy in Khartoum has set up an emergency line for British citizens trapped by the fighting in Sudan and is trying to compile a list of those wanting to flee the country in an evacuation.
Nine staff, all but one of them Sudanese, had been trapped in their offices in Khartoum. It is thought there are several hundred British citizens in Sudan, where fighting broke out last Saturday between the armed forces and a rival paramilitary group. There is no sign that foreign citizens have yet been systematically targeted or taken hostage in the violence, which has killed more than 400 people.
A British Council spokesperson said: “We are relieved to share that all colleagues who were in our office have been evacuated and are now home. The safety and security of our colleagues is always our highest priority.” The Foreign Office said it was looking at all options to secure a rescue, and has asked British citizens in need of evacuation for their name and location in Sudan, contact details and whether they want to leave or remain if the security situation allows departures by road or air.
One of the British Council staff is a dual British-Ugandan citizen, the rest are Sudanese. They include a security guard, an English language teacher, a driver and administrators. Many European countries have been preparing military planes to fly into Khartoum to evacuate their citizens, but the airport was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces at the onset of the fighting and remains in RSF control, making it effectively a no-go area for the time being. An overland rescue route looks fraught with dangers too.
The British Council headquarters is just a few miles from the military headquarters and the presidential palace, the focus of the most intense clashes. The embassy message to British citizens in Sudan urges them to ring a helpline, adding: “You may hear a telephone message stating that our offices are closed. If so, stay on the line and select the option for ‘calling about an emergency involving a British national’ to speak to us.”
British citizens contacted by the BBC said they were hiding in basements, and had supplies of water and food for some days yet. They said they saw no sign of a three-day Eid ceasefire pushed by the UN and US actually taking hold, that they were deeply concerned for British people living closer to the airport – the scene of some of the fiercest fighting – and that they were likely to run out of water supplies soon.
The US is moving more Marines towards its base in Djibouti in preparation for a potential attempt at a difficult and complicated evacuation of embassy staff. The state department said on Thursday that an evacuation of the estimated 19,000 US citizens in Sudan “is currently not safe”.
Japan has also dispatched aircraft and troops to its base in Djibouti in an attempt to evacuate about 60 citizens. According to Japanese news it will remain on standby until the government deems it safe to dispatch to Sudan. Defence officials have said they are considering ground transportation to carry out evacuations if planes are too difficult.
In a sign of the dangers to aid workers, three UN World Food Program workers have been listed as killed as well as one member of the International Office for Migration.
It is estimated that since Saturday 20,000 refugees have crossed the border into Chad where there are already 400,000 Sudanese refugees.
Nine British Council staff – eight Sudanese and a dual British-Ugandan citizen – who had been trapped in their offices in the capital have been safely returned to their homes.
“We are relieved to share that all colleagues who were in our office have been evacuated and are now home,” a spokesperson for the UK cultural organisation said. “The safety and security of our colleagues is always our highest priority.”
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A staff member, Mohamad Berer, previously said: “We have been given promises by our manager since the beginning that they will evacuate us but nothing has happened, so now we are calling for people on the outside to help get us out. We are terrified; the fighting is all around us. We have been patient, but now honestly we are starting to [be] feeling anxious.”A staff member, Mohamad Berer, previously said: “We have been given promises by our manager since the beginning that they will evacuate us but nothing has happened, so now we are calling for people on the outside to help get us out. We are terrified; the fighting is all around us. We have been patient, but now honestly we are starting to [be] feeling anxious.”
The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has cut short a tour of New Zealand and Samoa to return to the UK to focus on its response to the crisis in Sudan, as well as to launch high-level diplomacy in an attempt to move the two warring parties towards a ceasefire.The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has cut short a tour of New Zealand and Samoa to return to the UK to focus on its response to the crisis in Sudan, as well as to launch high-level diplomacy in an attempt to move the two warring parties towards a ceasefire.
The Foreign Office was severely criticised for its handling of the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021, and Cleverly is believed to have felt he needed to be in the department to oversee potential efforts to evacuate British citizens and diplomats.The Foreign Office was severely criticised for its handling of the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021, and Cleverly is believed to have felt he needed to be in the department to oversee potential efforts to evacuate British citizens and diplomats.
Cleverly has been on the phone to foreign ministers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the hope that the Gulf states can use their influence to ensure ceasefires are honoured.Cleverly has been on the phone to foreign ministers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the hope that the Gulf states can use their influence to ensure ceasefires are honoured.
Sign up to First Edition The foreign secretary left New Zealand a day before he was due to meet his counterpart, Nanaia Mahuta. He had arrived earlier than scheduled on Thursday for his first official visit to the country after skipping a planned visit to Samoa and flying in directly from Solomon Islands.
Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning
after newsletter promotion
The foreign secretary left New Zealand a day before he was due to meet his counterpart, Nanaia Mahuta. He had arrived earlier than scheduled on Thursday for his first official visit to the country after skipping a planned visit to Samoa and flying in directly from the Solomon Islands.