Irish army to help evacuate citizens from Sudan

Report from BBC News

Sunday 23 April 2023, 8:24 PM GMT+1 - excerpts:

Irish army personnel to help evacuate citizens from Sudan

The conflict unfolding in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, and other regions has led to evacuations

Personnel from the Irish Defence Forces will be deployed to help evacuate citizens from Sudan.

The measure was approved by the government on Sunday amid a worsening security situation in the African country.

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs said it is in contact with more than 150 Irish citizens in Sudan.

Twelve armed forces personnel will initially be deployed to Djibouti, on the east African coast. [...]

The Emergency Civil Assistance Team (ECAT) will provide consular and other assistance to Irish citizens and their dependents being evacuated.

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar [pictured] said the situation in Sudan's capital Khartoum had "got worse in the last few days, and violence is being reported across the city".

"The situation on the ground in Sudan remains extremely volatile and I wish the ECAT and Defence Forces team every success in this mission," he added.

The US and UK announced on Sunday that they had flown diplomats out of the country.

British diplomats and their families were evacuated from Sudan in a "complex and rapid" operation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed.

Mr Sunak said work was continuing to ensure the safety of British nationals who remain in Sudan.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said there were "specific threats and violence directed towards diplomats" which led to the decision to evacuate staff.

He said that by relocating the embassy to a nearby country, diplomats could provide more assistance to those in Sudan.

But he said the government's ability to evacuate other British nationals was "severely limited" until fighting between warring parties stopped.

UK citizens in Sudan are being urged to tell the Foreign Office where they are in case more help becomes available, and a hotline has been set up for those who need urgent help.

Italy, Belgium, Turkey, Japan and the Netherlands said they were also organising evacuations, starting on Sunday.

On Saturday, more than 150 people, mostly citizens of Gulf countries, as well as Egypt, Pakistan and Canada were evacuated by sea to the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah.

The World Health Organization says the fighting has killed more than 400 people and injured thousands. However, the death toll is believed to be much higher as people are struggling to get healthcare, as most of Khartoum's hospitals have been forced to close by the fighting.

View original: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/irish-army-personnel-help-evacuate-155748352.html

[Ends]

Plans to evacuate Irish citizens in Sudan. Irish EU Ambassador violently assaulted at home in Khartoum

Report from Independent Ireland

By Ralph Riegel

April 21 2023 03:08 PM - full copy

Plans to evacuate Irish citizens as civil war escalates in Sudan

THE Government is planning to evacuate all Irish citizens from war-torn Sudan once it is safe to do so.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government was monitoring the escalating civil strife in Sudan very carefully but refused to discuss evacuation plans of Irish citizens for reasons of operational security.

Ireland is understood to be working with other EU countries to extract citizens once there is a lull in the fighting around Khartoum.

Sudan has descended into civil war amid a violent power struggle between the army and a heavily armed paramilitary group.

Heavy fighting has erupted in major population centres across the country - with shelling and missile strikes around Khartoum Airport.

All civilians have been urged to stay indoors and remain safely sheltered until the fighting eases.

A Sudan-based Irish diplomat, Aidan O'Hara (58), who is also serving as EU Ambassador, was violently assaulted earlier this week after a robbery at his residence as security chaos spread across the country.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin strongly condemned the attack and warned Sudan it was responsible for the safety of all diplomats in the country.

Mr O'Hara was confronted by armed robbers dressed in military fatigues and assaulted during the confrontation.

Miraculously, he escaped serious injury and is now said to be recovering and "in good shape."

The incident is understood to have been a robbery of opportunity and not a deliberate attack on the Irish diplomat.

The Taoiseach said Ireland was now working very closely with its allies to ensure the safety of its citizens in the vast African country.

Ireland has a significant number of citizens based in Sudan - many of whom are based there because of aid agency work.

"We have some work ongoing at the moment - that is being coordinated by the Tánaiste (Micheál Martin), the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Defence," Mr Varadkar said.

"I am not at liberty to say too much about it."

"But we are aware that there are quite a number of Irish citizens in Sudan and we have a responsibility to our citizens around the world to ensure their safety as best we can. Some work has been done."

The German military had planned an airlift of its nationals from Sudan three days ago but had to cancel it amid safety concerns over heavy fighting around airfields in Khartoum.

Germany has around 150 citizens in Sudan and decided to cancel the Luftwaffe evacuation because of heavy fighting near airfields as repeated efforts to broker a local ceasefire failed.

Both factions fighting in Sudan have access to heavy weaponry - and any airlift without a firm ceasefire was considered too high a risk.

Ireland is now understood to be liaising with allies within the EU about an evacuation.

Irish nationals are expected to be extracted via an effort led by Germany, France, the US or the Nordic bloc countries.

The elite Army Ranger Wing may be offered to assist with any evacuation of EU nationals from Sudan.

However, Ireland does not have a heavy air-lift capacity to extract citizens from Sudan.

View original: https://www.independent.ie/news/plans-to-evacuate-irish-citizens-as-civil-war-escalates-in-sudan-42443337.html

[Ends]