Showing posts with label Port Sudan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Port Sudan. Show all posts

Monday, July 17, 2023

Sudan crisis: WFP has launched international airbridges into Port Sudan with a regular service from Nairobi and Amman using two dedicated aircraft

THIS WFP Supply Chain tweet says: “In response to the recent emergency in #Sudan, @WFP_UNHAS has launched international airbridges into #PortSudan with a regular service from #Nairobi and #Amman, utilizing two dedicated aircraft.”The tweet is timestamped 8:51 AM · Jul 17, 2023.

Post script from Sudan Watch Editor: 

UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) managed by 

World Food Program (WFP), offers safe, reliable and effective passenger and light cargo air transport for the humanitarian community to access people in need. Source: wfp.org/unhas

PPS. Big warm hello to longtime Sudan watcher cw! This post made me think of you, wondering how you’re managing work after evacuation. Stay safe.

[Ends]

Friday, July 14, 2023

Sudan crisis is destabilising South Sudan. African and Arab peacemakers working hard to help save Sudan

"Sudan's conflict is already destabilizing South Sudan. Gen Hemedti demanded that South Sudan cease paying the Sudanese government - meaning Gen Burhan - for use of the oil pipeline to Port Sudan, the only export route for that country's main source of revenue. South Sudan has not yet commented on the demand.


Over the weekend, Mr Ruto travelled to Chad to confer with President Mahamat Déby. Deeply fearful of the potential of the Darfur crisis to destabilize his country, Mr Déby held a crisis meeting with Darfuri leaders, including the commanders of the former rebel groups, to discuss how best to respond." 


Read more in a report at BBC News
By Alex de Waal
Africa analyst
Published Thursday 13 July 2023 - here is a full copy:


Sudan crisis: From Ruto to Sisi, leaders vie to drive peace process


IMAGE SOURCE,

GETTY IMAGES


In a clear sign of their seriousness to end the escalating conflict in Sudan, four East African states, led by Kenya, are pushing for the deployment of a regional force to protect civilians and ensure that humanitarian aid reaches millions of people trapped in the war zone.


But getting the agreement of the warring factions will be a tough call, as they have shown no interest in anything other than military victory since the conflict broke out in mid-April.


Meanwhile Egypt is hosting a summit of Sudan's neighbours to discuss ways to end the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).


The military, headed by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, controls most of eastern and central Sudan, and is fighting to hold on to its bases in the capital, Khartoum.


The rival RSF, led by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, known as "Hemedti", has made advances in Khartoum, where its fighters have been accused of murders, rapes and occupying and pillaging hospitals.


The military bombs RSF positions relentlessly in the capital, reportedly causing widespread civilian casualties.


Over the media horizon, horrifying violence rages in Sudan's western region of Darfur.


The RSF has overrun most of the region. Along with their allied Arab militia, RSF fighters have driven out many thousands of ethnic Masalit from their historic homeland in western Darfur.


They burned the palace of the sultan, the group's customary leader. When the governor, Khamis Abbakar, called it "genocide" men in RSF uniform abducted and killed him.


More than 160,000 Masalit refugees have fled across the border to Chad.


The RSF also ransacked the city of Zalingei, home to the Fur community, and encircled the two biggest cities in the region, al-Fashir and Nyala.


Many Darfuris fear this is the culmination of a long-standing plan to transform the ethnically-mixed region into an Arab-ruled domain.

IMAGE SOURCE,

REUTERS

Image caption,

With Darfur worst-affected by the conflict, people are fleeing into neighbouring Chad


The urgent need in western Darfur is civilian protection. Ironically, the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur had exactly this mandate. But it was withdrawn two years ago in a decision that now seems terribly misguided.


RSF forces are also besieging the capital of North Kordofan state, El-Obeid.


Should they capture it, the military will survive only in pockets west of the River Nile.


In South Kordofan, a rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, waging its own insurgency for the past 12 years, has advanced towards the state capital, Kadugli, as the military finds itself over-stretched fighting the RSF.


Suddenly, there is a flurry of diplomatic activity. But there is no agreement on who should be in the lead.


Since the second week of the conflict, the US and Saudi Arabia have been convening ceasefire talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah.


But hopes for a cessation of hostilities - the most recent over the Eid al-Adha holiday - have come and gone without a slackening in the pace of violence.


The US and Saudi Arabia say they will float a new proposal in the coming days. They have also made efforts to bring the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on board, which is significant because the UAE is seen as the major backer of the RSF and, according to some reports, continues to arm them. The UAE has not commented on the reports.


Just over a month ago, unimpressed with the low energy of the African Union (AU) in responding to the crisis, East African leaders launched their own initiative under the auspices of the regional body, Igad.


A quartet - made up of the leaders of Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Djibouti - was appointed to seek a ceasefire, humanitarian access and political dialogue in order to restore Sudan's transition to democracy.

IMAGE SOURCE,

GETTY IMAGES

Image caption,

Air strikes and artillery shelling have led to the destruction of residential blocks in Khartoum


Kenya's President William Ruto - who heads the group - has been outspoken, describing the war as "senseless", condemning both warring parties for using their military power "to destroy the country and kill civilians", and warning that there are "already signs of genocide" in Darfur.


It is this group of leaders, meeting in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Monday, that took the first steps towards organising a regional intervention force.


Their second track is working with the Americans and Saudis to convene a face-to-face meeting between the warring generals - Burhan and Hemedti - to secure a ceasefire.


Track three is an "inclusive political process" to start by August. That requires bringing civilian representatives together, and giving them enough political backing so that they have real leverage in talks, as part of efforts to ensure that Sudan returns to the path of democracy.


But Gen Burhan rejected the initiative, claiming that Mr Ruto is biased towards the RSF. He also accuses leaders of some of the civilian parties of siding with Gen Hemedti - they counter that Gen Burhan has mobilized Islamist groups on his side. He first agreed, then refused, to attend Monday's meeting. A delegate from the RSF attended.


The military claims the legacy and legitimacy of government, though it took power in a coup with the RSF in 2019, before their leaders fell out, triggering the civil war.


The military certainly has a stronger claim to government than the RSF, which is a paramilitary group run by the Dagolo family, making money from its gold mines, mercenary activities and business empire.


It has shown no interest in governing, and has allied itself with Arab supremacists from Darfur and neighbouring countries.


Gen Burhan's handicap is that his forces cannot protect either the state or the population. In fact they don't even control the capital, the customary minimum threshold for being accepted as a legitimate government in Africa.


The US initially failed to signal its support for Mr Ruto's initiative, preferring to stick with the AU. But it has come around to engaging with what is the highest-level African intervention thus far.


Sudan's conflict is already destabilizing South Sudan. Gen Hemedti demanded that South Sudan cease paying the Sudanese government - meaning Gen Burhan - for use of the oil pipeline to Port Sudan, the only export route for that country's main source of revenue. South Sudan has not yet commented on the demand.


Over the weekend, Mr Ruto travelled to Chad to confer with President Mahamat Déby. Deeply fearful of the potential of the Darfur crisis to destabilize his country, Mr Déby held a crisis meeting with Darfuri leaders, including the commanders of the former rebel groups, to discuss how best to respond.


Egypt is already hosting more than 250,000 newly arrived refugees from Sudan. It fears that the ongoing destruction of Khartoum is leading to the inexorable exodus of the country's entire middle-class - Egyptians speak of two million and even more.


President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announced a joint initiative with Qatar and is convening its own summit meeting.


Egypt's sympathies lie openly with Gen Burhan, which helps explain why he is stalling on the Igad plan. Mr Sisi sees Gen Burhan as his most reliable ally in Sudan, and is ready to tolerate a return of Sudanese Islamist groups - which have the backing of Qatar and Turkey - if it means stabilising the country.


But there are fears in some diplomatic circles that rival African and Arab peace processes will cancel each other out.

IMAGE SOURCE,

GETTY IMAGES

Image caption,

Little aid is getting into Sudan to help victims of the conflict


The United Nations has been sidelined. Its special representative for Sudan, Volker Perthes, was chosen for his technical skills in supporting institution-building during the now-aborted transition to democracy, rather than experience in mediating a brutal conflict.


Additionally, Gen Burhan has declared him persona non grata. Most Sudanese are dismayed by the UN's failures in Sudan and don't want to see it leading a diplomatic effort.


Similarly, Sudanese worry that the European Union's obsessive focus on migration means that they will deal with any leader who promises to stem the mass exodus.


Some Sudanese blame the EU for supporting the RSF in the past as part of a plan to control the country's borders - a claim the EU disputes.


The challenge of peace in Sudan is huge. The African leaders' plan is the boldest and most comprehensive yet, but there are still many roadblocks on the path to peace - not least the refusal of the warring sides to accept that there is no military solution to the conflict.


Alex de Waal is the executive director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the US.


View original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66169535


[Ends]

Sunday, May 21, 2023

UNITAMS chief Perthes to brief UN Security Council

Report at What's In Blue

Dated Sunday 21 May 2023 - full copy:


Sudan: Briefing and Consultations


Tomorrow morning (22 May), the Security Council will convene for an open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS)


Special Representative and head of UNITAMS Volker Perthes is expected to brief on the Secretary-General’s latest 90-day report released on 16 May, which covers developments from 19 February to 6 May. 


AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Bankole Adeoye and Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Workneh Gebeyehu are also expected to brief.


On 15 April, heavy fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan—Sudan’s military leader and Chairperson of the Transitional Sovereign Council—and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemeti). 


Despite several calls from the regional stakeholders and the broader international community for a ceasefire, fighting has entered its second month, causing a deep humanitarian crisis. 


According to OCHA’s 17 May situation report, at least 604 people have been killed and over 5,100 injured because of the ongoing fighting.


The Secretary-General’s 16 May report notes that, since the outbreak of fighting on 15 April, UNITAMS has focused its good offices efforts on urging the parties to cease hostilities, respect international humanitarian law and return to political negotiations. 


The report states that UNITAMS—as part of the Trilateral Mechanism that also includes the AU and IGAD—has continued to engage closely with regional organisations and member states in the pursuit of a ceasefire, including through the provision of technical expertise on ceasefire monitoring. 


It further notes that the fighting has posed severe operational challenges for UNITAMS and the mission has suspended activities such as capacity building, development assistance and field visits. Only a small number of the mission’s international personnel remain in Port Sudan to support the good offices efforts of Perthes.


At tomorrow’s meeting, Perthes is likely to update members on political and security developments in Sudan, as well as on the various ongoing regional and international efforts aimed at resolving the crisis. On 11 May, the warring parties, with the facilitation of Saudi Arabia and the US, signed a “Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan”, in Jeddah. Among other things, the parties agreed to:

  • allow safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active hostilities;
  • take all feasible precautions to avoid and minimise civilian harm;
  • allow principal humanitarian operations to resume and protect humanitarian personnel and assets;
  • adopt simple and expedited procedures for all logistical and administrative arrangements necessary for humanitarian relief operations; and
  • commit to scheduling subsequent expanded discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities.

At tomorrow’s meeting some Council members are expected to acknowledge the signing of the declaration and call upon the parties to adhere to their commitments.


Council members may want to learn more about whether any substantive progress has been made in finding a political solution to the conflict.  


In a 11 May joint statement, Saudi Arabia and the US noted that, following the signing of the declaration, the talks in Jeddah would focus on “reaching agreement on an effective ceasefire for up to approximately ten days” to facilitate implementation of the commitments. 


It said that the security measures would include a US-Saudi ceasefire monitoring mechanism, supported by the international community. The statement added that the talks would also address the proposed arrangements for subsequent talks with Sudanese civilians and regional and international partners on a permanent cessation of hostilities.


In a 11 May statement, the Trilateral Mechanism welcomed the signing of the Declaration of Commitment by the Sudanese warring parties and urged them immediately to exert all efforts to translate these commitments to meaningful action. 


The mechanism called on the parties to “convey clear and unequivocal instructions to lower ranks” to abide by the declaration and facilitate the safe passage of humanitarian assistance and the restoration of essential services.


On 7 May, the League of Arab States (LAS), in an emergency ministerial-level meeting of its Executive Council, in Cairo, established a contact group on Sudan, consisting of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and LAS Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Among other things, the contact group is mandated to communicate with the Sudanese parties, regional and international partners, and international organisations with the aim of reaching a settlement to the ongoing crises. 


On 17 May, the contact group held its first meeting in Jeddah, with the participation of Gheit, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. 


In a tweet following the meeting, the Saudi Foreign Ministry noted that the meeting focused on reviewing the contents of the declaration signed in Jeddah, including the commitment to protect civilians in Sudan.


On 17 May, Hemeti’s special envoy Yousif Ezat met in Juba with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, who is heading the IGAD-led mediation process. 


In a press conference with South Sudan’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Deng Dau Deng following the meeting with Kiir, Ezat expressed support for the IGAD-led process. 


In an 18 May press release, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry noted that it had lodged an official complaint with the South Sudanese government in response to the permission granted to Hemeti’s advisor to hold a press conference in the presence of senior South Sudanese officials. (For more information, see our 11 May What’s in Blue story.)


Council members last met to discuss the situation in Sudan under “any other business” on 17 May, at the request of the UK (the penholder on the file). 


The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, briefed Council members on the influx of refugees into Sudan’s neighbouring countries and presented an overview of its potential impact on regional stability. Among other matters, Grandi highlighted UNHCR’s efforts and expressed concern about the situation of refugees.


At tomorrow’s meeting, several Council members are expected to express concern about the worsening humanitarian situation in the country. 


The Secretary-General’s 16 May report notes that the outbreak of fighting on 15 April has led to a drastic deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country, with humanitarian activities being interrupted in several states owing to widespread insecurity, and reports of looting of humanitarian assets, including food, office equipment and vehicles.


On 17 May, OCHA released a revised 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Sudan, in light of the ongoing conflict. According to the plan, the estimated number of people in need has increased from 15.8 million in November 2022 to 24.7 million in May. The plan requires $817 million in additional funding, bringing the requirements for 2023 to $2.56 billion. At the time of writing, the HRP for Sudan was 12.4 percent funded.


Also on 17 May, UNHCR launched the Refugee Response Plan (RRP), which appeals for an estimated $470.4 million for an initial period from May to October. The RRP projects that the number of refugees, including Sudanese refugees, individuals from third countries, refugee returnees and migrant returnees, will reach approximately 1.1 million during this initial period. At tomorrow’s meeting briefers and Council members are expected to call for increased funding for the HRP and RRP.


According to data provided by UNHCR,  approximately 843,130 people have been internally displaced as a result of the ongoing conflict, and more than 250,000 forced to take shelter in neighbouring countries including the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.


The mandate of UNITAMS is due to expire on 3 June. Council members currently appear inclined to extend the mandate for another six months, while calling on the parties to work towards a lasting, inclusive, and democratic political settlement in Sudan. 


The UK circulated a zero draft among Council members on 19 May, and the first round of negotiations is scheduled for 23 May. 


At tomorrow’s closed consultations, Council members may wish to have detailed discussions with the briefers on the mandate of UNITAMS.


View original: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2023/05/sudan-briefing-and-consultations-5.php


[Ends]

Fleeing Sudan, diplomats shredded locals' passports

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: One would hope passports are treated as respectfully as a nation's flag. You don't shred a nation's flag without it being interpreted as a terrible insult. This article doesn't make clear whether the passports destroyed by the US were in fact US passports. If not, it seems to me the passports were not their property to destroy. They should have left them behind safely. A country's border is man made. In today's age of digital technology losing a passport should not be a matter of life or death.

As rightly stated in the articleA passport is a “precious and lifesaving piece of property,” said Tom Malinowski, a former congressman from New Jersey who helped stranded Afghans in 2021. “It’s a big deal to destroy something like that, and when we do we have an obligation to make that person whole.” 

Let's hope priority is given to replacing all passports wrongfully destroyed.
____________________________

Report at The New York Times
By Declan Walsh
Reporting from Nairobi, Kenya
Edward Wong contributed reporting.
Dated Friday 19 May 2023 - full copy:

Fleeing Sudan, U.S. Diplomats Shredded Passports and Stranded Locals


Officials destroyed Sudanese passports on security grounds as they evacuated the Khartoum embassy. Now the passport owners are trapped in a war zone.

Image Sudanese army soldiers guard a checkpoint in Khartoum on Thursday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


In the frantic days before American diplomats evacuated their Khartoum embassy under darkness by helicopter last month, one crucial task remained.


Armed with shredders, sledgehammers and gasoline, American officials, following  government protocols, destroyed classified documents and sensitive equipment, officials and eyewitnesses said. By the time Chinook helicopters carrying commandos landed beside the embassy just after midnight on April 23, sacks of shredded paper lined the embassy’s four floors.


But the piles also contained paperwork precious to Sudanese citizens — their passports. Many had left them at the embassy days earlier, to apply for American visas. Some belonged to local staff members. As the embassy evacuated, officials who feared the passports, along with other important papers, might fall into the wrong hands reduced them to confetti.


A month later, many of those Sudanese are stranded in the war zone, unable to get out.


“I can hear the warplanes and the bombing from my window,” Selma Ali, an engineer who submitted her passport to the U.S. Embassy three days before the war erupted, said over a crackling line from her home in Khartoum. “I’m trapped here with no way out.” 


It wasn’t only the Americans: Many other countries also stranded Sudanese visa applicants when their diplomats evacuated, a source of furious recriminations from Sudanese on social media. But most of those countries did not destroy the passports, instead leaving them locked inside shuttered embassies  — inaccessible, but not gone forever.


Of eight other countries that answered questions about the evacuation, only France said it had also destroyed the passports of visa applicants on security grounds.

Image The US Embassy in Khartoum in 2017. Credit Ashraf Shazly/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


The U.S. State Department confirmed it had destroyed passports but declined to say how many. “It is standard operating procedure during these types of situations to take precautions to not leave behind any documents, materials, or information that could fall into the wrong hands and be misused,” said a spokeswoman who asked not to be named under State Department policy.


“Because the security environment did not allow us to safely return those passports,” she added, “we followed our procedure to destroy them rather than leave them behind unsecured.”


Ms. Ali, 39, had hoped to fly to Chicago this month to attend a training course, and from there to Vienna to start work with a U.N. organization. “My dream job,” she said. Instead, she is confined with her parents to a house on the outskirts of the capital, praying the fighting will not reach them.


Violence in Sudan


Fighting between two military factions has thrown Sudan into chaos, with plans for a transition to a civilian-led democracy now in shambles.


“I’m so frustrated,” she said, her voice quivering. “The U.S. diplomats evacuated their own citizens but they didn’t think of the Sudanese. We are human, too.”


Alhaj Sharafeldin, 26, said he had been accepted for a master’s in computer science at Iowa State University, and supposed to collect his passport and visa on April 16. A day earlier, the fighting broke out.


Five days ago the U.S. embassy notified him by email that his passport had been destroyed. “This is tough,” he said, speaking from the house where he has sheltered since violence engulfed his own neighborhood. “The situation is so dangerous here.”

Image Alhaj Sharafeldin


The decision to destroy passports was gut-wrenching for American officials who realized it would hinder Sudanese citizens from fleeing, said several witnesses and officials familiar with the evacuation.


Particularly distressing was the fact that the passports of Sudanese staff members were also destroyed. Some had applied for United States  government training courses; others had left their passports in the embassy for safekeeping.


“There was a lot of very upset people about this,” said one U.S. official who, like several others, spoke on the basis of anonymity to discuss a sensitive episode. “We left behind a lot of people who were loyal to us, and we were not loyal to them.”


But the officials were following the same protocol that led to the destruction of many Afghan passports during the hasty evacuation from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, in August 2021, which was also a source of controversy.


Then, Afghans deprived of their passports could at least apply to the Taliban for a new one. But that option is impossible in Sudan because the country’s main  passport  office is in a neighborhood experiencing some of the fiercest battles.

Image American nationals arriving last month for evacuation in Port Sudan. Credit Reuters


Given those circumstances, angry Sudanese question why evacuating U.S. officials could not  have carried their passports with them. “Couldn’t they have just put the passports in a bag?” Ms. Ali said.


A passport is a “precious and lifesaving piece of property,” said Tom Malinowski, a former congressman from New Jersey who helped stranded Afghans in 2021. “It’s a big deal to destroy something like that, and when we do we have an obligation to make that person whole.”


In interviews, foreign diplomats said it was practically impossible to operate in Khartoum after the first shots were fired on April 15, when clashes between Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group, quickly spiraled into a full-blown war.


Warplanes zoomed over the Khartoum district including most foreign embassies, dropping bombs. R.S.F. fighters rushed into the streets, firing back. Stray bombs and bullets hit embassies and residences, making it too dangerous to even reach an office, much less hand out passports, officials said.


Still, Sudanese critics said the embassies could have tried harder — especially as they poured so much effort into evacuating their own citizens. Military planes from Britain, France, Germany and Turkey flew out thousands of people from Khartoum. Armed U.S. drones watched over buses carrying Americans as they traveled to Port Sudan, a journey of 525 miles.


Sudanese visa applicants who asked for help at foreign embassies holding their passports say they were met with obfuscation, silence or unhelpful advice like being told to get a new passport.


“There are no authorities in Sudan now,” said Mohamed Salah, whose passport is at the Indian Embassy. “Just war.” 

Image Mohamed Salah


One country did, however, provide some relief. Two weeks into the war, the Chinese Embassy posted a phone number online for visa applicants to retrieve passports.


The American Embassy, a sprawling compound by the Nile in southern Khartoum, was miles from the most intense fighting. Even so, officials worried that it would get cut off from critical supplies. So they began destroying sensitive material five days before President Biden formally ordered an evacuation on April 21, in scenes that one witness compared to the beginning of the movie “Argo.”


Classified and sensitive documents were fed into shredders that chomped them up and spat out tiny pieces. Officials wielding sledgehammers crushed electronics and an emergency passport machine. Burn pits glowed at the rear of the embassy.


The destruction grew more frenetic as the evacuation neared. Officials appealed over the embassy loudspeaker for help with shredding. Finally, a few hours before Chinooks landed in a field between the embassy and the Nile, throwing up clouds of blinding dust, U.S. Marines lowered the flag outside the embassy.


At the same time, other embassies were also in “full shred mode,” as one diplomat put it. A European ambassador said he personally smashed his official seal.


It is not clear if embassies that didn’t destroy passports made that choice or simply didn’t have enough time.


No government has said how many Sudanese passports it destroyed or left in shuttered embassies.


No One Left Behind, a nonprofit that helps Afghan military interpreters, estimated that several thousand passports were burned during the U.S. evacuation from Kabul in 2021, said Catalina Gasper, the group’s chief operating officer.

IMAGE A man waves folders with documents at U.S. Marines as they secure the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 2021. Credit Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times


Fighting has surged in recent days, despite American- and Saudi-led efforts to broker a cease-fire. With little prospect of an immediate return to Khartoum, foreign diplomats say they are offering to help visa applicants left behind.


The Dutch Foreign Ministry said in response to questions that it was in “active contact” with affected people. The Spanish advised them to “obtain another travel document.” The Indians said they were unable to access their premises.


“The embassy area is still an intense fighting zone,” an Indian diplomat wrote.


Some people did manage to flee without passports. An official from France, which evacuated about 1,000 people from 41 countries, said people without papers were allowed to fly because officials knew that “their administrative situation would be resolved later.”


That option was not available to most Sudanese.


Mahir Elfiel, a development worker marooned in Wadi Halfa, 20 miles from the border with Egypt, said the Spanish Embassy hadn’t even responded to emails about his passport. “They just ignored me,” he said. (Others made similar complaints.)

Image Mahir Elfiel


There was at least one solution: Local officials were helping stranded people cross the border by extending their old, expired passports with handwritten notes. But Mr. Elfiel’s previous passport was stowed at his office back in Khartoum.


It presented a dilemma: return to the war zone and risk his life, or linger in Wadi Halfa until the fighting eases.


“I don’t have any options, really,” he said. “I’m just waiting.” 

Image Smoke billowing in Khartoum on Wednesday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.


Declan Walsh is the chief Africa correspondent for The Times. He was previously based in Egypt, covering the Middle East, and in Pakistan. He previously worked at The Guardian and is the author of “The Nine Lives of Pakistan.” @declanwalsh


A version of this article appears in print on May 20, 2023, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Fleeing Envoys Trap Sudanese In a War Zone.


- A Rescue Operation: As feuding generals turned Karthoum into a war zone, two university students navigated a battered Toyota through the chaos and saved at least 60 desperate people.


- Fleeing Sudan: The violence has driven thousands of Sudanese into neighboring countries and caused an exodus of diplomats and other foreigners who were in Sudan when violence erupted.


- A Safe Haven, for Now: Egypt has relaxed border controls for Sudanese arrivals since the outbreak of the fighting. But officials, expecting busloads of poorer refugees to follow, worry about what comes next.


- A Failed Test: As the crisis in Sudan creates the kind of power vacuum that the United States had hoped to avoid, critics of the Biden administration are blaming a naïve approach to foreign policy for the violence.


View original: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/world/africa/sudan-us-embassy-passports.html


COMMENTS POSTED AT ARTICLE ABOVE

Sort by: Newest

San Diego

May 20

So the Chinese Embassy retained and protected the passports they held for Sudanese.  We did not.  Two thumbs up for the Chinese.  One down for us.  Reflects our cavalier attitude.

123 Recommend

Rhode Island

May 20

Horrifying, and should be prosecuted, but of course never will. It was not U.S. property to destroy.

76 Recommend

NJ

May 20

It was my understanding, from NYT reporting, that American dual citizens were given quite ample notice to leave ASAP and that some, having various family and financial connections to the country decided to stay:  if that truly is the case, then sadly, this is on them, not the embassy staff.

35 Recommend

USA

May 20

Frankly, I don’t know why these people waited so long to leave the country

21 Recommend

SFNM

May 20

Gut wrenching. Have we learned nothing?

20 Recommend

New Delhi

May 20

The State Department abandoned U.S. citizens in Sudan while crowing about getting their own folks out. No surprise that they shredded the safety of so many Sudanese who put their faith in the power and fairness of the United States. We have lost the trust of the world in so many ways large and small. We could have made better choices.

72 Recommend

Living In Mexico

May 19

Sounds like there need to be changes to these protocols so that certain items, including the passports of non-US citizens, get taken with evacuated diplomats. I get that there’s only so much room on a Chinook. But it should be possible to calculate what is practical and design suitable emergency protocols. This has already happened at least twice and it will happen again.


On a more practical note, does Sudan still have embassies in the US, in DC and at the UN in NY? If so they could reissue passports and people approved for travel to the US could pick them up when they get here. It sounds like the numbers involved are small enough for this to be a real solution to this specific problem.

135 Recommend

North America

May 19

With the technology available, it should not be necessary to take people’s actual passports away from them.  These people came to us for help and we made things more difficult for them.

140 Recommend

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james commented

May 20

@Bwspmn 

Set a blame in the US why don’t you blame the warlords that are tearing the country apart?

30 Recommend

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Philadelphia, PA

May 19

It seems highly unlikely that the details of visa applicants were not routinely sent to the home country for review, so each country should at least have been able to generate a list of people it had a moral responsibility to rescue.

49 Recommend

Boston

May 19

Having the passports fall into the wrong hands, to be misused by the wrong persons for travel to the US or other countries, would be an ongoing security risk. There could also be danger or persecution of persons who were identified as having relations with the US, so destroying the passports does make some sense. How much better to have scanned them and then taken the physical documents when evacuating. What more important items could there be when getting people to safety?

75 Recommend