23 people of Cypriot origin still stranded in Sudan (Updated)

Twenty-three people of Cypriot origin are currently stranded in Sudan, and authorities are working on how to extract them from the war-torn region, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis told a local news outlet they know that the 23 persons – four of whom hold a Cypriot passport – are trapped inside their homes in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

The fact that these 23 people are dispersed at different locations makes it “extremely dangerous” to implement an evacuation operation now, given that any movement amid the clashes entails high risk.

These identified individuals are in contact with the Cypriot embassy in Egypt.

“Coordination with actors on the ground is ongoing, so that evacuation is done in the right manner, and at the right time. The aim is to minimise risk,” Gotsis said.

For the safe extraction of these people, Cypriot authorities are coordinating with European countries carrying out evacuation operations, such as France and Britain.

“There is the possibility to get these people out gradually, during the course of evacuating other civilians who are citizens of EU member states, while the option remains of including them in the evacuation of British civilians.”

Authorities are also aware – and wary – of the fact that some convoys extracting foreign nationals have come under attack. One such attack took place on a French convoy on Sunday, resulting in one person being injured.

Last week, Gotsis spoke of a Cypriot family trapped in Khartoum. They were staying in their house and keeping safe. The government was in touch with them.

Several other families residing in Sudan, and who have connections to Cyprus, had left the country for the Easter holiday just before the outbreak of hostilities.

The foreign ministry’s crisis management department is in constant communication with the Cyprus embassy in Egypt, which is also accredited in Sudan.

Meantime Cyprus is on standby to activate the ‘Estia’ plan for receiving and repatriating foreign nationals from the crisis area via the territory of the Republic.

Local media reported that foreign countries have yet to put in such a request to Cyprus.

British diplomats evacuated out of Sudan over the weekend were flown to Akrotiri base in Cyprus.

The eruption of violence between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group on April 15 triggered a humanitarian crisis. UN agencies reported that 427 people have been killed.

Nations were scrambling to get their citizens out. Greece has also helped evacuate Cypriot nationals.

Several countries sent military planes from Djibouti to fly people out from the capital, while other operations took people by convoy to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, about 800 km by road from Khartoum.