First Cypriot evacuated to safety from Sudan (Update)

The first Cypriot citizen has been evacuated from Sudan and arrived safely at Aqaba, Jordan, on Tuesday, Foreign Minister, Constantinos Kombos announced.

Meanwhile, a special national plan has been activated, to deal with the reception and repatriation of Cypriots and foreign nationals from crisis areas via the Republic, according to a ministry announcement.

Warring factions in Sudan agreed on midnight to a 72-hour ceasefire while Western, Arab and Asian nations race to extract their citizens from the country. The ceasefire is a window for intense efforts to evacuate Cypriot nationals, foreign ministry spokesman Theodoros Kotsios, told state broadcaster CyBC.

The successful evacuee is the first of 23 stranded Cypriot nationals to be removed from the region and three other citizens have requested assistance, Kotsios said. Priority is assigned depending on conditions on the ground and location, the spokesman added.

The foreign minister, meanwhile, posted the evacuation on Twitter and thanked his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, for that country’s assistance.

First Cypriot 🇨🇾 citizen evacuated today from #Sudan and arrived on a 🇳🇱 aircraft in Aqaba, Jordan.

Warm thanks to my Dutch counterpart @WBHoekstra for his country's assistance.@CyprusMFA @CyprusinNL @NLinCyprus

— Constantinos Kombos (@ckombos) April 25, 2023

Later on Tuesday, the minister convened a ministerial crisis management group, composed of the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, interior, and justice.

The ministerial group decided to activate the special national plan (Estia) to facilitate ongoing efforts to repatriate stranded Cypriots, as well as nationals of friendly countries.