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All Cypriots evacuated from Sudan, 900 British citizens come through Cyprus (Updated)

british nationals evacuated from sudan arrive at the larnaca international airport, in larnaca
The island’s reputation was restored overnight from a sanctions-busting hub to a refugee evacuation hub

The last Cypriot citizen evacuee from Sudan arrived on a night flight to Larnaca, the foreign ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis said on Thursday, as flights were set to continue throughout the day with more evacuees from other countries.

According to Reuters, Britain had evacuated around 900 of its citizens from Sudan through Cyprus as of early afternoon Thursday and urged those remaining in the conflict-riven country to grasp an opportunity to leave during the final hours of a cease fire.

Speaking to CNA, Gotsis said that another seven people of Cypriot origin were travelling by car to Egypt, who are also expected to come to Cyprus. Gotsis said that they were in communication with these people, while also the honorary Cypriot consul and his family are expected to also arrive – who have permanent resident status in Cyprus.

He also said that it is important to continue the flow of the operation to remove citizens from Sudan.

Asked how many flights were expected on Thursday, he added that the situation on the ground in Sudan was volatile and changing.

Gotsis added that people must get to the military airport, which is about 30 kilometres north of Khartoum, to be able to leave the country by air.

Commenting on the operation, he said that it was not only British citizens who were arriving on the flights but also citizens of other countries such as Americans, Canadians, Australians, and others.

The airlift of British nationals began on Tuesday. By early afternoon, around 900 people had arrived at Larnaca airport on British Royal Air Force flights, sources at the airport told Reuters. Just over half of them have been repatriated to Britain. Two more flights from Sudan were expected later Thursday.

Razan Wahbi, 44, travelled out with her twin daughters, aged 7. She said she had to leave her husband Ghassan, a non British passport holder, and other members of her family behind.

“I left them there, only I have a British passport. They don’t have (one), so there was no way to get out,” she told Reuters as she waited to board a flight chartered by the British government to a London airport.

Many had to leave with just the clothes on their back. Tarek, 52, had stuffed all his belongings in a small green bin bag, which had started to tear, he told the news agency. The 52-year-old, who lives in Oxford, had gone to Khartoum to visit his father, in intensive care after suffering a heart attack and who later died.

“What is happening there is terrible. People there are just like ghosts, a shell of their former selves. I never thought I would get out,” he said.

Meanwhile, the US Ambassador to Cyprus, Julie Fisher, expressed her country’s gratitude to the Republic of Cyprus and the United Kingdom for their “extraordinary efforts” to help remove people, including Americans, from Sudan.

In a post on Twitter, Fisher said “we are deeply grateful” to their partners, Cyprus, and the UK, “for their outstanding efforts to help remove people, including Americans, from Sudan.”

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