UK ends evacuation mission for Brits stuck in Sudan

Families boarding a RAF plane at Wadi Seidna airport, in Sudan on April 26 (Picture: Reuters)

There are no longer any evacuation flights for Brits to escape Sudan after the Government ended its mission there.

The last plane left the Wadi Saeedna airfield near Khartoum at 10pm local time on Saturday.

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden previously said operations would cease following a ‘significant decline’ in the number of British nationals seeking to flee the war-torn country.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said the evacuation mission has been ‘extremely successful’ but cannot ‘we can’t stay there forever in such dangerous circumstances’.

The deadline for UK nationals to reach the site in order to be processed for the last flight passed at 12pm local time.

At least 1,888 people on 21 flights have been evacuated from Sudan – the vast majority of them British nationals and their dependents – but thousands more British citizens may remain.

Fighting has broken out again in Khartoum despite the extension of an armistice between the country’s two warring generals having been brokered in the early hours of Friday.

British nationals onboard an RAF aircraft in Sudan being evacuated to Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus on Tuesday

Brits board an RAF aircraft at Wadi Seidna Air Base in Khartoum on Wednesday (Picture: PA)

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: ‘The UK has brought more than 1,888 people to safety from Sudan thanks to the efforts of staff and military working around the clock to deliver this evacuation – the largest of any western country.

‘We continue to press all diplomatic levers to secure a long-term ceasefire and end the bloodshed in Sudan. Ultimately a stable transition to civilian rule is the best way to protect the security and prosperity of the Sudanese people.’

Yesterday, the BBC reported that all NHS doctors are now eligible to catch flights out of the country.

It comes after a U-turn by the Government, which initially stated the flights were only open to passport holders and their immediate families.

Mr Dowden denied the government is ‘abandoning’ those who have been unable to make the potentially dangerous journey to the airfield with its decision to cease flights.

He told the BBC: ‘We are in touch with and engaging rapidly with the Sudanese Doctors’ Association to see what further support we can provide for them.’

The power struggle between the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on April 15 and disabled an internationally backed transition toward democratic elections.

At least 512 people have been killed and close to 4,200 wounded, according to the UN, which believes the real toll is much higher.

‘We hear the sounds of planes and explosions. We don’t know when this hell will end. We are in a constant state of fear,’ said Bahri resident Mahasin al-Awad.

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The last plane left the Wadi Saeedna airfield near Khartoum at 10pm local time on Saturday.