Thousands of British nationals are still stuck in Sudan as a violent power struggle rocks the whole country.
Evacuations only started this week following a temporary ceasefire – and the government has been careful to emphasise how it might not be able to get every Brit out.
The British embassy in the capital of Khartoum is now closed as is Khartoum International Airport, so there’s an urgent need for the government to evacuate everyone it can.
Here’s what you need to know.
Why are British people in Sudan?
The UK government has discouraged all but essential travel to Sudan for months, due to the unstable political landscape there.
However, English has been the second official language in the country since 2005 after Arabic (although more than a hundred different languages are spoken across Sudan).
The north-eastern country was also ruled by Britain and Egypt from the late 19th Century up until 1956, when it became independent, so it is possible there is still a large community in the UK with ties to Sudan to this day.
According to the Office for National Statistics, as of June 2019, the total number of people who live in the UK who were born in Sudan was estimated to be approximately 35,000.
However, it’s not just Brits who are stuck. People from all around the world were in Sudan when the fighting broke out, meaning governments everywhere (including Russia, Turkey, Nigeria, India and across the EU) are all scrambling to rescue their own citizens.
How many Brits need to be evacuated?
All of the UK-affiliated diplomats, government staff and their dependents were removed on Sunday in a complex operation involving more than 1,200 military personnel.
But, around 4,000 UK passport-holders were said to be in the country as of Monday – 2,000 of whom contacted the Foreign Office to let them know they were interested in being evacuated.
The UK said it began its “large-scale” evacuation on Tuesday, prioritising families with children, the elderly and the infirm after Sudan’s warring factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire (which was scheduled to end at midnight on Thursday).
As of Thursday at 3pm, the UK had evacuated 897 people on eight flights.
This does not include people who have a UK working visa. They have not received any help from the Foreign Office, and have been advised to get back to Britain on their own.
The gov.uk website explains: “We can only evacuate British passport holders and immediate family members (spouse/partner and children under 18 years old) who are either non-visa nationals or those with existing UK entry clearance.
“This is defined as anyone with a valid UK visa / visa vignette in their passport, or a UK Biometric Residence permit.”
Are evacuations still happening?
Yes – a second 72-hour ceasefire brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia has begun, set to end at midnight (local time) on Sunday, April 30.
Foreign secretary James Cleverly has urged the remaining Brits to head to the airfield north of Khartoum “as quickly as possible to ensure their safety”, as the foreign office promised there were “further flights to come”.
Where are Brits being evacuated to?
Flights don’t seem to be going straight to the UK.
Cyprus said that at Britain’s request, it has activated a humanitarian rescue mechanism to let third countries use it for reception and repatriation of those evacuated. The EU country is home to two large UK military bases.
Will everyone be evacuated?
British military chiefs have said they have capacity to evacuate at least 500 people out of the Wadi Saeedna airfield per day, but there are worries that it will be “impossible” to evacuate people when the ceasefire expires.
The gov.uk website explains: “We cannot guarantee how many further flights will depart. Flights may stop at very short notice.”
Why is this so important?
The violence between the paramilitaries in the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Army dissembled life in the capital in just under two weeks.
Those remaining in Khartoum have reported a shortage of water, fuel and electricity, with hospitals shutting down and humanitarian aid sometimes suspending operations due to the dangerous situation.
There’s been a spike in looting and the violence is spilling out into other parts of the country, leaving tens of thousands of Sudanese citizens in the crossfire.
More than 500 people are estimated to have died in the struggle so far, and even during the first ceasefire, there was not a complete end to the gunfire – meaning there was still a threat to life.
Why is Germany annoyed over the UK’s evacuations?
There were reports that Germany has complained that the UK sent in its forces to evacuate its diplomats over the weekend without the Sudanese army’s permission.
Germany supposedly said this jeopardised other nations’ evacuation efforts.
But the BBC’s sources said that Sudan did give permission to the UK to carry out the diplomatic evacuation.
Cleverly also dismissed claims that there was a rift, but added: “Obviously we see a situation in Sudan where... communications within the Sudanese system are often disrupted, so I will of course look at the circumstances of that.”
What happens next?
No-one is that sure if the ceasefire will hold and what will happen when it expires.
But the government is working on a sea evacuation route from Port Sudan and the HMS Lancaster has been dispatched.
The UK has also revealed that it will not be setting up a new refugee scheme for those fleeing Sudan, meaning there are no safe and legal routes into the country.