Egypt starts evacuating its nationals from safe areas in Sudan

CAIRO – 23 April 2023: Egypt started, on Sunday evacuating its nationals from safe areas in Sudan, in coordination with Sudanese authorities according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry indicated that 436 citizens had been evacuated through urban crossings. 

This comes within the framework of the efforts of the state to implement the evacuation plan for Egyptians from Sudan.

In a press statement, the ministry said that the would-be evacuees were asked to head for Egypt's consulate in Khartoum and in Port Sudan or the consular office in Wadi Halfa in northern Sudan for the beginning of their trip home.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ahmed Abou Zeid, stated Sunday, answering a question by a press correspondent on evacuation efforts of expats, that a member of the diplomatic mission in Sudan, working at the embassy in Khartoum, was shot.

The spokesperson elaborated that is why caution must be exercised during the evacuation to preserve the lives of expats and members of the diplomatic mission. He added that is especially true to countries having a large community of expats in Sudan, exceeding 10,000, which is the case of Egypt.

Ambassador Abou Zeid underscored that the creed and professional charter of Egyptian diplomats mandate that they must be the last to leave the field after they are certain about the safety of evacuees. In that context, he highlighted the examples of safe evacuation carried out by Egyptian embassies in the past years from Libya, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.