500 stranded Pakistanis reach Port Sudan

ISLAMABAD: As the first batch of 500 Pakistanis residing in Sudan reached Port Sudan, a port city in eastern Sudan on Monday, the Foreign Office is said to be contemplating bringing diplomats from Jeddah to help with evacuation by sea if necessary. However, if there are chances for evacuation by air, then extra help from Jeddah would not be needed.

Upon reaching Jeddah, the Foreign Office said special flights by PIA and Pakistan Air Force will bring the stranded Pakistanis home. “Every option will be taken into consideration. Pakistan Embassy in Khartoum reached out to nearly 1,500 registered Pakistanis, and those who wanted to leave are being evacuated. We continue to follow the developments in Sudan and work with our missions in the region. Over the Eid holidays and even today, Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed Khan has been coordinating evacuation plans from the Foreign Office. Today (Monday), he held Zoom meetings to ensure that relief is provided to the trapped Pakistanis,” the Spokeswoman at the Foreign Office told The News.

A Crisis Management Cell has also been set up at the Foreign Office. The 500 Pakistanis en-route to Jeddah have been given accommodation and meals but it is not certain how soon they can leave Sudan.

Pakistan’s Ambassador in Sudan Mir Behroz Reki Baloch has reached Port Sudan by road with 33 Pakistanis, including women, children and dependents of Pakistani diplomats. Another Pakistani team is working from Khartoum to ensure the safe passage of Pakistanis to Port Sudan.

Intense fighting continues between the regular army and paramilitary force with BBC reporting desperate calls for help from many foreign students, from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, who are also stuck in Khartoum, a city of some six million people.

Ambassador Behroz has informed the Foreign Office that at least 800 Pakistanis have requested to be evacuated from Sudan. The first Pakistani to be evacuated from Sudan with the help of Saudi Arabia was an air hostess working for Saudi Airlines. Some Pakistanis along with nationals from several other countries were also evacuated by a European country.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, in a telephone call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan, expressed profound gratitude for the Kingdom’s assistance in the evacuation of Pakistani nationals from Sudan. The foreign ministers agreed that the two countries will closely coordinate to further facilitate evacuations from Sudan, said the Foreign Office.

“Our Mission in Sudan is facing extreme difficulties arranging for buses and even ferries. We are moving the Pakistanis in small groups,” the spokeswoman said as Pakistan like the rest of the world was caught completely unawares when the civil war broke out.

She said that every possible way out was being looked at, including evacuating by Saudi ships, private ferries and even by air where possible. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif thanked the leadership of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt for extending support for the evacuation of Pakistani nationals.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, PM was personally monitoring the emergency plan for the evacuation of Pakistani nationals. “The prime minister lauded the efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, foreign ministry officials and Pakistan’s ambassador in Sudan,” it said.

He particularly appreciated the military authorities and others for their expertise and dutifulness in formulating an effective evacuation plan and its successful implementation. He also expressed gratitude to Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum for their efforts.

Meanwhile, Geo News reported that through a WhatsApp message, a Pakistani national, Shireen Hameeduddin Khan, is desperately seeking Pakistan Embassy’s help to relocate her family from the war-ridden country. Shireen Hameeduddin Khan was living in Sudan with her husband (Khalid Hafazallah Mirghany) and family.

According to her, the turmoil has escalated immensely in Sudan, the mobs are attacking homes and raping women and children on the streets. Shireen sought urgent help from the Pakistan Embassy to evacuate her family from Sudan to Jeddah where her father lives and eventually to Karachi.