Staff Reporter

Government has promised to evacuate its nationals holed up in Sudan in response to the deadly conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The conflict, in its second week, has led to the death of over 400 Sudanese and the exodus of citizens to neighboring countries.

 In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (MOFAIT) spokesperson, Livit Mugejo mentioned that buses have been secured to evacuate citizens to the Port of Sudan.

“An estimated 100 Zimbabwean residents in Sudan have reported safe but some have indicated their desire to be repatriated from Sudan. The Ministry has managed to secure buses to evacuate our nationals to the Port of Sudan in the UN convoy,” said Mugejo.

Mugejo further mentioned that the successful evacuation and repatriation process was being hindered by the closure of airports in Sudan but promised that efforts were being made to assist Zimbabwean holed up Sudan.

 “The closure of airports has affected the ability of the Ministry to urgently assist with the urgent repatriation of Zimbabweans in fulfillment of its mandate of protecting the interest and safety of Zimbabwean nationals abroad. A contingency fund has already been disbursed to the Embassy to facilitate the evacuation of our nationals,” said Mugejo.

According to Mugejo, following the outbreak of the war on 15 April this year, Government undertook a comprehensive exercise to reach out to all Zimbabwean nationals in Sudan to establish their current situations and to ascertain their immediate needs, including the possibility of evacuation from that country.

Meanwhile, the conflict in Sudan broke out on April 15 following disagreements on how to integrate the Sudan Armed Forces and the RSF four years after they joined forces to topple long time President Omar Al-Bashir.

In 2021, the two forces staged a coup which removed the transitional government that had the military and civilians. The armed conflict has so far caused the death of 413 people and injuries to over 3700.