2023-05-02 05:56:53
- Lyse Doucet
- BBC Chief International Correspondent, Port Sudan
image source, AFP
Evacuees rest aboard a Saudi naval ship as it travels from Port Sudan to Jeddah.
In the dead of night, as the HMS Al Diriyah neared the coast of Sudan, Saudi agents turned on searchlights to ensure the warship’s safe passage to a port that was fast becoming a major humanitarian and evacuation center in the Sudan’s deepening crisis.
Even at 2 a.m., two other huge ships were also anchored offshore. port sudan, portlarger from the countrywaiting their turn to help in the evacuation of those fleeing the conflict.
“I feel so relieved but also so sad to be a part of this story,” said a visibly shocked Hassan Faraz of Pakistan.
We arrived at the pier on a Saudi tugboat at the end of a 10-hour overnight voyage on HMS Al Diriyah from the Saudi port city of yeda. A small group of foreign journalists have been given rare access into embattled Sudan, if only briefly.
“People will be talking about these facts for many years to come,” Faraz mused, as a long line formed at the pier to check passports with Saudi customs. This time, it was many young workers from South Asia who said that they had waited here for three long days, after two hard weeks in this hellish war.
Another Pakistani man, who said he worked in a Sudanese foundry, said he had “seen too many bomb blasts and gunshots.” He then remained silent, looking at the sea, so traumatized that he couldn’t say anything else.
run away as possible
The fighting that has broken out in recent weeks, in the midst of partial and very imperfect ceasefires, is a pitched battle for power between the Sudanese army – led by General Abdel Fattah al Burhan – and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group (RSF, for its acronym in English) – headed by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
have been reported more than 500 deaths, but the actual number of victims is believed to be much higher. Millions are still trapped in Khartoum.
“Port Sudan has done relatively better in this war,” explained my British-Sudanese colleague Mohanad Hashim. “Fighting broke out here on April 15, the first day, but now this port city is overwhelmed with people fleeing Khartoum and elsewhere,” he added.
We had just sailed past the elegant Club Naval turned into a sea of tents for the displaced. Many people are now sleeping rough on the streets while they wait for a way out. Local hotels are full of people with passports from around the world and emergency consular services hastily set up by embassies that have evacuated most of their staff from the capital.
Many fear there is no way out. Port Sudan is teeming with people with less fortunate passports, including Yemenis, Syrians and Sudanese.
Some 3,000 Yemenis, mostly students, have been stuck for weeks in Port Sudan. “The Saudis are rescuing some Yemenis, but they are worried that they will have to accept large numbers of them,” admitted a security adviser trying to help them find their way back to their own war-torn country.
Many passengers arriving in the Saudi kingdom are provided with a short hotel stay. But that country makes it clear that it expects its own countries to foot the bill soon and take care of further travel.
image source, Naomi Scherbel-Ball/BBC
Rasha, surrounded by her young children, has only one message: “Please tell the world to protect Sudan.”
Mohanad Hashim scanned the pier in Port Sudan, hoping to see one of his Sudanese relatives who might be trying to get out. The day before, at the King Faisal naval base in Jeddah, where we began our journey, he suddenly found himself hugging a cousin who had arrived in the Saudi city with two of his teenage children after an 18-hour journey across the Red Sea.
For Sudanese with foreign passports who make it to safe shores, the timing is bittersweet.
“Please help our family who stayed in Sudan,” Rasha pleaded., a woman carrying a sleeping girl on her shoulder and carrying three other children. “Please tell the world to protect Sudan,” she implored. Her family lived near the sports city in Khartoum, where the shooting began on the morning of April 15.
image source, AFP
Thousands have fled the country from Port Sudan in recent days.
Her 8-year-old daughter Leen, who spoke fluent English with an American accent, recounted in detail how gunmen broke into her home. “We all had to hide, the ten of us, in the back room,” she recounted with youthful daring. “I kept calm. I didn’t cry because we couldn’t make any noise.”
“They were bad, very bad,” said his younger brother. His father explained that they had been RSF forces. His gunmen are blamed for much of the looting and violence that is taking place.
Sudan and its neighbors
This war between the two most powerful men in Sudan is fueled not only by deep personal and political animosities, but also by the conflicting interests and influence of major regional powers.
Regional heavyweights including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have long bankrolled Hemedti, who grew increasingly wealthy sending forces to fight the early years of his destructive war against the Houthis in Yemen.
But in recent years, Riyadh has also grown close to Burhan and, in turn, has long-standing ties to the Sudanese military. The tangled political geography in a country with great mineral wealth and agricultural potential also includes Egypt, Israel and Russia, including the Wagner mercenary group.
image source, Naomi Scherbel-Ball/BBC
Many evacuees from Sudan now face an uncertain future.
In this current crisis, where the United States, the United Kingdom and other possible mediators are also intervening. It is said that foreign powers are speaking with one voice to try to end this dangerous spiral and the enormous suffering of civilians.
Diplomats express their gratitude for the evacuation effort from Saudi Arabia. So far, more than 5,000 people of 100 nationalities have crossed the Red Sea on Saudi warships or private boats chartered by the Saudi military.
The largest single operation on Saturday, which carried some 2,000 passengers, even included Iranians. The arch-rival governments of Riyadh and Tehran recently moved toward a cautious rapprochement, including reopening their embassies and consulates.
“It’s our luck. We hope there will be peace between our countries,” Nazli, a 32-year-old civil engineer, said as she disembarked in Jeddah with her engineer husband, who has also worked for years as an engineer in Sudan.
image source, Getty Images
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