100 Kenyan Students Evacuated From War-Torn Khartoum as Govt Targets 300 More
The conflict in Sudan has left more than 400 people dead and 3,550 injured, prompting Kenyan students to seek safe passage from the capital, Khartoum, to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. The journey was necessary due to the damage caused by warring parties to the Khartoum International Airport, making it difficult for nations to airlift their citizens.
Kenyan students managed to evacuate from their university and safely reach the bus station at Minal Al-bari, where they boarded a bus towards Gadaref.
The Kenyan government is focused on getting its citizens out of harm’s way and has received requests from the United Nations and other multinational organizations to evacuate their workers to Nairobi before airlifting them to their respective countries.
The government is working to support and facilitate the safe passage of Kenyan students through its embassies in Juba and Addis Ababa. Kenyan students will have to pass through Gondar City in Northern Ethiopia, which is located some 534 kilometres from the Tigrayan regional capital, Mekele.
However, Mekele has experienced conflict between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and regional Tigrayan forces for two years. Despite this, the Kenyan government is confident that it can mediate the current conflict in Sudan, as Nairobi is known as the capital for peacebuilding. Kenya has previously mediated the South Sudan and Somalia conflicts and is a neutral party in the current dispute.
Fighting between the Sudanese Army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has caused water and power cuts as well as internet outages.
The United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Belgium are among the countries that have already evacuated their nationals as fighting intensifies in Khartoum and other major cities in Sudan. The Kenyan government is focused on ensuring the safe passage of its citizens and working towards mediating the conflict in Sudan.
Kenya has successfully evacuated 29 Kenyan students who were stranded in Sudan due to the ongoing fighting between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army. The students were evacuated through Ethiopia, where they boarded a flight to Addis Ababa and then continued to Nairobi.
The Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Alfred Mutua, expressed his gratitude to South Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia for granting permission for Kenyan planes to overfly their airspaces during the evacuation.
Furthermore, Mutua announced that a Kenya Airforce plane was on standby to evacuate a group of 18 students who were traveling by road to the South Sudan border.
Additionally, a larger group of Kenyans on a well-planned itinerary would be transported by two aircraft from Port Sudan to Jeddah, after which they would fly to Nairobi on Kenya Airways. Mutua estimated that around 300-400 Kenyans could be ferried this way, if not more.
Mutua expressed his appreciation for the Kenya Foreign and Diaspora staff in missions in various nations and the multi-agency teams in Nairobi for the seamless coordination during the evacuation process.
The evacuation was necessary due to the escalating violence in Sudan, which left the Kenyan students stranded and unable to return home. The conflict between the RSF and the army had intensified, leading to the closure of major highways and the suspension of flights in and out of the country. The Kenyan government responded swiftly to the crisis and organized the evacuation of its citizens.
100 Kenyan Students Evacuated From War-Torn Khartoum as Govt Targets 300 More