Thousands flee Sudan on boat to Jeddah, afraid for those left behind

By Al-Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
26 Apr 2023 23:23

This comes as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said it remains committed to the agreed-upon armistice.

This photo provided by the French army shows the French warship Lorraine in the port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 26, 2023 (Roman Dupuy/Etat Major des Armees via AP)

On Wednesday, thousands of civilians fled Sudan to Saudi Arabia on a boat over the Red Sea with more than 50 nationalities on board, ranging from Zimbabwe to Ireland and Nicaragua.

"I had the chance to leave, not like my sisters," said Wissam Moustafa, who holds an American passport and had just left the US to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in Sudan, adding: "I don't know whether they will be able to get out."

Lebanese national Bilal Al Ayoubi had arrived in Sudan only a short time before the breakout of the conflict and said that he was "very close to it". "Its people are very kind and don't deserve what's happening to them," he expressed.

Hadia Aladwani from Egypt not only spent 16 years in Sudan but her husband owned a plastics factory there. "We left our houses, all our belongings, so for sure we feel as if we are in a nightmare", she said.

The evacuees began arriving in Jeddah via naval ships on Saturday, including foreign officials. The evacuees were welcomed by Saudi soldiers who gifted them plastic-wrapped pink and red roses, as a C-130 Hercules military plane flew South Korean civilians to Jeddah's King Abdullah Air Base and nearly 200 people from 14 countries traveled the Red Sea from Port Sudan.

35-year-old Batool said: "We left our country because of the war and we reached another country which is also facing war. This experience, which we have lived twice, is very difficult," while her 17-year-old son Adham wept tears. "I left behind me so many dreams," he said.

This comes as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said it remains committed to the agreed-upon armistice, according to the advisor to the commander of the RSF Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), Haroon Mahmoud Mdeikher, who told to Al Mayadeen.

"We did not want to fight this war, but the commander of the armed forces [General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan] forced us into it," Mdeikher said. He stressed that "there are extremist movements that have entered the conflict line in Sudan" and that "this war will not end unless Burhan turns himself in."