ALBAWABA- The U.S. evacuated its citizens from Sudan on Saturday, including diplomats, employees and contractors, and citizens of allied and partner countries.
The U.S. government has organized a convoy to assist U.S. citizens and others eligible for assistance. Those who are eligible will receive assistance for onward travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where additional personnel will help with consular and emergency services.
The U.S. government has taken extensive efforts to contact U.S. citizens in Sudan and enable the departure of those who wished to leave. We continue to call on the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to end the fighting that is endangering civilians.
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) April 29, 2023
The U.S.-led convoy followed mounting anger from Americans in Sudan who felt abandoned by their government and had to navigate the complicated and dangerous situation on their own.
The convoy “builds on the work the U.S. government has done this week to facilitate the departure of our diplomats by military-assisted departure, and hundreds of other U.S. citizens by land convoys, flights on partner aircraft, and sea” according to a statement from the U.S. State Department.
The violence between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group that broke out earlier month has left hundreds dead, including two Americans, and thousands wounded. The country remains at risk of humanitarian disaster as those still trapped in their homes face shortages of food, water, medicine, and electricity. Despite a number of nations evacuating their citizens, the U.S. government had maintained for more than a week that the conditions were not conducive to a civilian evacuation.
The U.S. government has taken extensive efforts to contact its citizens in Sudan and enable the departure of those who wished to leave. The Defense Department monitored the evacuation convoy with surveillance assets, the Pentagon said in a statement, adding that it is moving Navy ships to Port Sudan to provide assistance.
Before news of the American convoy, a number of family members of stranded Americans said that the State Department had not provided sufficient assistance since the violence had broken out.
Mary Carlin Yates, the former charge d’affaires in Khartoum for the State Department, described the journey from Khartoum to Port Sudan as a “long arduous journey." Yates said the U.S. may have had legitimate reasons for waiting to figure out the best way out for its citizens.
