In continuation with the ongoing execution of the evacuation plan for Pakistani nationals in Sudan, where violence between the military and the well-armed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has triggered a humanitarian crisis, 37 Pakistanis reached Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday.
The spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that a ship carrying 37 Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan has arrived in Jeddah.
“They were received by Consul General in Jeddah, Khalid Majid on arrival at Jeddah Port,” the spokesperson said in a tweet expressing gratitude towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its support and hospitality.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had revealed that the Pakistani diplomatic mission in Sudan had evacuated 700 countrymen to safety, and the status of the nearly 1,500 Pakistanis currently in the African country was being closely monitored.
Foreign nationals are streaming out of Sudan after the break out of a bloody clash between the warring sides in the capital Khartoum. The aid agencies said at least 459 people have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded.
Foreign Minister Bilawal, while reiterating the government’s commitment to the protection of overseas Pakistanis, said that the foreign ministry continued to lead in the relief and rescue of Pakistanis in Sudan.
“Today, another convoy, carrying 211 Pakistanis dispatched from Khartoum has arrived in Port Sudan,” Bilawal had said in a statement.
“With the latest convoy, the total number of Pakistanis who have been evacuated to safety has reached 700,” he had added.
These Pakistanis were being housed near the port before their onward journey, the FM had tweeted earlier this week.
“Ambassador Meer Bahrose Regi’s team in Khartoum and Port Sudan is working day and night to facilitate the stay of Pakistanis, who are still in Sudan until their evacuation to Pakistan,” the ministry statement added.
The statement further said that the ministry remained engaged with the friendly countries in the region, especially with the KSA facilitating the evacuation process. Bilawal appreciated the hard work of the ministry, it added.
Sudan has a long history of civil wars. However, the latest escalation in the fighting came on April 15, which has turned residential areas into battlefields with air strikes and artillery shells killing at least 459 people and wounding over 4,000.
The fighting also destroyed hospitals and limited food distribution in a nation already reliant on aid for a third of its 46 million people. The UN refugee agency said it was bracing for up to 270,000 people to flee Sudan into neighbouring Chad and South Sudan.
