Switzerland closes embassy in Sudan – employees are safe

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Several countries evacuated their nationals from Sudan on Sunday. It remained unclear for a long time whether any Swiss would also be rescued. Now comes the relief: twelve Swiss have been evacuated.

On Sunday evening, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) announced on Twitter that the Swiss embassy in Khartoum was closed for security reasons. Therefore, the employees and their families were evacuated. This was possible “thanks to the collaboration with our partners, especially France”. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (62) thanked him on Twitter for his support for France.

Even more Swiss in Sudan

At Blick’s request, the EDA is more detailed: seven embassy employees and five escorts have been rescued. “You are good.” Two people are on their way to Ethiopia, the rest have been evacuated to Djibouti thanks to support from France.

We remain committed to helping the Swiss in Sudan as much as possible. However: “Switzerland itself does not carry out organized departures for Swiss nationals in Sudan, but where possible cooperates closely with third countries and partners in this area.” According to the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), there are about 100 Swiss nationals in Sudan.

Italy also saves Switzerland

On Sunday afternoon, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (69) announced the evacuation of several Swiss nationals from the African war country. The Italian army will take about 200 civilians out of the country, including Swiss nationals, he said.

A first evacuation flight of the Italian army took off from the Sudanese city of Khartoum on Sunday evening. It was initially unclear whether any Swiss were on board.

The Ansa news agency only reported that the C130 machine took the majority of Italian nationals to be evacuated, as well as some citizens of other countries, to Djibouti.

Two transport planes in action

Italy deployed two C-130 transport aircraft for the evacuation. The planes departed in the afternoon from the East African country of Djibouti towards the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

The evacuation mission of the German Bundeswehr also started on Sunday afternoon. The goal of the mission, which is being coordinated with German partners, is to “fly as many German nationals as possible out of Khartoum,” the federal defense ministry wrote on Twitter on Sunday. Where possible, citizens from other EU countries and other states would also be taken along.

Over 400 dead

About a week ago fighting broke out in Sudan between the country’s two most powerful generals and their units. Both had led the country of about 46 million people since a joint military coup in 2021.

Now de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (63), also commander-in-chief of the army, is fighting with the army against his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo (48), the leader of the powerful paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces. Actually, Daglo’s group should have been subordinated to the army and power in the country should have been returned to a civilian government.

At least 413 people have been killed and more than 3,500 injured since the fighting began, according to the World Health Organization. The actual number of victims is probably much higher.

The situation is dramatic for many Sudanese. With no electricity or running water, they hid in their homes as bombs and shots rang out all around them. Food supplies are dwindling. Those who go in search of food – often at the risk of their own lives – have little success. Instead of market stalls, corpses lie along the deserted streets of the capital Khartoum. The shops have been closed since the fighting started. The danger of being caught in the crossfire of the warring factions is great; Snipers lurk in the windows of apartment buildings.

The situation is particularly precarious for the injured and sick. Only 35 hospitals and clinics are still operational in the country of 46 million people, the Sudan Medical Committee reported. And even they are almost out of medicine. According to Doctors Without Borders, there is hardly any blood left in the country. (SDA/treasure)

Source: Blick