Sudan: Irish mother who escaped with her children ‘heartbroken’ as husband left behind
An Irish woman has described her dramatic escape from Sudan with her children as gunfire erupted around them – and has been left “heartbroken” as her husband remains in the country.
Mother-of-three Sarah Widaa told Sky News that she was given just over an hour’s notice to get to the French embassy for an evacuation.
She and her children were airlifted out of Sudan and arrived in Djibouti on Monday morning.
Britons among dozens of people rescued on Saudi ship – Sudan latest
Describing her escape, Ms Widaa said her husband drove the family from their home in the Kafouri area of Sudan’s capital Khartoum and on the way there was “gunfire” as she told her children in the car “to duck, get down on the floor”.
“I was afraid,” she said.
Ms Widaa said when she got to the embassy, the French “went above and beyond”.
“I felt safer,” she said. “They were armed. We were in the buses for over an hour. We left for the airbase.
“We stayed in the hangar for two hours. There was no food. There are Greeks there, Americans.”
Amid the fighting, the water supply at their home had been cut off for five days and they had to instead get it from the black market.
“We didn’t have a lot of money at home, we were worried we would get looted,” Ms Widaa said.
“It was really difficult. There’s a lot of Irish citizens still in Sudan.”
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Sudan: Who awaits evacuation?
Ms Widaa said her husband did not join them in the evacuation as he stayed to care for his father who has diabetes and is on medication.
She said she was “heartbroken” to leave them behind and asked that when her father-in-law’s medication runs out “what is he going to do?”
‘Everyone is getting desperate’
Ms Widaa said her cousin did not receive an email about the evacuation and instead went by bus to the Egyptian border, with the vehicle breaking down three times along the way.
She said the border was “crazy” with “quite a lot of Sudanese trying to get in”.
“Everyone is getting desperate,” she added.
Describing the scene she left behind in Kafouri, Ms Widaa said the day before the violence started she took her children to get ice-creams.
“Everyone was out. The same area is now pitch black,” she added.
Buildings were burnt and cars with bullets were in the middle of the street, she said.
Ms Widaa said she hopes she can go back to her home, adding: “I have my house there. My kids have friends there, school there. We were happy.”
Nadine is one of Sarah Widaa’s children
Ms Widaa’s eldest daughter, Nadine, aged nine, told Sky News that it was “scary” living in the Sudanese capital during the fighting.
She said: “We had to sleep on the floor and we’re scared of bullets coming in.
“We were watching TV and a bullet hit our window, it was so loud. I was shaking until the end of the day.”
Irish teacher says ‘shooting didn’t stop for five days’
Another Irish national, called Cathy, was also among those to be safely evacuated.
The teacher, who has two sons, lives on a school campus and said the shooting “didn’t stop for five days”.
Cathy spoke to Sky News
She said: “Our window exploded. We were under the mattress. Liam [one of her sons] said: ‘Mummy the glass hit me. It just bounced off me’.”
Cathy said she and her family managed to sneak out of the school and they eventually made it to a safe place where they were then taken to a friend’s house before being airlifted.
Read more:
UK troops fly to Sudan as govt works on evacuation plan for Britons
Why evacuating civilians is different to extracting diplomats
Which countries have evacuated their citizens?
Trapped doctor tells of ‘war zone’
Meanwhile, an NHS doctor trapped in Sudan has said he is living an “absolute nightmare” but has still had no contact with the Foreign Office.
Speaking to Sky News’s Mark Austin, Dr Ahmed said he had been working in the NHS for three years and had gone home to visit his loved ones.
After the fighting broke out, he moved his family a few kilometres south of Khartoum but still did not feel safe.
He said: “The whole capital [has] become a war zone. Even considering moving out of the capital is very dangerous as well. So it is absolutely a difficult time and a stressful time.”
Dr Ahmed said there was little access to water, electricity and healthcare with violence getting closer to where he was sheltering.
Dr Ahmed also criticised the UK government, saying: “I don’t think we’ve had enough attention. They just take the diplomats out. But there are other people. We deserve more attention from them.”
Banned from Eurovision after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia will hold a rival international song contest on Saturday, with an emphasis on “traditional values”.
Instead of camp, think conservative – patriotic pop with a PG-rating.
“Intervision” was launched under the order of Vladimir Putin, with the hope it would serve as an expression of Moscow’s international pulling power.
Intervision decorations in Red Square, Moscow, ahead of the contest
There are contestants from 23 countries, which are a mixture of Russia’s allies old and new, including Belarus, Cuba and Tajikistan as well as China, India and Saudi Arabia.
The odd one out is the United States, who’ll be represented by an artist called “Vassy”. She’s not part of an official delegation, but an American voice is still a coup for the Kremlin, which will seek to use this contest as proof of the West’s failure to isolate Russia on the global stage.
‘War whitewash’
Intervision is not entirely new. It was originally launched in the 1960s as an instrument of Soviet soft power, before largely fading from view in the 1980s.
According to Moscow, its revival has nothing to do with politics. But Ukraine has condemned it as propaganda, and an attempt to whitewash Russia’s war.
It was a point I put to some contestants after their final press conferences, but it didn’t go down well.
“We don’t think like that, we are here to spread peace,” India’s Rauhan Malik told me, when I asked if his participation was a show of support for Russia’s invasion.
Malik, one of the contestants
“Are you not turning a blind eye to Russia’s aggression?” I countered.
“I have no idea about it,” he said. “I have no idea about the current situation that’s happening. I don’t want to speak about that as well.”
Eurovision legends Abba would almost certainly not make the Russian contest guest list. Pic: AP
Really? He had no idea? But before I could go on, I felt a forceful hand on my shoulder and a minder stepped in.
The intervention was even quicker when it came to speaking to Brazil’s act. As soon as I mentioned the word Ukraine, I was drowned out by shouts of “no, no, no, no” and the duo were ushered away.
Brazilian contestants, duo Luciano Calazans and Thais Nader
Where’s the glitter?
Intervision is not just a reaction to Russia’s recent exclusion from Eurosivion, however, it’s also a reaction to the contest’s values and what it’s come to represent.
Its celebration of sexual diversity and LGBTQ+ rights are seen as a symbol of what the Kremlin calls the West’s moral decline. In contrast, Intervision organisers say their contest will promote “traditional, family values.”
Judging by the costumes on show ahead of last week’s draw, that translates to less glitter, more embroidery, with a thematic emphasis on national heritage.
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So what do Russians think of Intervision’s resurrection? Can it replace Eurovision?
“We don’t miss Eurovision,” Galina and Tatiana say, underneath a collection of purple and pink ‘Intervision’ flags near Red Square.
“It was so horrible, especially lately. We didn’t like watching it at all.”
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Why are countries boycotting Eurovision?
Polina agrees, believing Russia’s version will be “more interesting”.
“Many countries that participated in Eurovision want to boycott it, so it’s interesting to see a more peaceful event now,” she says.
Igor is more circumspect. “I’d like to believe that this isn’t a political event,” he says, “but rather an event that unites nations and people.”
Intervision will succeed in uniting some nations. But at the same time, it may only deepen divisions with others – further evidence that Russia and the West are singing very different tunes.
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