UK ‘cannot guarantee’ number of Sudan evacuation flights after 72-hour ceasefire expires
British nationals in Sudan have been warned the UK “cannot guarantee” how many more evacuation flights will leave Khartoum after the 72-hour ceasefire expires.
So far, 536 British nationals have been airlifted to safety on six flights, according to the Foreign Office.
The US-Saudi mediated ceasefire between Sudan’s two warring factions is due to expire at midnight local time, amid fears that the bloody clashes which have killed hundreds of people will continue.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the UK “cannot guarantee” how many further flights will depart after the deadline is reached.
He urged UK nationals who want to leave Sudan to make their way to the Wadi Saeedna air strip near the capital “as soon as possible”.
At least 512 people have died and thousands of others injured since the power struggle between Sudan’s army and paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out into fighting almost two weeks ago.
More than 2,000 British nationals in Sudan have registered with the Foreign Office under evacuation plans, but thousands more could be in the war-torn country.
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Sudan: Relief and joy to be back
Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible for evacuation.
They have been told to make their own way to the airfield near the capital to be evacuated to Cyprus before being flown on to London.
The home secretary ruled out introducing a safe and legal route for asylum seekers in Sudan to seek refuge in the UK on Wednesday.
Asked whether the UK was going to “start looking at safe routes for refugees from Sudan”, Suella Braverman said “we have no plans to do that” adding that the government’s focus “first and foremost” is to “support British nationals and their dependants”.
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But some have criticised the government for being too slow in its “large-scale” evacuation, which started on Tuesday, with other countries like Germany, completing its evacuations on Tuesday night. UK diplomats and their families were evacuated from Sudan on Saturday.
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‘No plans for safe routes for refugees’
Africa minister Andrew Mitchell said the evacuation mission was “going very smoothly” at the air strip but warned we are “in the hands of the ceasefire”.
He told Sky News “we are doing everything we can” to prolong the truce adding that “if the combatants don’t lay down their arms and return to barracks” there will be a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Sudan.
On Wednesday evening, the chief of Sudan’s army said it had “initially accepted” a plan to extend the ceasefire by another 72 hours.
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‘Situation in Sudan is dire’
An army statement indicated General Abdel Fattah al Burhan was open to sending an envoy to the capital of South Sudan, Juba, for talks.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-country trade bloc, proposed the truce deal, which includes both the army and the RSF sending representatives to the city discuss the details of a longer ceasefire.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the initiative, which, if accepted by both sides, would mark a major breakthrough after days of talks.
The fighting has pushed the population to near breaking point, with food growing more difficult to obtain, electricity cut off across much of the capital and other cities and many hospitals shut down.
Multiple aid agencies have had to suspend operations and the UN refugee agency said it was gearing up for potentially tens of thousands of people fleeing into neighbouring countries.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
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