Britain launched a large-scale evacuation of its citizens from Sudan on Tuesday, joining other nations racing to get their people out of the North African country after its warring factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.
Britain, which has estimated that around 4,000 of its nationals are in Sudan, said military flights would depart from an airfield outside Khartoum, and would be open to those with British passports. Priority will be given to family groups with children, the elderly and individuals with medical conditions.
“The government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Twitter. “I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff.”
Sunak’s spokesman said flights would continue for as long as possible and British nationals would be taken to Cyprus, with the government facilitating their travel on to Britain.
Cyprus, a former colony and home to two sprawling British military bases, said it had activated a humanitarian rescue mechanism following a British request and would offer reception facilities for the evacuation of third-country civilians.
The flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed an RAF flight from Khartoum landed at the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus shortly before 1230 GMT.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the government was contacting nationals directly on routes for departure but would not be able to provide escorts to the airport.
The Foreign Office said Britons should not make their way to the airfield unless they were called, and warned the situation remained volatile, so the ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice.
Cleverly said he had spoken, either directly or through intermediaries, with the leaders of the warring Sudanese factions to facilitate the evacuation.
“We will continue to push for the maintenance of this ceasefire,” Cleverly told reporters in London.
The British armed forces evacuated diplomatic staff and their family members from Sudan on Saturday and the government had come under criticism from British citizens still stuck there that they were not doing enough to help others.
Britain said it was working with its international partners on the evacuation and would also continue to look at other potential options for getting British nationals out.
