Description
Rishi Sunak chairs an emergency Cobra meeting about rescuing British citizens from fierce fighting in Sudan as two warships prepare to help with a possible evacuation. RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster were offered as options to help people leave the war-torn country, where at least 2,000 British citizens remain after British diplomats were rescued. A team of British troops is said to have been airlifted to Port Sudan to determine options for any civilian rescue mission.
Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell told British citizens to "exercise their own judgement" when they decide to flee, but warned that they "do so at their own risk."
As the UK hopes to secure a ceasefire, it went on to tell the British in Sudan to shelter in their homes, while citizens of other European countries were airlifted to safety.
The chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Keans, warned that "time is running out" and urged ministers to go ahead with evacuations "now".
Meanwhile, Downing Street has confirmed that the British ambassador to Sudan, Giles Lever, and his deputy were out of the country when violence broke out in Khartoum.
The prime minister's official spokesman said: "I think it was during Ramadan, they were out of the country at the time.
"There were still very experienced staff in the country and those in the country and the ambassador worked around the clock to help the effort."
It is believed that, if used, the RFA Cardigan Bay, currently in Bahrain, and HMS Lancaster, in India, would complement possible flights from Sudan.
However, any mission would be very difficult, with Port Sudan more than 500 miles from Khartoum.
Mitchell told the House of Commons that traveling through the capital "remains extremely dangerous and no evacuation option is without serious risk to life."
"Khartoum airport is out of service. The power supply is interrupted. Food and water are increasingly scarce. Access to the Internet and telephone networks is becoming more difficult," he said in an urgent statement.
“We continue to advise all British citizens in Sudan to stay at home whenever possible.
"We recognize that circumstances will vary in different places in Sudan, so we are now asking UK citizens to make their own judgment about their circumstances, including whether they should relocate, but they do so at their own risk."
Ms Kearns, a Conservative MP, called for quicker action.
"Hurry up. We have to evacuate now," he said.
"Trust at this point is being tested, trust that we will evacuate them and get them to safety when they need it."
Downing Street said the UK "will do everything possible to help bring about a ceasefire and also to support British citizens caught up in the fighting."
Some British citizens have said they felt 'abandoned' after diplomats were rescued on a nighttime evacuation mission and staged dangerous private evacuations.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the government to act quickly to help British citizens, telling reporters in south London: "There is deep concern for those who are still here who are afraid and real concern for what will happen to them."
"I want the government to do everything possible to help them out of this difficult situation."
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said more than a thousand people had been extracted thanks to the combined efforts of member states.
Some 50 Irish citizens have been evacuated from Khartoum to Djibouti with the support of France and Spain, and more evacuations are planned, Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin said.
William, a British citizen in Sudan, told the BBC he was forced to "go private" and leave Khartoum on a bus organized by his Sudanese employer because "we got absolutely nothing else. What nonsense of the government."
Iman Augarga, a British refugee in Khartoum, said she felt "absolutely" abandoned by the British government.
"It's shameful how badly they've handled this," he told the Telegraph.
Sunak said on Sunday there had been a "complex and rapid" evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Khartoum, a city embroiled in an internal battle for control between rival generals.
Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured in a bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.
The prospect of airlifting large numbers of people out of Sudan has been complicated by the fact that most major airports have become battlegrounds, while leaving the capital has proven dangerous.
The current outbreak of violence comes after two generals fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists, which was aimed at integrating the RSF into the military and ultimately leading to civilian rule.
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