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Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
ALL Zimbabweans resident in Sudan are safe with Government beginning the process of evacuating them from the conflict-torn north African country, a senior official has said.
An estimated 100 Zimbabweans are living and working in Sudan and while they are reported to be safe, some have indicated their desire to be repatriated.
In a statement yesterday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade spokesperson Mr Livit Mugejo said they were closely following the evolving conflict in Sudan which has put Zimbabwean nationals resident in that country in danger.
“Over the past few weeks since the conflict broke out, the Ministry undertook a comprehensive exercise to reach out to all Zimbabwean nationals in Sudan to establish their current situations and to ascertain their immediate needs, including the possibility of evacuation from Sudan,” Mr Mugejo said.
All Zimbabweans, including those who work at the Embassy have been moved from Khartoum — the capital city and nerve centre of the conflict — to Port Sudan from where transport arrangements are underway to bring them home.
“The Ministry has managed to secure buses to evacuate our nationals to Port Sudan in the UN convoy. The closure of airports has affected the ability of the Ministry to urgently assist with the repatriation of Zimbabweans in fulfilment of its mandate of protecting the interests and safety of Zimbabwean nationals abroad.
“A contingency fund has already been disbursed to the Embassy
to facilitate the evacuation of our nationals,” Mr Mugejo said.
He said the Ministry was in contact with the Sudanese Government to make sure that Zimbabweans who wished to leave the country could do so safely.
Many countries have reportedly started evacuating their diplomatic staff and nationals from Sudan as heavy fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has entered its second week despite a temporary truce for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.
At least 413 people, most of whom are civilians, have been killed since fighting between two rival factions — the RSF and Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) — broke out on April 15, according to the World Health Organisation.
In the last few months, a disagreement between the army and RSF over military security reform has turned into a bloody conflict.
The reform envisages the full participation of the RSF in the army, one of the main issues in the negotiation process carried out by international and regional parties for the transition to civilian and democratic rule.
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