Over 100 Kenyan students have been rescued from war-torn Khartoum in Sudan and made a safe passage to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
This comes at a time when over 400 people have been killed and 3,550 injured in Sudan’s conflict involving rival military factions.
“The first group of students has already boarded a bus towards Gadaref and the last group is in the bus ready to travel to the same destination. As all this is happening, we are also in communication with the Kenyan embassy here in Sudan. All is well so far,” Mwashame, one of the Kenyan students, told Citizen TV.
According to Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Dr Korir Sing’oei, the plan is to get Kenyans to Port Sudan from where they will be airlifted to Jeddah and then to Nairobi.
“From our embassies in Juba and Addis Ababa, we have teams working and to support and facilitate their safe passage,” Sing’oei said.
Sing’oei said that Kenya is mooting efforts to mediate the warring sides in Sudan since it is a neutral party.
“Nairobi is known as the capital for peacebuilding. Regionally and globally, we mediated the South Sudan conflict, we mediated the Somalia conflict. We are in a very, very good place to mediate the current conflict because Kenya is not in any way involved in the dispute. It is a neutral party,” he added.
Other countries in rescue operations in Sudan
Countries such as the United States, France and Britain, mobilized evacuation efforts for their citizens and diplomatic staff.
The United States and France both relied on Special Operations troops, and Britain said 1,200 of its military personnel were involved in evacuating its diplomatic staff and their families.
Violence between rival military factions entered a ninth day on Sunday, April 23, 2023.
