Crisis in Sudan: chaos at the port as thousands flee

Crisis in Sudan: chaos at the port as thousands flee:

As HMS Al Diriyah approached Sudan’s coast in the dead of night, Saudi officers turned on sweeping searchlights to ensure the warship’s safe entry into a harbour that was quickly developing into a major evacuation and humanitarian hub in the country’s escalating crisis.

Even at two in the morning, two more massive ships were anchored offshore at Port Sudan, the country’s largest port, waiting to participate in this global rescue operation.

Hassan Faraz from Pakistan told us, obviously shaken, “I feel so relieved but also so sad to be part of this history.”

The HMS Al Diriyah travelled from the Saudi port city of Jeddah for ten hours through the night before arriving at the quayside on a Saudi tugboat. Rare access was granted to a select group of foreign journalists so they could short visit the troubled Sudan.

While waiting in queue on the pier for passports to be compared to the Saudi manifest, Faraz thought, “People will be talking about these events for many years to come.” This time, a large number of young South Asian labourers claimed to have waited for three days here after two arduous weeks in this hellish battle zone.

Another Pakistani guy described having “seen so much, so many bomb blasts and firing” after claiming to have worked at a foundry in Sudan. Then, too traumatised to continue, he remained silent while gazing into the water.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary organisation led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, and the Sudanese army, under the command of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, have been engaged in a pitched power struggle in recent weeks.

“Port Sudan has fared relatively better in this war,” said my British-Sudanese colleague Mohanad Hashim. The first day of fighting barely started here on April 15, but already this port city is overrun by refugees from Khartoum and other areas.

We had just sailed by the elegant Naval Club, which had been converted into a tent city for the displaced. As they search for an exit, many people are currently camped out on the streets. People with passports from all over the world are flooding local hotels, and emergency consular services have been swiftly set up by embassies that have evacuated the majority of their staff from the capital.

Many people worry there is no escape. People with less fortunate passports, such as Yemenis, Syrians, and Sudanese, are in abundance in Port Sudan.

Many travellers who arrive in the kingdom of Saudi are given a brief hotel stay. However, it is made clear that their own nations are anticipated to soon foot the bill and coordinate further travel.

Crisis in Sudan: chaos at the port as thousands flee: In an effort to spot any of his own Sudanese relatives who might be trying to flee, Mohanad Hashim combed the pier at Port Sudan. He unexpectedly found himself embracing a cousin who had arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, together with two of his teenage children, after an 18-hour voyage over the Red Sea, the day before, at the King Faisal naval base where we had started our adventure.