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DHAKA: Families of Bangladeshis trapped in Sudan fear for their safety with government assistance only expected to begin next week, after the expiry of a ceasefire between the two warring Sudanese factions.
Mass evacuations of foreigners from Sudan have been underway since Monday after a ceasefire was agreed between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Since fighting broke out on April 15, more than 500 people have been killed and at least 4,200 injured.
The truce was due to expire on Friday, but the military and RSF accepted its extension by a further 72 hours.
The ceasefire has not stopped all the fighting but has allowed thousands of people to flee to safer areas. Evacuations over land to neighboring Egypt and by sea to Saudi Arabia have been the main routes as Sudan’s major airports have become battlegrounds.
Some Bangladeshis were among the nearly 2,800 people brought to safety by Saudi forces, but most of those in the Sudanese capital Khartoum registered for help with their own embassy, which is still organizing help.
“On May 2, the stranded Bangladeshis will be transported to (Port Sudan) from Khartoum by bus, and later on, they will be transported to Jeddah. From Saudi Arabia, Bangladeshi citizens will take a flight to Dhaka,” Shah Mohammad Tanvir Monsur, director general of the consular and welfare wing of the Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Arab News.
Monsur said that as of Thursday evening, 700 Bangladeshis, or half of those living in Sudan, have registered for evacuation.
The scheduled date is, however, past the expiry of the current ceasefire, further increasing the concerns of desperate families.
Tanjina Akter from Raipura, about 65 km from Dhaka, has not heard from her husband Moktar Hossain for the past few days.
“When he last talked with me four days ago, he was without any food, electricity and water. My husband and his colleagues couldn’t come out of their home,” Akter told Arab News.
Her husband has been working as a professional driver in Khartoum for nine years. “During our last conversation, he was crying and couldn’t say much. He said we may not hear from him again … My husband talked about a lot of firing and mortar shelling around him. He was frightened.”
Mohammad Zahangir Miah, the brother of Monir Hossain, another Bangladeshi worker in Sudan, said he has been in touch with him and that all the news developments were increasingly worrying.
“We watch the war updates on television every day. My younger brother also shared some photos of war destruction on Facebook. All these things made us frightened. He lives beside the Khartoum airport. This area came under severe gun attacks of gun shells and my brother is fearing for his life,” Miah told Arab News.
Hossain and some other Bangladeshis were supposed to travel to Port Sudan earlier this week, but no bus was available from Khartoum.
“They are short of food, electricity, and daily essentials. We are at a loss what to do in this situation … I plead with the government to bring my brother back as soon as possible,” he said.
“Every moment we are praying to the Almighty for his safety.”
KABUL: Afghanistan is grateful for Saudi Arabia’s help in evacuating its nationals from Sudan, the chief spokesman of the Taliban administration told Arab News on Friday after the first batch of Afghan evacuees reached Jeddah.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, at least 120 Afghan citizens were trapped in Sudan when fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces on April 15.
More than 500 people have been killed since and at least 4,200 injured as clashes continued despite a ceasefire that started on Monday and has been extended until the end of Sunday.
Foreign nationals have been evacuated by land to neighboring Egypt and by sea to Saudi Arabia, as major airports have become battlegrounds.
Afghan evacuees, who arrived from Port Sudan to Jeddah on Thursday, were among the nearly 2,800 people brought to safety by Saudi forces, which are spearheading rescue efforts.
The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it was “deeply grateful” to Saudi Arabia for its assistance, while Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban administration, said it was not the first time Afghans received critical aid from the Kingdom.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate has struggled a lot to evacuate a number of Afghans trapped in Sudan. With the coordination of Saudi Arabia, efforts are underway for the safe evacuation of the remaining Afghans too,” Mujahid told Arab News.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always supported Afghans and Afghanistan. We want to thank it.”
Local media estimated there were about 70 people in the first group of Afghan evacuees.
Afghan authorities were not immediately available for comment on how many more were going to be brought back from Sudan. The Foreign Ministry said its efforts were ongoing.
DOMONI: In Anjouan, part of the Comoros archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean, the distant French island of Mayotte casts a dangerous charm.
Boasting schools, hospitals, roads and a social safety net, Mayotte is an eldorado that every year thousands of impoverished Comorans risk their lives trying to reach.
Domoni, the second largest town in Anjouan, is a common departure point for migrants desperate for a better life.
Many of its 17,000 residents live off small-scale fishing — but some also earn cash on the side through the lucrative business of human smuggling.
Sitting under the shade of almond trees, men banter while playing bao, a traditional board game.
Near the beach, the air reeks of resin, used to build and maintain timber boats called kwassa kwassa.
Almost half of Comoros’s 900,000 inhabitants live below the poverty line, with average monthly incomes barely exceeding the equivalent of $110. Many have no access to healthcare.
Those trying to get to Mayotte — 70 km away at the closest point — have to brave uncertain waters, packed in rickety, crowded boats.
How many have perished over the years is unknown, and for those who succeed in landing on Mayotte, the welcome is increasingly hostile.
France has stepped up its fight against illegal immigration, which is blamed in Mayotte for proliferating slums and worsening security.
A controversial operation, called “Wuambushu” (take back, in a local language) is underway to kick out undocumented migrants, most of whom are Comorans.
The operation faces resistance from the Comoros authorities who are refusing to accept deportees from Mayotte, saying it cannot cope with the influx.
Sitting on a beach littered with rubbish, a 27-year-old man who asked to be called Abdou Ahmadi, admitted that he was a “fisherman-smuggler,” who made a living both from his nets and from taking people to Mayotte.
“I transport up to eight people in a month, but only sick people,” he said.
He said he charged the equivalent of 100 euros ($110) for a one-way trip.
“When I don’t have a patient, I’m busy with my fishing. But fishing (alone) is not enough to live off,” he admitted.
Ahmadi scorned the idea of leaving Domoni and living as “an undocumented migrant.”
“I prefer to stay here,” he said.
“The situation in Mayotte is terrible, crime is very high. I’m not tempted.”
A former smuggler who gave his name as Soula said he gave up the business after being handed a three-year jail term, and now worked as a taxi driver.
“I knew the sea like the back of my hand. But fishing was not very profitable. So I became a smuggler,” he said. Some of the people he helped cross came from Madagascar.
“I have never lost anyone at sea. But I was arrested,” he said, sitting on the red hull of a boat.
Rafouzoiti Dhoimir, 52, said she had tried three times to enter Mayotte but each time had been sent back.
Her three children live there, and she has not seen them in 15 years.
“I pray to God that (Wuambushu) is stopped,” she said, thinking about her children living in shacks.
Wearing a navy and orange dress, she sat on an armchair in her small house opposite the beach, nervously wringing her fingers.
“I don’t sleep anymore, I’m scared,” she said.
She was too afraid to try another crossing.
“There have been so many deaths,” she said. Her wish was that “one day they won’t expel anyone, and we stop going there.”
TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to travel overseas from April 29 to May 5 to visit Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Singapore.
During his trip, Kishida will hold meetings with the leaders of these countries to discuss a wide range of topics including regional and international issues, Ukraine and bilateral relations.
Kishida will have a summit meeting in Cairo and meet with other dignitaries in Egypt on April 30. He will depart the following day for the Ghanaian capital Accra before flying on the same day to Nairobi in Kenya. He will arrive in Maputo, Mozambique, on May 3 and after a summit meeting there will depart for Singapore on May 4.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Kishida will show Japan’s resolve to maintain and strengthen the international rule of law as Japan prepares to host the G7 Hiroshima Summit from May 19 to 21. Kishida also hopes to confirm further cooperation with the countries on his itinerary on various global issues.
• This article originally appeared on Arab News Japan
LONDON: France is boosting its southern border protection with 150 police officers amid a surge in migrants leaving Libya and Tunisia to cross into the country from Italy, The Times reported.
Migrants who cross the Mediterranean are using Italy’s border town of Ventimiglia to enter France, traversing mountain passes or swimming the short distance to the French town of Menton.
Almost 40,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean into Italy from North Africa this year, up from 9,500 in 2022.
The large majority of arrivals are leaving from Libya and Tunisia, with the latter serving as the exit point for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.
This year, 661 migrants have drowned while attempting the dangerous journey, often on small metal dinghies.
As economic decline and drought ravage large parts of Africa, Italian authorities fear that migration numbers could climb further, with France preventively boosting its border protection in the south.
On the Italian island of Lampedusa, 2,700 migrants are being held in a center with a capacity of 400.
This comes after more than 1,000 people arrived on the island on 20 separate vessels on Wednesday.
Save the Children spokesperson Giovanna Di Benedetto said: “The center is holding 400 unaccompanied minors, many from West Africa, including some under 10 years old.
“Some of them have been in the center for a month because there has been a reduction in spaces for them on the mainland.
“They are the most vulnerable yet here they are the most exposed to risk.”
LONDON: A Sudanese doctor trapped in Sudan who works for the UK’s National Health Service has said he feels “betrayed” after being denied a spot on an evacuation flight back to Britain, the BBC reported.
Dr. Abdulrahman Babiker, who worked for the NHS throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, is due to return to Manchester Royal Infirmary next week.
But after traveling to Sudan during Ramadan to celebrate Eid with family, Babiker is now trapped in the country following the outbreak of violence between the government and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary.
Britain has already completed eight evacuation flights from Sudan, but Babiker was turned away from the flight at Wadi Seidna air base north of the capital because he lacks a UK passport, although he does possess proof of the right to work.
The BBC reported that at least 24 other NHS doctors are in the same position as Babiker.
He said: “To be honest, I feel totally betrayed. I worked throughout COVID-19 and I’m so disappointed.
“I had spoken to my MP and had emails advising me to go to the air base.”
After arriving at Wadi Seidna, Babiker was denied entry to the aircraft and told: “We are really sorry, this is the guidance from the Home Office.”
The UK Foreign Office has said it is prioritizing British nationals as part of rescue efforts, advising others to make their own journeys back to Britain, including through the Egyptian border.
Babiker said: “I’d be more than happy to wait for other people to be airlifted before me, but to not have any chance to be rescued in this very risky situation is … I’m really feeling disappointed.”
The UK has already airlifted 897 people out of Sudan, but thousands of other British nationals are thought to be still in the country, including many with family ties.
Babiker added: “I think this will have an impact on international medical graduates wanting to join the NHS.
“They make up about 40 percent of the workforce and it will make other nationalities think twice about whether they want to work for the NHS.”
Dr. Nadia Baasher, of the Sudanese Junior Doctor’s Association, told the BBC that many of her compatriots trapped in Sudan had traveled to the country for Eid.
“People are heartbroken by the whole situation. It’s not safe. This is is very disappointing to see that they weren’t treated with some consideration.”
UK military authorities have said that up to 500 people per day could be airlifted to Cyprus from Wadi Seidna air base.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on April 27: “I urge all British nationals wishing to leave to proceed to the airport as quickly as possible to ensure their safety.”