Sudan: NHS medical doctors allowed on final evacuation flights following U-turn
The UK Government had initially rejected calls to airlift NHS staff who don’t possess a British passport as a consequence of constraints on the general capability of the flights amid a ceasefire which was as a consequence of final solely 72 hours.
There had been additionally issues concerning the Sudanese armed forces refusing to grant protected passage to folks with non-Sudanese passports, and about setting a precedent whereby the UK commits to evacuate massive numbers of individuals in comparable future crises around the globe.
However, Ministers have now expanded the factors so that each one residents of Britain who don’t maintain a passport can now board an evacuation flight on Saturday, the BBC studies.
Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, stated the UK army and civil servants had carried out “the longest and largest evacuation of any Western country” with greater than 1,500 folks flown out of Sudan.
Any remaining British nationals wishing to be evacuated ought to journey to the Wadi Saeedna airstrip close to Khartoum by 11am BST in the present day, he stated final evening.
Mr Dowden stated: “What we are saying now is that people should expect within the next 24 hours, so by six o’clock UK time tomorrow, for us to cease those flights.
“There remains another 24 hours for people to make their way to the airport to ensure that they can take advantage of this.”
He stated there had been a “significant decline in the British nationals coming forward”, including: “Every single British national coming forward, and their dependants, has been put on a plane.”
A ceasefire prolonged on Thursday is because of expire tomorrow evening, which may make it inconceivable to proceed the evacuation if violence reignites.
Ministers confronted criticism over their unique choice in opposition to permitting individuals who reside within the UK however don’t maintain a British passport to take the flights operated by the UK army, leaving folks together with NHS medical doctors stranded in war-torn Sudan.
One of these medical doctors, Dr Abdulrahman Babiker, had travelled to the country to celebrate Eid.
Prior to the U-turn, Dr Babiker, who works at Manchester Royal Infirmary, had been blocked from boarding a flight because the Foreign Office had initially prioritised British nationals versus these holding UK work permits.