Canada working to airlift citizens out of Sudan, may deploy troops to Africa

Behind-the-scenes preparations are underway for Canadian military planes to airlift civilians trapped in Sudan as the east African nation’s warring parties struggle to adhere to a three-day ceasefire brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia.

On his way to a federal cabinet meeting Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were Canadian planes and warships in the area and plans were underway to contribute to the international evacuation effort, which Canada’s allies had begun.

“We have assets in the region,” Trudeau said. “We are looking at doing direct airlifts, lifting from Canada and their dependents.”

He said the government was still trying to determine which countries in the region would receive evacuation flights.

“There’s a very limited place where air can take place,” he said.

Trudeau also noted that Canadian frigates and supply ships were transiting through the nearby Red Sea and could link up with allies – particularly the US Fifth Fleet and the Royal Navy, which had begun gathering in Port Sudan for a possible sea evacuation.

WATCH | Trudeau gave an update on the situation in Sudan

A defense source said there was consideration of deploying a small contingent of Canadian troops to Djibouti to assist and help manage the refugees.

A spokeswoman for Defense Minister Anita Anand declined to comment on the information. Before a Senate committee on Monday and before the cabinet on Tuesday, Anand said there were several options under consideration.

Anand said there were Canadians trapped on the ground trying to decide whether to stay or run to the airport.

“What we will do, as a government, is to help anyone and everyone who asks for help and this is what we can do,” he said.

Hisham Mohammed, a Sudanese Canadian who was trapped in Khartoum for days as the fighting continued, told CBC News Network on Monday that the only advice he received from Global Affairs Canada was for shelter.

During the three days before fleeing to Egypt, he called the foreign ministry’s helpline and told them that the situation was getting dangerous.

“I have to decide what I’m going to do because, you know, we’re running out of water, food… no power,” he said, adding that he was grateful to reach Cairo by land.

“I wish they would do more…you know?” he said, referring to Global Affairs.

Sudan ‘volatile environment’: foreign minister

Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly defended the department’s response when questioned before cabinet on Tuesday.

“The situation in Sudan is happening very quickly,” he said.

He noted the department sent a diplomatic team last week to nearby Djibouti to help coordinate international evacuation efforts.

The situation on the ground remains grim, he said.

“We know that the situation is very difficult and that until the ceasefire that happened yesterday, Khartoum was one of the most dangerous places in the world,” Joly said.

He added that the warring Sudanese generals should not “have command and control over their people and become an unstable environment that can help them flee.”

WATCH | The Minister of Foreign Affairs gave an update on the evacuation efforts in Sudan

A series of short truces over the past week have either failed outright or resulted in only intermittent lulls in fighting between the forces of the country’s two top generals since April 15. from abroad by air and land, his efforts continue there.

Calls for negotiations to end the crisis in Africa’s third-largest country have been ignored.

Trudeau said he spoke Tuesday with the chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the two expressed concern about the civil war.

A readout of the conversation from the Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders discussed ongoing mediation efforts and called on all parties to end hostilities.