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Thousands of people have descended on the port city in eastern Sudan in recent days, fleeing violence in the capital and trying to secure escape by boat to the Red Sea bound for Saudi Arabia.
The coastal city of Port Sudan – the country’s largest seaport – has been transformed into a hub for the displaced, with people assembling makeshift tents, packing amusement parks for shelter and waiting for help in triple-digit heat.
The conflict that erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group, has killed more than 500 civilians, according to the World Health Organization, and thrown Africa’s third-largest country into chaos, leaving many displaced. . but not sure how to escape the violence. The actual number of victims is much higher.
A three-day extension to the latest ceasefire was also announced on Sunday, but heavy fighting was still reported in the capital, Khartoum, including allegations from the RSF that the army was attacking positions.
On the waterfront of Port Sudan, people who have fled with cloth hung to chairs and fences to make makeshift tents, video footage and pictures shared on social media. Someone was resting on a suitcase, which contained all of his disposable possessions. His family waited in the scorching sun, with temperatures over 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
But unlike in Khartoum, in Port Sudan there is no war, and restaurants and grocery stores are open, Yasir Zaidan, a lecturer of international affairs at the National University of Sudan, said on Monday. Mr. Zaidan, a US permanent resident who arrived in the port city in an American convoy on Sunday morning, said the army had taken control of the city as the convoy passed army checkpoints on the way.
Behind the hotel awaiting word from the US consul was an amusement park, he said, with roller coasters and other rides. But now it was flooded with women, children and old people, who were suffering from the heat.
“It’s becoming more like a refugee camp,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has launched a major rescue operation, sending warships and chartered private boats, which it said had evacuated 5,197 people of 100 nationals on Sunday, and 184 Saudis. But demand has outstripped supply. So far, Sudanese people seem to be evacuated only if they are dual citizens.
Many people at Sudanese Ports only hold Sudanese passports, which means they can be stuck at the port indefinitely as priority countries take in citizens of both countries. For those without passports, it may be more difficult to escape combat.
People boarded ships for the 180-mile journey to Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city, Jeddah, mourning the homes and family members they had to leave behind.
The head of Saudi Arabia’s General Department of Passports said the country will grant free visas to all foreign nationals who have been legally evacuated from Sudan, but must have plans to leave the kingdom. Details of the process remained unclear Monday.
Sudan has one of the largest refugee populations in Africa – about 1.1 million people, according to the United Nations refugee agency, most of them from South Sudan – and many of them, including Yemenis and Syrians, are now trying to escape. . According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, around 3,000 South Sudanese are fleeing their fragile country every day.
The 500 mile journey from Khartoum to Port Sudan was a very difficult one. Mr. Zaidan fled with his wife on Saturday afternoon, leaving his grandparents behind, and passed through several checkpoints operated by the RSF on his way out of the city. At one point, paramilitary forces stole all the cellphones from the occupants of one of the seven US buses, he said, and one woman’s gold jewelry.
When they arrived in Port Sudan, the scene was chaotic, he said, and no US representative could tell him or the 140 other people in the American convoy how they would be evacuated. Some U.S. citizens have been waiting three days without notice, he said, and the price of a place on a private ship has skyrocketed, if anyone can get one.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Sunday that the United States has helped evacuate nearly 1,000 people from Sudan since the crisis began. He said American officials continue to “assist US citizens and others who are eligible to travel to Jeddah,” where additional American personnel are stationed.
As the conflict in Sudan enters its third week, aid is also beginning to arrive in Port Sudan. Eight tons of medical supplies sent by the Red Cross were unloaded on Sunday, the organization said, but it was not immediately clear where they had gone. The United Nations says it is taking a long time to get aid to Sudan because supplies in the country have been looted. Secretary General of the United Nations declare on Sunday he sent his humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, to the area.
After Sunday’s ceasefire announcement, the army and the Rapid Support Force almost immediately accused others of violating it, with the army claiming to have destroyed an RSF convoy moving towards Khartoum from the west and the RSF saying the army had attacked. positions in Khartoum Province with artillery and warplanes.
Vivian Nereim and Ahmad Al-Omran contribute reports.
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