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2 years ago

Sudan infighting: 135 on way to Dhaka

The first batch of Bangladeshis, who were evacuated from Khartoum, reach Jeddah airport from the Port of Sudan on Sunday by a Saudi military aircraft — Photo : collected
The first batch of Bangladeshis, who were evacuated from Khartoum, reach Jeddah airport from the Port of Sudan on Sunday by a Saudi military aircraft — Photo : collected

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Out of the 680 Bangladeshis evacuated from Sudan, 135 was set to depart for Dhaka from Jeddah on Sunday night, according to officials from the foreign ministry.

These 135 Bangladeshis were transported to Jeddah on Sunday by Saudi military aircraft from an airport near the Port of Sudan, where the evacuated Bangladeshis were taken from Khartoum on Tuesday last week.

Saudi authorities provided three military aircraft for transporting the evacuated foreigners, including those from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Yemen, from the Port of Sudan to Jeddah.

"Each plane will carry 35 Bangladeshis, and thus 135 can be transported today," Acting Ambassador to Bangladesh Tarek Ahmed told reporters, but he did not say what arrangement was made for the rest of the 680 stranded Bangladeshis.

Those in the first group included women, their family members, the elderly, and people with sickness, Mr Ahmed added.

It may be mentioned that the stranded Bangladeshis were supposed to be transported to Jeddah from the Port of Sudan by ship on Wednesday last week, but the officials of the Bangladesh mission failed to arrange for a ship.

For the past four days, they have been stating that the stranded Bangladeshis would be transported by ship, to be provided by Saudi Arabia, but no ship could be arranged.

Even on Saturday this week, officials of the Bangladesh mission told the foreign ministry that Saudi authorities had assured the mission of providing a ship that day. However, no ship arrived to transport the Bangladeshis to Jeddah by sea route as planned. Many of the stranded Bangladeshis complained about mismanagement by officials of the Bangladesh Mission for the delay in returning home. However, the foreign ministry blamed a lack of cooperation from a group of stranded Bangladeshis for the delay.

The violent conflict in Sudan, particularly in the capital city of Khartoum, has forced foreign nationals to flee the country.

Since May 15, a power struggle between two Sudanese security forces has led to a violent war that resulted in the deaths of over 500 people.

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