Final UK evacuation flight departs Sudan amid faltering ceasefire

The final UK evacuation flight from Sudan departed from the Wadi Saeedna airfield near Khartoum at 10pm local time on Saturday, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said.

A statement on the Government’s foreign travel advice for Sudan website said: “The UK Government is no longer running evacuation flights from Wadi Saeedna airfield.

“The last evacuation flight departed the airfield at 2200 Sudan time on April 29.”

It comes as a Government minister said the evacuation mission has been “extremely successful” but cannot last “forever”.

The deadline for UK nationals to reach the site in order to be processed for the last flight passed at 12pm local time, after the Government confirmed it was winding down its rescue operation.

At least 1,888 people on 21 flights have been evacuated from Sudan – the vast majority of them British nationals and their dependents – but thousands more British citizens may remain.

Speaking to the BBC, Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said the operation has been “extremely successful”, but stressed: “We can’t stay there forever in such dangerous circumstances.”

Fighting has broken out again in Khartoum despite the extension of an armistice between the country’s two warring generals having been brokered in the early hours of Friday.

Foreign secretary James Cleverly said: “The UK has brought more than 1,888 people to safety from Sudan thanks to the efforts of staff and military working around the clock to deliver this evacuation – the largest of any western country.

“We continue to press all diplomatic levers to secure a long-term ceasefire and end the bloodshed in Sudan. Ultimately a stable transition to civilian rule is the best way to protect the security and prosperity of the Sudanese people.”

The Government has advised any British nationals still remaining in Sudan to make their way to Port Sudan.

A statement on the travel advice site says: “We have established an office at the Coral Hotel in Port Sudan.

“If you are a British National in Port Sudan who needs help to leave Sudan, visit our team who will be able to signpost you to options for departure.”

Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman and Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said she had received reports that elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces had blocked some British nationals from accessing the air base ahead of the final flight’s departure.

She told The Observer: “I’ve had some messages saying the Sudanese Armed Forces have been stopping people from crossing through Khartoum to get to the airstrip.

“I think we need to look into that and see if that’s got any truth to it.”