1st Batch of Ghanaian evacuees from Sudan arrives home
The first batch of Ghanaian evacuees from the Republic of Sudan arrived at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra Tuesday (May 2, 2023).
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The 74 evacuees, mainly students, were received by a delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong.
They arrived in Accra on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Airbus A350-941, landed at exactly 11:20 a.m.
One other Ghanaian, however, declined to join his colleagues to return to the country.
Sudan is currently engulfed in a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and a paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Hundreds of foreigners have already fled Sudan, as the north African country entered a third week of fighting, resulting in many fatalities, especially in Khartoum, the epicentre of the conflict.
Ghanaian evacuees from Sudan
According to the deputy minister, the government had put together a team of clinical psychologists who were examining the evacuees at KIA before they left to their various homes.
He said the psychologists would also undertake periodic check-ups on them as part of measures to deal with any possible post-traumatic disorder they might suffer.
Each of the evacuees was provided with GH¢500 to support them in their travel from Accra to their respective destinations.
“We have made it clear that the government will not be responsible for them when they decide to return to Sudan again because they were not sponsored to go and study there in the first place.”
“The directive from the President was for the ministry to do everything possible to ensure that Ghanaian nationals trapped in the conflict in Sudan were evacuated successfully home, and that is what we have done today,” Mr Ampratwum-Sarpong, said.
He said the government was also making arrangements to evacuate another batch of Ghanaians, made up of four footballers, said to have escaped to Egypt.
The deputy minister added that two Ghanaian engineers who were working for a mining company along the Sudanese border had already arrived in the country with the assistance of their firm.
“So in total, the number of Ghanaian nationals that we are bringing home is 80 and we hope that there will not be any more, but if there are, we are ready to do whatever possible to assist and bring them back home,” he assured.
Appreciation
A student of the International University of Africa (a private university in Khartoum), Abdul Aziz Abdul Karim, who is also the leader of the evacuees, expressed appreciation to the government for the timely intervention in ensuring their successful evacuation.
“I did the coordination after asking my colleagues to stay indoors for their safety.
“For us, we were fortunate because we had some food stock and so when the conflict broke out we had enough water, food and other necessities, without which life would have been difficult and unbearable,” he said.