British people trapped in conflict-torn Sudan say relatives not allowed on flights: Report

British people trapped in Sudan have said they are being forced to make hard choices about whether to fly home without their family members the United Kingdom (UK)government would not allow on flights. This news comes as the government ended its evacuation efforts from the conflict-torn country, after extracting over 2,450 people on dozens of flights.

According to a report by The Guardian on Thursday (May 4), a growing number of British citizens and their children, or Sudanese citizens with British children, have decided to stay in Sudan as their family members have not been allowed to board evacuation flights.

ALSO READ | Sudan conflict: Bus drivers demanding $40,000 to help people cross Egypt border, says report

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Speaking to The Guardian, Suleiman, a British national, said that a UK government official called him to say that he could be evacuated with his two children only if he left his pregnant wife behind. His children are British nationals, but their mother is a Sudanese citizen.

“He said: ‘I’m sorry, you’re going to fly with your children, but your wife cannot.’ When I told him that’s impossible, the children are dependent on their mother and I can’t leave my wife who has a high-risk pregnancy, he just refused and said that’s all I can do,” Suleiman said, as quoted by The Guardian.

Suleiman decided to remain in Sudan with his children and wife, fearing that the journey to Port Sudan might endanger his wife.

Another British citizen- Roza Mohamed, said how her Sudanese sister Amina, and her three-year-old niece Samrin, were prevented from boarding an evacuation flight out of Port Sudan as Amina lacked a UK visa and was not able to prove Samrin's British citizenship obtained via her father.

The report also pointed out that in some cases, British officials gave the parents of young children visas and allowed them to board. But in others, they turned them away and it is not yet clear why these cases were treated differently.

ALSO READ |Sudan conflict: US Prez Biden says fighting must end, threatens sanctions against those responsible

Meanwhile, some children with British passports were prevented from boarding evacuation flights as their accompanying parents lacked UK visas which were later provided by officials after pressure from British nationals in the UK.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) has been criticised for handling evacuations from Sudan. The report also said that after a week of pressure from the British Medical Association, Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly permitted many NHS doctors and their dependents stranded in Sudan to board evacuation flights from an airstrip north of Khartoum and an additional flight from Port Sudan.

The UK government has repeatedly denied abandoning anyone in Sudan. On Thursday, it announced that it would provide an initial $6.3 million of life-saving aid "to help meet the urgent needs of those fleeing the violence in Sudan.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.