New ceasefire announced in Sudan: evacuation for local staff demanded: “Passport must not play a role”
Germany has taken over the coordination of the international evacuation flights from Sudan. Because of the dangerous situation, there is also increasing concern about local staff without a German passport. A new ceasefire will apply from midnight – it is questionable whether it will be observed.
The security situation in Sudan remains tense: According to the UN, more than 400 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured in the fighting between the army and the RSF militia that has been going on for ten days. Several agreed ceasefires were broken, and the United States announced that a three-day ceasefire would be in effect again from midnight.
In large parts of the country there is a lack of water, electricity, food, medicine and fuel. Several evacuation missions are currently underway for foreign nationals, including those from Germany, and for numerous UN employees.
Roth: “Then the passport shouldn’t play a role”
German politicians are also concerned about local workers in Sudan who, while not holding German passports, have worked with the federal government in the past.
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the German Bundestag, Michael Roth (SPD), demands that local staff must be helped if they are in acute danger. “Anyone who has worked for the Federal Republic of Germany must be able to rely on us, even if they can no longer work for us,” Roth told the television stations “RTL” and “ntv”.
Roth emphasized that the situation in Sudan was “completely different” than in Afghanistan in 2021, but Germany as an employer had a “duty of care” for the people: “Then the passport and origin shouldn’t play a role,” said Roth.
Nanni: The situation cannot be compared to Afghanistan
However, the defense policy spokeswoman for the Greens, Sara Nanni, sees no compelling need to involve the local forces who have worked with Germany in the evacuation measures in Sudan. “Evacuation operations are about getting German nationals out of crisis areas,” Nanni told the editorial network Germany (RND).
“In Afghanistan, local staff who worked with German authorities were particularly at risk because of their work. This particular risk for local workers does not exist in general in Sudan.”
Germany takes over the coordination of the evacuation flights
Germany has meanwhile taken over the coordination of evacuation flights from the embattled Sudan from France. The Bundeswehr is now responsible for coordinating flight movements to the host airfield, said a spokesman for the Bundeswehr Operations Command. The aim is to regulate flight times and practical operations at the military airfield near Khartoum, which is used by western countries.
Several western countries had begun to fly their citizens and nationals of other nations out of the country over the weekend. France has now practically completed its evacuation. How long the evacuation can continue depends largely on the security situation in the country.
On Sunday, the Bundeswehr began bringing embassy employees and aid organizations out of Sudan. The sluggish rescue efforts for local forces in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr in 2021 had been heavily criticized.
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