Cyprus Mail 26 April 2023 - by Iole Damaskinos
 |
| Soldiers at Akrotiri RAF base board flight bound for Sudan on April 25 [Reuters] |
Two flights, one flight carrying Cypriot evacuees as well as Britons, arrived safely at Larnaca airport from Sudan on Wednesday morning.
The first Royal Air Force flight arrived at dawn, carrying three more Cypriot citizens and seven people of Cypriot origin, bringing the number of rescued Cypriots up to 11 from the 23 originally stranded in the war-torn country.
Later in the morning, a second flight landed, carrying British nationals in transit to the UK. The number of passengers was not immediately specified by British authorities but information from foreign office officials later confirmed the rescue of 230-240 people.
Foreign ministry spokesman, Theodoros Gotsis, speaking on state broadcaster CyBC’s morning radio, said the goals is to make the most of the ceasefire and rescue as many nationals as possible of various countries.
The evacuations are being carried out in coordination with several EU states, under the management of Estia, a crisis repatriation body assembled following UK initiative.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, expressed his thanks to his British counterpart, James Cleverly, for the coordinated effort.
Three evacuation flights to the island have been successfully coordinated since the 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan, which came into effect at midnight on Monday.
The first flight to land on Tuesday evening carried 39 evacuees, according to the BBC, including infants and elderly, who had been given priority status.
British authorities aim to repatriate the evacuees to the UK within 48 hours, while Gotsis told CyBC the Republic would make available short-term accommodations as necessary.
Passengers on Tuesday’s flight stayed overnight in a Larnaca hotel and are expected to complete their onward journey on Wednesday, with the same expected to happen for rescued passengers of the two latest flights.
Britons who arrived in Larnaca said they were terrified by the journey through Khartoum to the airport, that once there they were met by their compatriots the evacuation process went smoothly.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that 2,000 British passport holders had informed the foreign office that they wished to leave Sudan.
British evacuation flights are operating from Wadi Saeedna Airport north of the capital Khartoum.
Until Tuesday the control and security of the airport was carried out by German soldiers, who are handing over the task to British soldiers on Wednesday, as per British defence secretary Ben Wallace.
Around 120 members of the British armed forces are on site, as well as teams from the foreign and home offices to verify documents.
The British government has received criticism for the slow pace of evacuations compared with other countries and for directing its citizens to go to the airport in their own vehicles, despite uncertainty about the observance of the ceasefire and a lack of fuel.
The UK has far more nationals in Sudan than any other country, British home secretary Suella Braverman said on Wednesday defending the British operation.
