Ship carrying 37 Pakistanis from war-torn Syria reaches Jeddah

JEDDAH: A ship carrying 37 Pakistani nationals from war-torn Sudan has reached Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah as fighting between the army and paramilitaries killed and wounded hundreds, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Taking to Twitter, the foreign office (FO) spokesperson wrote: “Evacuation plan for Pakistani nationals in Sudan continues. The ship carrying 37 Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan arrives in Jeddah.”

Evacuation plan for Pakistani nationals in Sudan continues. The ship carrying 37 Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan arrives in Jeddah. They were received by CG in Jeddah, Khalid Majid on arrival at Jeddah Port. We are grateful to Government of KSA for its support & hospitality. pic.twitter.com/7Vf8KaBpT7

— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) April 26, 2023

“They were received by Council General (CG) in Jeddah, Khalid Majid on arrival at Jeddah Port. We are grateful to the Government of Saudi Arabia for its support and hospitality,” the FO added.

In another statement, the FO said that “another convoy of 200 Pakistanis has arrived safely in Port Sudan”. It added that the “Embassy of Pakistan in Sudan will continue to facilitate their stay in Port Sudan and arrange their eventual repatriation”.

Alhamdulillah, another convoy of 200 Pakistanis has arrived safely in Port Sudan. Embassy of Pakistan in Sudan will continue to facilitate their stay in Port Sudan and arrange their eventual repatriation from Sudan.@PakinSudan

— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) April 26, 2023

So far, over 700 Pakistanis have been evacuated to safety from the war-torn country.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry – in a Tweet said – the boat with 1,687 civilians from more than 50 countries arrived in the kingdom today, which is the largest rescue effort by the Gulf state to date.

In continuation of the evacuation efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the directives of the Kingdoms Leadership, several evacuees arrived from the Republic of Sudan to the city of Jeddah today by a Kingdoms ship, which included 13 Saudi citizens and 1674 individuals pic.twitter.com/TJsucxTZnT

— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) April 26, 2023

The group was “transported by one of the Kingdom’s ships, and the Kingdom was keen to provide all the basic needs of foreign nationals in preparation for their departure,” it said in a statement.

The violence erupted on Saturday between the forces of two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup: army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

It followed a bitter dispute between them over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army — a key condition for a final deal aimed at restoring Sudan’s democratic transition.