Welcome
Press release from the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of Defence on the end of the evacuation operation in the Sudan
This evening the last evacuation flight from the Sudan to Jordan for the time being will depart. As long as other nations are operating flights, no further German evacuation flights from this region are planned. The crisis support team of the Federal Foreign Office and the Bundeswehr will then redeploy its forces to Germany; it will, however, remain responsive. Germans who are still in the Sudan and have so far not been able to get to the airport will be flown out in the coming days on the evacuation flights of our international partners.
As of 12 noon today, the soldiers had evacuated around 490 persons, including 20 Jordanians. More than a third of these evacuees are Germans: around 170 as of 12 noon today. The Bundeswehr has evacuated people from approximately 30 nations in total, for example, 90 Canadians (as of 12 noon) and more than 40 Netherlanders (as of 12 noon). The number of German nationals on the last evacuation flights was very low.
The evacuation operation is being coordinated by the Federal Foreign Office crisis unit. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius thanked all civilian and military forces for their exceptional engagement within the context of the evacuation operation.
Annalena Baerbock said:
It was important for us that, unlike other countries, our evacuation includes not only our Embassy personnel but all Germans in the country and our partners. Almost 500 people from 30 countries have been flown out of Khartoum with our support – that is a huge achievement. The fact that our citizens can rely on not being left to fend for themselves in an emergency even when abroad is not a bureaucratic matter of course. It is the result of the courage, teamwork and tireless dedication of many hundreds of people in the Bundeswehr, the Federal Police and the Federal Foreign Office. I would like to expressly mention the three Federal Foreign Office employees who flew to Khartoum on Sunday to organise the evacuation – their readiness to enter a crisis situation like this voluntarily as civilians is impressive. We are also continuing to work on ways to get those Germans who are still in the Sudan to safety, whether on flights by partners, over land or by sea
Prior to this, Boris Pistorius emphasised the role played by the armed forces. He underscored:
I am relieved and very satisfied to hear of the outcome of the operation. We can all be proud of the troops. They were able to function straight away and fulfilled all the requirements. The effort involved in regular training, careful planning and the decisiveness of the military leaders have paid off and ultimately saved lives.“
Around 1000 soldiers were deployed in the Middle East and North Africa. Many were also on standby in Germany. They could have been transported to the scene of operations at any time.
The smooth running of the evacuation operation was down to very good cooperation between the Federal Foreign Office and the Defence Ministry as well as close coordination with the contact persons in the Sudan and the partner countries that were also evacuating citizens.
As of 12 noon today, there had been five evacuation flights from the Sudan to Jordan. As another flight is planned for the evening, it is currently to be assumed that there will be six evacuation flights in total. Since the weekend, the Federal Foreign Office Crisis Response Centre has been phoning all German nationals recorded on the register for emergency contact. This process will continue in order to ensure that all Germans still in the country are informed of further evacuation options – also those organised by our international partners.
Yesterday, Germany assumed the management of the multinational flight coordination at the airport outside Khartoum. Currently, Inspector General Carsten Breuer is liaising with partner countries to clarify who will take over the management of this flight coordination from tomorrow. On this issue Germany is in close consultation with the contact persons in the Sudan.
After handing over the coordination, the Bundeswehr will begin to organise the redeployment of the material and personnel. A large number of the soldiers and all the civilian personnel of the crisis support team will be sent back home in the coming days. The redeployment of the material in Jordan will take rather more time.
German nationals were also able to make use of other evacuation options: twenty‑three Germans were evacuated from Khartoum to Port Sudan with the UN convoy. From there the plan is for them to travel on to Jeddah. Three Germans who were on a boat off the coast of the Sudan when the fighting broke out were able to travel to Egypt on a cruise ship. Nine Germans were evacuated by France to Djibouti. The missions in the countries concerned are also assisting these Germans to return home safely.