The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said that it is preparing to evacuate up to 50 Filipinos caught in the fatal clashes in Sudan.
Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said the first batch will likely leave Sudan’s capital Khartoum “within 24 hours.”
A bus will take the Filipinos from Khartoum to northern Sudan at the border with Egypt, a distance of about 1,000 km, de Vega said, adding that the Filipinos will take a bus ride from the border to Aswan City in southern Egypt, where there is an international airport.
“The security is not 100 percent guaranteed for the 1,000-km travel from Khartoum to the north,” de Vega said.
He said many Filipinos in Sudan are undocumented. About 500 Filipinos in Sudan have emailed the Philippine embassy in Egypt to register.
It was reported on Sunday that the 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan collapsed on Saturday, causing new clashes between the country’s army and a paramilitary group.
Also, hospitals continue to be targeted in the conflict as both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) failed to fulfill their commitments under the cease-fire, said the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD).
The fighting has reportedly spread to Bahri and Omdurman, cities adjacent to the capital Khartoum, where the current conflict broke out on April 15, the CCSD added, noting that clashes had also taken place around the army headquarters and presidential palace.
CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE
