DFA: 86 Filipinos want to leave Sudan as clashes intensify

He said the embassy is also verifying the report that one Filipino has been hit by a stray bullet and has reportedly recovered. (File Photo By Patrick Roque, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA – At least 86 Filipinos have so far requested for repatriation out of Sudan as violent armed clashes between Sudanese forces continue in Khartoum, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday.

DFA Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega, in a text message, said the Honorary Consulate in Khartoum is working with the Philippine Embassy in Cairo, which holds jurisdiction over Filipinos in Sudan, to safely extract the 86.

He said the DFA would fund the repatriation.

“Gumagawa ng paraan ang embahada at dahil imposible silang ilipad pauwi, kailangan land transportation kasi sarado lahat ng airport (The embassy is finding ways because it is impossible to fly out of Sudan and they would have to use land transportation since all airports are closed),” he said in a separate television interview Thursday.

“Ang problema lang nine hours yung Khartoum papuntang Egypt pero iyon lang ang paraan kaya naghahanap sila ng land transportation na available (The challenge here is that the land travel from Khartoum to Egypt would take nine hour, but that’s the only way possible at present),” he added.

He said the embassy is also verifying the report that one Filipino has been hit by a stray bullet and has reportedly recovered.

De Vega said there are more than 400 Filipinos currently living in Sudan.

The crisis began with armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), loyal to the head of the military government, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital Khartoum on April 15, with the latter claiming it had taken control of the Khartoum International Airport, Merowe Airport, Al-Obeid Airport and the presidential palace.

The RSF is an independent Sudanese military force that grew out of the Janjaweed militia that fought in a conflict in the Darfur region.

The United Nations said it has been involved in talks aimed at a transition from the military rule in place since the 2021 military coup to a civilian government.

Since the fighting began, about 300 people have been killed and over 3,000 injured, according to the World Health Organization.