The last German NEO evacuation flight from Sudan to Jordan will take place tonight ~ no further German flights from this region are planned.
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Press Release, Berlin, 25 April 2023: [auto-translated] The last evacuation flight from Sudan to Jordan will take place tonight. As long as other nations ensure the operation of air traffic, no further German evacuation flights from this region are planned. The Federal Foreign Office crisis support team and the Bundeswehr will then redeploy their forces back to Germany, but remain responsive. Germans who are still in Sudan and who have not yet been able to come to the airport will be taken along by our international partners on their evacuation flights over the next few days
As of twelve o’clock today, the soldiers have evacuated around 490 people, including 20 Jordanians. More than a third of the evacuees are Germans. As of twelve o’clock today, there are around 170 German citizens. The Bundeswehr evacuated people from around 30 nations, for example 90 Canadians and more than 40 Dutch (both as of twelve o’clock). The proportion of German nationals on the last evacuation flights was only very small.
The evacuation mission is led by the crisis team of the Federal Foreign Office. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius thanked all civil and military forces for their great work on the evacuation mission. Annalena Baerbock said: “It was important to us that, unlike in other countries, an evacuation not only applies to our embassy staff, but to all local Germans and our partners. Almost 500 people from 30 countries were flown out of Khartoum thanks to our support – that is a huge achievement. The fact that our citizens abroad can also rely on not being left to their own devices in an emergency is not a bureaucratic matter of course. It is the result of courage, teamwork and tireless dedication on the part of many hundreds of people involved in the German armed forces, the federal police and the Foreign Office. I would like to specifically mention the two employees of the Federal Foreign Office who flew to Khartoum for the evacuation on Sunday – their willingness to volunteer as civilians in such a crisis situation is impressive. We are also continuing to work on ways to safety for those Germans who are still in Sudan – be it with partner flights, by land or by sea.”
Boris Pistorius previously highlighted the performance of the soldiers. He emphasizes: “I am relieved and very satisfied with the result of the operation. We can all be proud of the squad. It worked right away and met all requirements. The efforts of the regular training, the careful planning and the decisiveness of the military leadership have paid off and ultimately saved lives.”
Around 1000 soldiers were deployed in the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, many were also in Germany on standby. They could have been brought to the operational area at any time. The fact that the evacuation mission went so smoothly was also due to the very good cooperation between the Federal Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence as well as close coordination with the contacts in Sudan and the partner countries that evacuate citizens.
As of twelve o’clock today, there have been five evacuation flights from Sudan to Jordan. Since another evacuation flight is planned for the evening, a total of six evacuation flights can currently be assumed. The crisis response centre of the Federal Foreign Office has been calling all German nationals registered on the crisis prevention list since the weekend. This will also be continued to ensure that all Germans who are still on site are informed about the further evacuation options – also with our international partners.
Germany yesterday took the lead in multinational flight coordination at the airport near Khartoum. Inspector General Carsten Breuer is currently in contact with partner countries as to who will take over the management of this flight coordination from tomorrow. Germany is coordinating closely with the contact persons in Sudan on this issue. After the coordination has been handed over, the Bundeswehr will begin to redeploy material and personnel. The majority of the soldiers and the civilian employees of the crisis support team will be relocated in the coming days. The return transport of the material in Jordan will take a little more time.
German nationals were also able to use other evacuation options: 23 Germans were evacuated from Khartoum with the UN convoy to Port Sudan, and their onward journey to Jeddah is planned. Three Germans who were on a boat off Sudan when fighting broke out were able to travel to Egypt on a cruise ship. Nine Germans were evacuated from France to Djibouti. The diplomatic missions in the respective countries also support these Germans with a safe journey home.
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