DFA: Over 400 Pinoys evacuated from Sudan

MANILA, Philippines — More than 400 Filipinos have been evacuated from strife-torn Sudan as the government took advantage of a three-day ceasefire declared last Tuesday to carry out its evacuation and aid efforts.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said 456 Filipinos have evacuated Sudan’s capital of Khartoum as of Wednesday.

Earlier yesterday, Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said 335 overseas Filipino workers and their family members left the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on April 26 for Egypt via Wadi Halfa Highway. Another 35 OFWs and 15 students were safely evacuated to Egypt with the help of Filipinos in Sudan and personnel from the migrant workers department.

Travel time to Egypt varies depending on weather and sea conditions and on situation at border crossings.

Airports in Sudan remain closed and there is still no option for air evacuation at this time.

Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople and Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac are in Cairo, Egypt to oversee the evacuation and to lead the giving of assistance to Filipinos affected by the conflict.

Ople told reporters last Tuesday that President Marcos had ordered agencies to evacuate Filipinos as quickly as possible and to provide them assistance even if they do not have passports, identity cards and other similar documents.

Garafil also confirmed reports that Philippine Ambassador to Egypt Ezzedin Tago and Vice Consul Bojer Capati figured in a car accident while on their way to the Sudan-Egypt border to assist Filipino evacuees.

The Philippine embassy in Egypt has jurisdiction over Filipinos in Sudan. “Both officials are safe and are still proceeding to facilitate the evacuation,” Garafil said in a statement.

The DFA said 750 Filipinos in Sudan have registered with the embassy as of Wednesday. They work as technicians, nurses, teachers, domestic workers.

Defense department officer-in-charge Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr. has coordinated with DFA to reposition the defense attaché from the United Arab Emirates and Israel to assist the Philippine embassy in Cairo in the evacuation efforts.

The Marcos administration will provide financial aid worth $200 to each Filipino affected by the Sudanese conflict. For those who do not wish to return to the Philippines, the government is coordinating with the Saudi Arabian government so they can be given temporary jobs.

More than 450 people have died and about 4,000 others have been wounded since clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group erupted 11 days ago.

The DFA has raised Alert Level 3 in Sudan, a status that involves voluntary evacuation and repatriation. The 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan is set to lapse this morning Philippine time.

“In this regard, the public is assured that the Philippine Embassy in Cairo is continuously monitoring the situation while providing repatriation assistance to Filipinos in Sudan,” the DFA said in an advisory Wednesday night. — Pia Lee-Brago