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Malaysia has evacuated 30 Malaysians from Sudan, and assisted 22 people of other nationalities in leaving the war-torn country, including 14 Singaporeans.
'Harrowing'
The 52 people were initially gathered at Port Sudan, before being taken to King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by the Saudi Royal Navy ship the HMS Abha.
According to the New Straits Times, the 30 Malaysians and 14 Singaporeans were evacuated from the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where intense fighting has been going on between two factions of Sudanese armed forces.
The 30 Malaysians comprised embassy staff, Petronas employees and students.
The group undertook a 30-hour road journey in order to reach Port Sudan, which appears to have been arranged by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry.
The Malaysian MFA has said that in addition to the 14 Singaporeans, it also assisted six Cambodians, a Thai, a Filipino, a Sudanese, and two Americans.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said that his ministry had been working since the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Apr. 22, to arrange the evacuation, describing the journey as "harrowing".
He described collecting the evacuees from seven different locations within Khartoum, including the Petronas facility which has now been taken over by Sudan's Defence Ministry.
The Malaysian ambassador's car was apparently even stopped and robbed during the journey, which took the group through several checkpoints and battle areas.
From Port Sudan, the evacuees boarded the Saudi Arabian ship, which took them on a nine-hour voyage to Jeddah.
The Malaysian group will return to Malaysia on Apr. 28.
Appreciation and Gratitude
A spokesperson for Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement on Apr. 27, confirmed with Mothership that two Singaporean families comprising 14 Singaporeans and a family member were safely evacuated to Jeddah.
MFA added:
"Since the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan, MFA has been rendering consular assistance to the Singaporeans in Sudan and exploring options to evacuate them. The Singapore Embassies in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, as well as the Singapore Consulate-General in Jeddah worked closely with their host governments and Malaysian embassy counterparts to facilitate the Singaporean families’ departure from Khartoum to Jeddah.
The Singapore Government would like to express its deepest appreciation and gratitude to the governments of Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for facilitating the safe return of our citizens."
These sentiments were echoed in a tweet by the Singaporean Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Wong Chow Ming, who also thanked the three governments.
Wong appears to have met the Singaporeans upon their arrival in Jeddah, and described the effort as "a truly multinational humanitarian mission".
Background
Nations have been struggling to evacuate their nationals, as fighting in Sudan has been ongoing since Apr. 15.
China deployed a ship to evacuate over 1,100 of its nationals, according to China Daily.
The fighting in Sudan is between two factions of Sudan's governing military government, according to the BBC, the Sudanese Army who are loyal to the country's de facto ruler, and a paramilitary force known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The RSF developed from the "Janjaweed militias", who were responsible for fighting in the Darfur region against separatist forces that would eventually break away and form the new nation of South Sudan.
Both the BBC and the Guardian speculate that the generals in charge of both sides may be fighting in order to preserve their own power, while claiming democratic reform as their motivation.
Crisis 24, an international security risk management firm, indicated that fighting is ongoing despite a 72-hour truce being declared, starting from April 25.
Fighting is taking place in several Sudanese cities, and involve airstrikes.
There is no sign that the truce will be extended nor that fighting will end anytime soon, with Crisis 24 saying there had been at least 459 civilian casualties.
Top image via @ChowmingW/Twitter