Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Dr Alfred Mutua has announced that South Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have granted permission for Kenyan planes meant to evacuate stranded Kenyans in Sudan, to overfly their airspace.
In a statement on Monday, April 23, 2023, Mutua said that the Kenyans will be evacuated in batches after safely crossing to South Sudan and Ethiopia.
According to Mutua, the government has three evacuation plans, estimated to evacuate between 300 and 400 Kenyans stranded in the war-torn country.
“The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has three active evacuation programs: One, we have already facilitated 29 Kenyan students to cross the border to Ethiopia. They are on their way to Gondor where they will fly to Addis Ababa then to Nairobi. Two, we have a Kenya Airforce aircraft ready for a group of 18 students who are currently travelling by road to the South Sudan border. They will be airlifted to Nairobi,” Mutua stated.
“Three, a larger group of Kenyans are on a well-planned program of travel and we will have two aircraft ferry them from Port Sudan to Jeddah and thereafter travel to Nairobi by Kenya Airways.”
Sudan conflict
At least 400 people have been killed and 3,550 injured in the country’s conflict involving rival military factions.
Countries such as the United States, France and Britain, mobilized evacuation efforts for their citizens and diplomatic staff.
The United States and France both relied on Special Operations troops, and Britain said 1,200 of its military personnel were involved in evacuating its diplomatic staff and their families.
