TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi stated that 955 citizens had been evacuated from Sudan following the outbreak of a deadly conflict involving the country's military factions.

In a press conference in Jakarta on Friday, May 5, Retno explained that of the figure, 934 people have arrived in Indonesia and 21 people are in safe areas outside Sudan.

The rest 64 people, including 13 Indonesian Embassy staff in Khartoum, preferred to stay in Sudan. Some of them chose to stay for family reasons.

“While several countries are still trying to evacuate their citizens from Sudan, thank God we have managed to evacuate most of our citizens,” Retno said.

The United Nations warned that the fighting between the Sudan’s army and the paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which broke out on April 15, 2023, might trigger a humanitarian disaster that could spill over to other countries.

As of Tuesday, May 2, 2023, Sudan said the armed conflict had killed 550 people and caused injuries to 4,926 people.

“The situation is very dynamic, very fluid, and can threaten the safety of Indonesian citizens,” Retno said, elaborating on reasons behind the necessity of carrying out a silent but quick evacuation operation.

The evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Sudan through a number of countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt began at the end of April until May 1, 2023.

DANIEL A. FAJRI | REUTERS

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