The Hungarian government is continuously working with other countries to evacuate its citizens from Sudan, a country that has been plunged into civil war, according to Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.
Fourteen Hungarians and forty-eight foreigners who were on a scuba diving trip off the coast of Sudan have been evacuated, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told MTI on Saturday. At the outbreak of the conflict, it was possible to contact the partly Hungarian-owned diving company and the crew of the boat, who, thanks to Hungarian diplomatic assistance and coordination, after buying the necessary fuel, set sail for Egypt instead of Sudan. They were met at the port by diplomats from the Hungarian Embassy in Cairo and were allowed to travel first to Cairo and then to Hungary.
he explained.
Four more Hungarian citizens have been evacuated from Sudan, while the evacuation of six others is underway, Szijjártó said on Monday. The four Hungarians are now safe in Djibouti, three of whom have been evacuated in the framework of evacuation cooperation with France, for which he thanked France. In addition, three Hungarians are currently on their way to safety under UN cooperation, and three others are being evacuated. “My consular colleagues are waiting for them at the border crossing points in some countries bordering Sudan,” he said, adding that he could not give more specific information for the time being for security reasons.
Szijjártó said that another five Hungarian citizens are still in the Sudanese capital, and despite the poor technical conditions, they can be contacted from time to time, and the Hungarian government offers them various options on how to leave the country.
It is important to know that the condition of any evacuation, everyone who wants to participate in it, must be able to reach either a designated assembly point or an airport, at his or her own risk and in a way that he or she has organized,”
he said. “This is obviously, given the circumstances, a risky undertaking in itself, and not everyone is willing to take it,” the minister added. “If I have new information, or if more Hungarians arrive at the designated meeting points and my colleagues make direct contact with them, we will, of course, report these developments immediately,” he said.
The situation has made it necessary to bring Hungarians home from Sudan with the coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the participation of the Counter-Terrorism Center, and the capacities of the Hungarian Defense Forces, said Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky. He stressed that the security of the Hungarian people is the most important thing wherever they are in the world.
Featured photo via TEK