London [UK], April 30: The deadline for British nationals to reach the evacuation airfield in Sudan passed as the government prepares to cease flights out of the war-torn region within hours. British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will chair a COBRA national emergency committee meeting on Saturday afternoon to discuss the security situation in Khartoum before the final flight takes off at 6 pm British time (1700 GMT). Some 1,573 people on 13 flights have been evacuated from the WadiSaeedna site near capital, but thousands more British citizens may remain.
BBC reported that all National Health Service ) doctors are now eligible to catch flights out of the country following a U-turn by the government, which initially said the evacuation was only open to UK passport holders and their immediate families. It comes amid criticism of the pace of the British evacuation, which was given more time after a three-day ceasefire extension between warring generals was agreed on Thursday. Dowden denied the government will effectively "abandon" those who have been unable to make the potentially dangerous journey to the airfield with its decision to cease flights. The government was also facing renewed pressure to broaden the eligibility criteria for evacuation after it cited a decline in the number of UK passport holders coming forward as its reason for ending its rescue operation. Concerns have been raised that the current approach could see families split up or some members left behind, with the Labour opposition calling on ministers to use the longer window to rescue others. Following the decision to end evacuation flights on Saturday, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy urged the government not to "turn away" British residents, including NHS doctors reportedly trapped in the conflict zone. Dowden told the BBC: "We are in touch with and engaging rapidly with the Sudanese Doctors' Association to see what further support we can provide them."
Source: Qatar Tribune