The evacuation of Irish citizens from Sudan in the midst of violence across the country continued on Monday night, with EU partners’ aircraft providing sporadic assistance to affected individuals. While up to 50 Irish citizens were successfully evacuated by French and Spanish aircraft on Monday morning, the pace slowed due to logistical challenges. However, German and Swedish air forces took over on Monday evening, and multiple flights were scheduled throughout the night. Despite the ongoing evacuations, officials noted that it would not be possible to obtain accurate data on the number of individuals successfully relocated before Tuesday morning due to the continuously changing situation on the ground.
It is believed that more than 100 Irish people, including aid workers, return immigrants with Irish citizenship, and businesspeople, remain in Sudan. However, this figure may be much higher when accounting for children and other dependents. It is challenging to remain in contact with citizens and to gather data due to internet outages in the country. Over 420 people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting between two rival Sudanese military factions.
An Irish Emergency Consular Assistance Team (Ecat) is expected to be on the ground in Djibouti on Monday morning to help with the evacuation. The team, which comprises 12 Army Ranger Wing personnel and six Department of Foreign Affairs officials, used a combination of commercial, Irish Air Corps, and EU military aircraft to get to Djibouti. Along with other EU nations, Ireland is using Djibouti as a staging area for evacuations.
On Tuesday, smaller teams of Irish diplomats and soldiers will travel by Swedish and German planes to Sudan, where they will assist in processing and checking identification of Irish citizens before they board an aircraft to Djibouti.
Officials defended Ireland’s response on Monday, including the decision to send only 12 troops, which is the maximum number of troops that can be deployed overseas without triggering the “triple-lock” mechanism for overseas missions. However, defense sources noted that the triple-lock did not dictate the numbers sent and that more soldiers could be deployed if needed. It is believed that the Government has received legal advice that the triple-lock does not apply to the mission as it is humanitarian in nature. Ireland currently lacks any aircraft suitable for such a mission, though two new Airbus C295W aircraft are expected to arrive shortly, which will be appropriate for Defense Forces military airlift transport necessities. A third transport aircraft is expected by 2025, enabling Ireland to participate in various pooling and sharing opportunities with partner nations.
Despite ongoing logistical and security issues, Ireland is committed to evacuating its citizens and is working closely with EU partners and other nations to ensure the safe and timely relocation of all those affected.
