Parents of Kenyan university students trapped in Khartoum, Sudan, congregate in a residence in Kenya’s Wajir County while they wait for updates on their children.
Osman Mohamed is one of many anxious Kenyan parents who are worried about the impending expiration of a 72-hour cease-fire between the warring troops in Sudan.
“My son is among those still stuck at the university, and he confirmed to me that there are several of them waiting for communication from the embassy and they have not yet received that information,” he said.
From Paloich airstrip in South Sudan, the first group of Kenyan evacuees flew home in a Kenyan air force aircraft on Monday night. The 39-person group, which included 19 Kenyan students, was evacuated as a result of the upheaval in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, which has claimed hundreds of lives.
“We started our journey two days ago from Khartoum,” said Abdi Hamza, an evacuated medical student at the International University of Africa in Khartoum. “We arrived by bus to Kosti near the border, and from Kosti to Jodah. We were welcomed by the South Sudanese administration in Jodah.
A pledge to remove Kenyans
Kenya is dedicated to securing the safe repatriation of all of its residents who are trapped in Sudan, according to Aden Duale, the country’s cabinet secretary for defense.
Duale welcomed the evacuees at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and promised that “we will make sure that aircrafts and all logistics are available to evacuate all Kenyans.” Over 3,000 Kenyans are detained in Sudan, and as of now, 900 of them have been located in different areas of Khartoum and Sudan as a whole.
Parents of students who are still in Sudan have voiced worry and pleaded with the government to evacuate them before warfare picks back up despite Kenya’s efforts.
“We are strongly urging the government to expedite the evacuation process so that at least all the students in Khartoum have been transported to safer places before the additional time elapses,” Mohamed said.
Kenya “can do better,” according to critics
In an effort to speed up the evacuation procedure, Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry instructed stranded Kenyans to register with its embassy in Khartoum earlier this week.
However, there haven’t been any more flights carrying Kenyans out of Sudan since Monday.
Ahmed Madey, an education researcher in Nairobi, stated: “The fact that out of the 900 that have been mapped you were only able to evacuate 35 shows you how small efforts [were].” “I believe Kenya’s government is capable of more.”
Following a 72-hour cease-fire agreement between Sudan’s armed forces and the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Monday, Western, Arab, and African nations rushed to evacuate hundreds of foreign nationals.
Many Kenyan parents, like Mohamed, worry about their loved ones as the cease-fire deed approaches its end date, but they remain hopeful that they will return home safely.
