Irishwoman had to beg Sudan fighters not to kill her husband
A first plane evacuating French diplomats, European nationals, and other countries after landing in Djibouti.
An Irishwoman who had to beg a firing squad to spare her husband’s life will be among those flown home from Sudan, as fierce fighting leaves dozens of other Irish citizens still at risk.
In a statement this morning, Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin confirmed that 72 Irish nationals and their families have now been safely evacuated from the northeastern African country to Djibouti and Jordan. The Department of Foreign Affairs says efforts are ongoing to evacuate others.
"Our teams in Nairobi, Djibouti and Dublin are continuing to work intensively to secure further evacuations," Mr Martin said.
"Grateful for solidarity and support of our EU partners."
News of the latest evacuations comes as about 50 people, including a number of Irish citizens, were left outside of the French embassy in Khartoum on Monday after being told the building had reached capacity.
According to US reports on Monday night, the warring factions in Sudan agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire while Western, Arab and Asian nations raced to extract their citizens from the country.
Bloody violence has erupted across Sudan in a battle between rival military factions, leaving more than 420 dead and thousands injured.
The fighting between forces loyal to two generals has put the country at risk of collapse and has left Irish people caught up in the violence scrambling for an escape.
Mother-of-two Kathy McAlgeed, from Mayo, screamed for mercy as her husband, Dr Rami McAlgeed, and two other men were lined up against a wall by a firing squad while fleeing fighting in Khartoum.
Ms McAlgeed pleaded with the soldiers, who had guns drawn and pointed at her husband, that they were no risk to anybody.
After convincing the gunmen to let them go, Ms McAlgeed and her family have finally managed — after nine days of “hell” — to make it out.
They are among a group of 50 Irish citizens currently staying in hotels in the neighbouring East African country of Djibouti.
“Thank God, they are all safe and well,” Ms McAlgeed's mother Catherine said from her home in Co Mayo last night.
“We have been told they might be home in the coming days, all things going well.
Her daughter, who is head of an international school in Khartoum, has been living in Sudan for over 10 years, with her Sudanese husband and sons, Lochlan, 7, and Liam, aged 4.
RTÉ reported at the weekend she had only made it out of the city, but now she is set for home. She is unlikely to ever return to the country after the trauma of recent days.
The Government here was last night making renewed efforts to evacuate other Irish citizens from Sudan amid fears of increased bloodshed.
While officially there were 150 Irish citizens in Sudan as of Sunday morning, non-governmental organisations and Irish people who have lived in the country estimate there could be as many as 400, but many have not registered with the embassy in Kenya.
It is not clear exactly how many remain since fighting erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Thousands of citizens from all over the world have been trying to leave Sudan in recent days, with long convoys stretching across the country's road networks.
These include UN convoys from Khartoum to Port Sudan, a safe zone more than 842km away.
Humanitarian agency Goal has six staff from the international community in Sudan, including a woman from Dublin, as well as some 250 Sudanese staff.
Paul Westbury, Goal's regional security adviser for Africa, said the Dublin woman lives in Darfur with her husband and children.
“At the moment, it is just too dangerous for her to move, and she is actually safer where she is," he said
"The fighting has calmed down a little bit.
“We think that maybe the reason things have gone a bit calmer in the last two or three days is because of these international missions going in and out. Neither side wants to upset the international community.
Aid agency Concern has also successfully managed to get most of its international staff, including one from Ireland, to Port Sudan.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the evacuation of 50 Irish citizens and family members from Khartoum to the east African country of Djibouti, with the support of France and Spain, was part of a wider, co-ordinated evacuation of EU citizens.
A consular team from the department has been on the ground in Djibouti since Sunday.
Members of an Emergency Civil Assistance Team mission to Sudan, which will include up to 12 members of the Army Ranger Wing, are also due to help support evacuation efforts on the ground.
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