Tánaiste confirms evacuation of 72 Irish citizens and family members from Sudan

Tánaiste Micheál Martin confirmed some 72 Irish citizens and family members had already been evacuated from the country. Picture: Careth Chaney/Collins

Irish authorities are working to "secure further evacuations" from war-torn Sudan.

But, speaking last night, Tánaiste Micheál Martin confirmed some 72 Irish citizens and family members had already been evacuated from the country.

They have left Khartoum to go to the neighbouring countries Djibouti and Jordan.

There are understood to be up to around 400 Irish citizens and their dependents in the country, with only around 125 registered with Irish embassy officials in neighbouring Kenya as of Monday.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said this is part of an ongoing and coordinated evacuation of EU citizens.

“Joint missions of this nature show the best of our union and we thank our EU partners, in particular France, Sweden, Spain, Germany, and The Netherlands, for their ongoing solidarity and support.

Our officials in Dublin and Nairobi are leading the evacuation effort and continuing to support citizens and their families still in Sudan.

The Government has approved the deployment of an Emergency Civil Assistance Team (ECAT) mission.

Like all ECATs, it is led by Department of Foreign Affairs personnel and supported by Defence Forces personnel. Up to 12 Defence Forces personnel are involved. The ECAT and the consular teams are based in Djibouti.

The department said they are working with those evacuated through Djibouti and helping to arrange accommodation as well as supporting and advising on onward arrangements.

They said this includes “the logistical elements of travel to Ireland if they choose”.

The spokesperson said: “Whether, and when, the ECAT will deploy to Sudan will depend on operational and security criteria.

The duration of the mission will be dependent on the progress that can be made, the security situation on the ground, and decisions on extraction by partners. The security of the team, and of our citizens and their family members, is paramount.

While Ireland and other nations work to get citizens out of the east African country, it has emerged one of the two sides in the civil war has seized a laboratory containing viruses.

It is not clear how big the selection of samples are or if they could be weaponized, but they are said to contain isolates of cholera and measles.

UN officials have said there is a “huge biological risk” associated with the seizure of a health laboratory in the capital Khartoum by “one of the fighting parties”.

The World Health Organization’s representative in Sudan, Dr Nima Saeed Abid, has refused to say which side — Sudan’s military or its paramilitary opponents in the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — seized control of the lab.

Although there is currently a ceasefire in place, the fighting, which broke out on April 15, has plunged the heavily aid-dependent country into chaos.