The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said 50 Filipinos were evacuated out of Khartoum, Sudan on Monday night amid the ongoing clashes between the Sudanese military and a paramilitary group.
DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said the first batch of Filipino evacuees left Khartoum by land at 8 p.m. on Monday (Manila time). From there, the Filipinos were expected to reach Aswan in Egypt, and then its capital, Cairo.
The department earlier said that Filipinos in Sudan have sought the Philippine government’s help for their repatriation.
Earlier, three Filipinos, through their employers and the Saudi Arabian government, had been evacuated from the conflict-torn country to Jeddah.
The violence in Sudan erupted between the forces of the two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup: the army chief and his deputy, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Sudan’s RSF said on Monday it agreed to a US-mediated 72-hour truce with the Sudanese Army starting at midnight to facilitate humanitarian efforts.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday that the government is doing the necessary preparations in anticipation of the 72-hour ceasefire declared in Sudan, hoping it could provide an opportunity to bring home Filipinos stuck in the war-torn country.
President Marcos made the remarks following a meeting with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Department of National Defense (DND) on current issues including the Sudan situation, particularly on how the government can bring Filipinos to safety.
“Right now, we are hoping that the 72-hour ceasefire that has been declared will hold and we will — we are preparing ourselves,” Marcos said.
“So, we’re trying — we’re watching this situation very, very closely and to see if there’s a window of opportunity to evacuate our nationals,” he added.
The President said Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople is on her way to the region, hoping to take advantage of the lull in the fighting to move people out of Sudan.
“We can get our people out. So that’s what we’re working on now. The difficult thing is that even the land routes are not completely safe. As yet, those airports that are still bombed cannot really be used. We are still trying to find alternative ways,” the President said.
The government, he added, is looking at Saudi Arabia and Djibouti in East Africa although the original plan was to take Filipinos to Cairo, Egypt, despite being a longer route than other locations.
The US announced on Monday that the warring factions in Sudan had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the agreement between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, came following intense negotiation.
The US, Blinken said, will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan.
Senator Francis Tolentino cited the need for the government to move fast in evacuating some 400 Filipinos from Sudan to Egypt.
Since the country has an active diplomatic mission in Egypt, he said the safety of the Filipinos is assured.
The government, he said, should hire buses at once to ensure their quick repatriation given the deteriorating condition in Sudan.
“We should likewise seek the assistance of Egypt. And from Cairo we can fly them to Manila,” Tolentino said.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged distressed Filipinos in Sudan to get in touch with the Philippine Embassy in Cairo, Egypt for their immediate repatriation amid heightened hostilities in the African nation.
He also said that Filipinos based in the Philippines who have immediate relatives and loved ones in Sudan should convince their respective family members in the war-torn country to seek assistance from the embassy.