Imtiaz Sooliman – Sudan Conflict SA citizens making their way home
AI: Summary ©
A representative from the humanitarian organization discusses the situation of the 22 South African passengers stuck in Egypt and their return to South Africa. The representative mentions the possibility of returning to South Africa and the need for clearance for their return. The representative also mentions the possibility of hundreds of thousands of passengers returning to the region and the need for clearance for their return.
AI: Summary ©
Get an update on bringing the last group of South Africans home from
Sudan. I'm joined by the director of the humanitarian organization
gift of the givers, imtia Suleiman, the organization, of
course, playing a pivotal role in getting trapped South Africans and
other foreign nationals out of the country since fighting began over
two weeks ago, Doctor, thank you so much for joining us yesterday,
when we spoke, you said that the 22 were still at that port in
Egypt, but there has been a development overnight. Are they
currently on the move? Tell us where they are.
Good evening, sadly, yes, they're about to move. They at 145 or zero
45 our time this morning, they sent me a message to say that they
got a message from the Egyptian Foreign Service to say they are
allowed to leave on condition that somebody from the South African
government comes there to meet them to sign them off. At 445 I
spoke to our judges agents in each in Cairo, and they said they were
not aware of that rule that had to come to the port. But I said some
of the thing happened in the Cairo border on the first Tuesday with
the two busses, again on Friday with the other bus. So they said,
Okay, they'll take a flight and go later on in the morning. They
realized there's no flights today to that area. So the guys, I'm
here to let Cisco aside, we have to commend these people from the
embassy. They were dedicated, committed their wake. The whole
night. They tried everything. Once I gave them information yesterday
that these South Africans are stuck, they took a drive from
Cairo to safaja port. Got there late afternoon, four o'clock. They
had to wait for some time to get a pass to enter the port, and by six
o'clock, the South Africans were allowed to get onto the bus.
They're on their way out right as I speak to you right now, we're
moving to the exit of the port, but there's one more issue left.
We got to get their passports back, and our intelligence
services are trying to sort out the passports. Once that happens,
they go straight to Cairo airport and get ready to fly to South
Africa. And any idea on time frames around that, well,
it depends on the flights they fly by. I think they should make it
for tomorrow's flight once evening. I don't know what time
Ethiopian Airlines flies, but they're flying on Ethiopian
Airlines from Cairo to Addis direct to Cape Town. Alright, so
within the next 24 hours. As an aside, we already spoke to the
General Manager of Ethiopian Airlines to say, Please, we know
they've changed their tickets twice in the in the last three
days because they couldn't get the flight. And he said, Look, they
will be very accommodating to fit those 22 South Africans to come
back to South Africa without any issues. Oh, that's absolutely
wonderful news, and I'm sure they can't wait to get home. Is it
absolutely clear now that every South African who is in Sudan who
wants to leave has now been assisted?
Yes, except, you know, well, it is just Adam with a two Scottish
carriers who decided to stay. And I said, you know, it's better that
he goes to the board himself to explain about the dogs. It's his
dogs. Nobody else knows about it. The dogs and him are on the way to
Cairo. Now, again about that. I spoke to Ethiopian Airlines. They
will give a reduced fee for him. We're still waiting for the fee
for the dogs. And he said, Look, they will take the dogs, not an
issue. They can in Joburg land in Joburg and Olaf tam was already,
already cleared the dogs to to come into the country. It's just
they're waiting for the Egyptian vets to give the clearance for the
dogs to leave the country. So this is what a South African called
Adam. Did you say
yes, Adam Young, it's his dog.
I mean, that's quite wonderful. It's such an incredible story that
he's just he loves his little dog so much he's absolutely not
leaving without him. And I think he a lot of us feel that way, that
two dogs, yeah, feel that way about our animals. But of course,
you know, that's sort of a lighter, sweeter moment against
this horrific backdrop of what is going on in that region. We're
hearing reports that they're like potentially 400,000
refugees who could be trying to flee that region and leaving
Sudan. Are you still, I mean, yesterday, when we spoke, you said
you were hearing sporadic updates. Do you have any more information
on whether things are potentially going to impact the entire region?
If refugees flood out of Sudan,
that's what happened already, inevitably. But the question is,
will they get out of Sudan? You know, that's a big question. You
have paperwork, I'm not sure, on the border with Chad and going
towards Ethiopia and southern Sudan, there will be a bit more
lenient towards people coming out. But on the Egyptian side,
definitely, there's an issue getting to port Sudan also doesn't
help, because you're not you're not bordering any other country.
You need to fly out or you devour a ship, and again, will another
country accept you? So on the Egyptian side, yes, you're going
to see 1000s of refugees right now, only those with paperwork
have been allowed. You know, it's with strict control. So the
numbers are not big going through, except if you have a proper
passport, visa, you can go through. The others are stuck
there. I'm not sure what's happening on the other borders,
no. If it is, it also depends how much fighting is in those areas.
The fighting is not huge in all the areas, yeah. So there's a
possibility.
That a lot of people will move into rural areas. That's what the
Sudanese told us. They will move to rural areas and they'll wait
there and see, like South Africans, some of them opted to
stay behind, so they'll just stay in a quiet area and wait for
things to settle. Yeah, well, let's hope it does indeed settle.
Thank you so much for that update. We look forward to welcoming those
22 South Africans, also Adam and his two dogs, when they do finally
make it back to South Africa. Thank you very much for all your
efforts. Director of the humanitarian organization, gift of
the givers, dr, mts Suleiman, do stay with us here on sa tonight.
I'll.