France evacuated 538 people, including 209 French, by carrying out several air rotations between Khartoum and Djibouti. A French soldier, member of the special forces was injured during the evacuation. Delicate and dangerous operations explains Raja Rabia, French Ambassador to Sudan.
“It was very difficult to set up. Our soldiers on site did their best at the risk of their lives“, declares this Tuesday exclusively to the international editorial staff of Radio France Raja Rabia, ambassador of France in Sudan, while the evacuation operations continue in the country. 538 people including 209 French – among whom the staff of the embassy – have been evacuated since the start of the operation to Djibouti. They are expected Wednesday morning in Roissy. As for the embassy, it has been closed.
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franceinfo: How did the evacuation operations go?
Raja Rabia: “It was very difficult to put in place. Our soldiers on the spot did their best at the risk of their lives. France has been remarkable in this crisis, which is more like a high-intensity war than a small crisounette. The general feeling today is immense relief and a lot of gratitude towards our authorities. Everything the apparatus and the services of the State were mobilized to facilitate this evacuation. It was indeed France which opened the breach in a way and which obtained from the Sudanese authorities, both General Burhane and General Hemetti, facilitate these aerial evacuations”.
The luck we had in this crisis is that it occurred during the Easter holidays. There were many French families already on leave
Raja Rabia, French Ambassador to Sudanon franceinfo
What are the current operations? Are there still French people to evacuate from Khartoum?
“There are very few left. There was a final rotation scheduled today. Our military is on site to continue to secure [la zone] but the bulk of the French contingent left. The luck we had in this crisis is that it occurred during the Easter holidays. There were many French families who had already gone on leave. We were able to have a continuous relationship, either from the embassy or from the crisis center in Paris with our nationals, by telephone or Whatsapp, because the internet was not cut off”.
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Where is the evacuation of the French to France? When are they expected in France?
“We are all going to take a plane this Tuesday evening (April 25) chartered by Air France and the Ministry of the Armed Forces. We will arrive tomorrow morning in Roissy. All embassy staff have been evacuated. The embassy has been closed France’s residence has also been closed. But just because we’re leaving doesn’t mean we won’t continue to work. We’re not abandoning our Sudanese friends. There’s going to be a humanitarian emergency that’s going to happen. need to come up with a collective response.
Regarding the French soldier, special forces commando injured during the evacuation operation, was he evacuated directly to Paris?
“I know that he was quickly evacuated by the first military plane between Khartoum and Djibouti. I also know that he had been operated on the spot in Khartoum by the army health service – to which I would like to pay tribute – before stabilized and sent to Djibouti. Regarding the circumstances, there were exchanges of fire between belligerents, apparently not aimed at the humanitarian convoy.”