Norway Urges Its Citizens to Leave Sudan as Soon as Possible
Through a statement issued yesterday, April 23, the Ministry stated that airplanes, combat helicopters and heavy artillery are being used in this war, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The same emphasised that people there are facing a lack of food, water, electricity and health care.
According to the Ministry, the situation is more than serious and unpredictable and can change at short notice, so every individual should assess their own safety when considering the possibility of leaving Sudan.
“The Norwegian embassy in Khartoum is now temporarily closed and cannot assist with consular assistance,” the statement issued by the Ministry reads.
Other European and world countries have also shut down their embassies in Sudan, retrieving their staff home.
Amongst others, Switzerland has closed its embassy in Khartoum and evacuated its staff and their families. According to the Swiss foreign ministry, seven embassy employees and five accompanying persons were evacuated.
In addition, the American government has launched a rescue mission where special forces took about 100 embassy personnel along with their relatives and sent them to a military base in Djibouti. The United Kingdom did the same by evacuating diplomats and their families as well.
Germany and France are also the two European countries which have announced on Sunday that they have started the evacuation of their citizens and those from other countries.
Last week, Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also warned Norwegian citizens not to travel to Sudan due to the hostile situation in the country caused by the recent events.
In this regard, the same authority said that the situation in Sudan is now unstable and unpredictable, noting that fighting is taking place in several places in Sudan.
Since April 16 of this year, in response to the ongoing armed conflict, many other governments aside from Norway have updated travel advisories for Sudan.
The French embassy in Sudan has even advised its citizens to stay inside and away from windows and doors. The same will also be closed until further notice. The United States Embassy in Sudan has also taken such a step, strongly advising all American citizens to stay sheltered in the country until further notice.
Just like the two aforementioned embassies, the United Kingdom government has also decided to warn its citizens to avoid travelling to Sudan.
Furthermore, as early as in October 2019, the Norwegian authorities had warned the country’s citizens not to travel to Sudan due to the uncertain security situation in the country at that time.
During this period, the military chief of Sudan declared a state of emergency in the country, abolishing the Sovereign Council and the transitional government.
Recently, Norway has advised its citizens against any non-essential travel to the areas of Cuzco, Puno, Arequipa and Apurimac in Peru. Such a decision came as a result of the frequent and violent demonstrations that took place in December 2022.