Sudanese Armed Forces evacuate Catholic nuns and priest from Khartoum refuge

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the General Intelligence Service (GIS) launched “a special military operation” yesterday, which successfully evacuated five Italian nuns, a priest, and 20 South Sudanese nationals from a residence in southern Khartoum, where they have been stranded for 16 months since the outbreak of the current war in Sudan.

According to a statement issued by the SAF via social media today, and confirmed on the website of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Christians, the operation evacuated five Italian Roman Catholic Salesian nuns, a Salesian priest from the Don Bosco Society, and 20 South Sudanese nationals, from the community of Dar Maryam, where they were stranded for a year and four months following the outbreak of the war in Sudan.

Large parts of Khartoum are under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The evacuees’ home was attached to the Dar Maryam Primary School, where 95 per cent of the 500+ pupils are already refugees from South Sudan. The house is in an area under the control of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), but was quickly surrounded by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023. It is part of an educational complex that includes a kindergarten and a primary school, which hosted dozens of people from the area, Muslims and Christians, seeking refuge once the conflict broke out, according to the institute’s website.

“Throughout this challenging period, the Sudanese government and the Armed Forces consistently provided the group with essential supplies, medical care, food, solar energy, and fuel, ensuring their well-being amidst the chaos,” the SAF statement says, which says that the residence has been repeatedly targeted by RSF forces.

“An earlier attempt by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to evacuate the group was thwarted due to the Janjaweed’s [RSF’s] targeting of the convoy. Following this, the church formally requested the Sudanese authorities to evacuate their nationals from the besieged area. The SAF successfully carried out the evacuation to Omdurman and then to Port Sudan,” the army statement concludes.

On their own website, the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Christians point out that “the house was bombed twice and the community suffered greatly: due to the fighting they were forced to remain inside the compound for several months.” The institute also expresses gratitude to the SAF for the success of the evacuation.