Govt ‘withdraws responsibility’ for Sudanese in Libya

The Committee for Sudanese Stranded in Libya has urged the Sudanese government to evacuate its nationals from Libya. The Committee reported in a statement on Friday that apart from the deaths of dozens of Sudanese nationals, there are also dozens of wounded in need of emergency care and medical intervention. The Committee said that tens of thousands of Sudanese are trapped in the Libyan conflict areas of Tripoli, Benghazi, and Brega. In the statement, the Committee stressed that “all diplomatic missions, communities, and foreign employees have been evacuated from Libya, thanks to rapid actions by their governments, except the Sudanese”. “The Sudanese government has withdrawn its responsibility towards its nationals.” Fighting between rival militias in Tripoli has forced the closure of the capital’s international airport, where some 600 Sudanese are stranded. The UN and most embassies evacuated their staff throughout July citing security concerns. The Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Karti, said on 3 August that the situation in Libya has not reached the stage that Sudanese nationals should be evacuated. The Secretary-General of the Sudanese Migration Office, Haj Majid Suwar, denied that the Sudanese stranded in Libya had called on the Sudanese Embassy to airlift them to Sudan.  File photo: African men in Tripoli ask a Libyan truck driver about job opportunities (Rashid Muhadjerin/ BBC) Related:More than 1,000 Sudanese stranded in eastern Libya (5 August 2014) 600 Sudanese marooned at Libyan airport (4 August 2014) Sudanese killed by missiles in Tripoli, Libya (29 July 2014)