Port Sudan is a haven for foreigners and families trying to escape the fighting: NPR

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Now a sea voyage that has become one of the exit routes from Sudan, at least for people with passports from other countries they can travel to – thousands of people are trying to flee Sudan after almost three weeks of fighting between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group. NPR’s Aya Batrawy traveled to Port Sudan to witness the evacuation operation.

AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: I’m aboard a Saudi Navy ship crossing the Red Sea to Port Sudan, where thousands of people are waiting their turn to leave the country.

It is dark outside. It’s night. We’ve been on this ship for a little over 10 hours. I see no light in the distance. It’s just the moon and the stars in the sky and that wide open expanse of dark sea. But we are approaching the coast of Sudan very soon.

It takes almost 12 hours, but we finally arrive in Port Sudan. I see a few families – women, children – exhausted and dragging all the luggage and personal effects they can carry. Sudanese soldiers secure the port. A Saudi officer, seated in a plastic chair, checks people’s passports against a piece of paper with a handwritten list of names on it.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: This ad hoc configuration has become a kind of passport control center right next to the tugboats. Several U.S. citizens head for one of the tugs that will take them to a Saudi Navy vessel moored just offshore. U.S. Embassy officials are standing by to watch and assist.

JOHN BUTLER: I’ve only been here a few days – haven’t slept much. We are coming here. We determine the process.

BATRAWY: This is John Butler, a defense attaché at the United States Embassy in Saudi Arabia. It is around midnight when we find ourselves in Port Sudan. He tells me that US officials have set up camp in one of the hotels near here to help US citizens evacuate from here. Butler tells me it’s a stressful and tiring situation for everyone involved. But he says people are grateful to have come this far – at the sight of ships waiting to take them to safer lands.

BUTLER: When people come here, they come out of hell, to be honest. They are afraid when they arrive here, but they are happy when they reach a safe destination. They are happy when they see faces on the field who are ready to help them. Many Sudanese help many Sudanese. And it’s amazing to see.

BATRAWY: He tells me that just over 200 Americans are leaving Port Sudan tonight.

BUTLER: We’re very proud of that. I am very excited to see them, very happy with our relationship with Saudi Arabia, where they are giving us the opportunity to do that – to get our people out of a dangerous situation.

BATRAWY: Saudi Arabia says it has already helped nearly 6,000 people evacuate on its ships. Almost all are citizens of countries other than Sudan. The evacuees receive short-term visas to Saudi Arabia before having to continue their journey. This route is not open to most Sudanese, so tens of thousands have made their way overland to neighboring countries like Egypt. But for those with foreign passports, travel to Saudi Arabia is the main route out of Sudan. Mohammed Sayid, a Sudanese Saudi national, is ready to leave Port Sudan with his mother. They were visiting family in the capital, Khartoum, last month when fighting broke out.

MOHAMMED SAYID: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: He tells me that he prays for stability and peace.

We are now on the tugboat with a group of Chinese. We head towards the Saudi warship waiting offshore to make another trip across the Red Sea.

Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Port Sudan.

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