The Hague, April 4 -- Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hukstra confirmed on the 23rd that the Netherlands is participating in the "multinational operation" to evacuate overseas Chinese in Sudan and began to evacuate overseas Chinese from Sudan.
Hukstra said on his Twitter account on the same day that the Sudanese evacuation "multinational operation" was underway, and the Netherlands was involved. A working group composed of the Dutch Foreign and Defence ministries will use Jordan as a base to safely evacuate Dutch nationals as soon as possible.
According to a report by the Dutch News Agency on the 23rd, 152 Dutch citizens have been contacted by the Dutch Embassy in Sudan, and the first evacuees have been informed of the assembly location and are expected to leave later on the 23rd.
For security reasons, the Dutch Foreign Ministry will not release details of the evacuation operation, and at the same time asks nationals stranded in Sudan not to disclose the plan of action.
Following the outbreak of armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Force on 4 April, the Netherlands has deployed three military aircraft to Jordan to await the evacuation of overseas Chinese, but it has not been possible to arrange the evacuation of stranded citizens from Sudan to Jordan because the route is too dangerous.
With regard to the number of strands, in addition to the 152 registered with the Dutch Embassy in Sudan, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that the actual number of people staying may be higher and calls on other Dutch citizens to report to the Dutch Embassy in Sudan.
At the same time, a spokesman for the Dutch Ministry of Defense told the media on the 22nd that although the number of Dutch citizens stranded in Sudan is increasing, in view of the current situation, the Dutch Ministry of Defense decided not to dispatch more military aircraft or materials for the evacuation of overseas Chinese, nor will it send additional personnel for the evacuation of overseas Chinese.
Elsewhere in the EU, the Netherlands' neighbor Belgium has also launched evacuation plans. Belgium's Dutch-speaking national radio and television station quoted people familiar with the matter on the 22nd as saying that because military aircraft have not been dispatched to Sudan and neighboring countries, the Belgian government will cooperate with the French government to evacuate Belgian citizens and their immediate families from Sudan.
So far, a total of 24 Belgian citizens and 12 non-Belgian immediate family members have been stranded in Sudan. The Belgian government has not informed the exact arrangements for the evacuation, and these nationals will still need to stay in their homes or other places to escape the fighting. (End)