Sudan

Why are 4000 British citizens in Sudan??

Poppyred

Why are 4000 British citizens in Sudan??

Why wouldn't there be? Because they have jobs there. Same as there are British citizens in most countries of the world.

My soon to be son-in-law's father is from Sudan and was there just a few weeks ago to attend his father's funeral. If the conflict had started then, he would have been one of those requiring evacuation.

Seems to be lot in a poor African country……

BBC - Fri, April 28, 2023

"A Turkish evacuation plane coming into land at an airbase outside Sudan's capital, Khartoum, has been fired at, Turkey's defence ministry has said.

[appears to be Herk, similar to UK Herks]

No-one was injured and the plane landed safely at Wadi Seidna airfield, where it was being checked.

Sudan's army blamed paramilitary fighters for firing at the aircraft and damaging its fuel system. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) denied the allegation, saying it was committed to the extended humanitarian truce."

Poppyred

Seems to be lot in a poor African country……

Not at all, there are 4.7 million British citizens estimated to be living elsewhere in the world, so 4000 in one country is chicken feed.

Poppyred

Seems to be lot in a poor African country……

I really don't understand why there shouldn't be!

Some of them will be engineers working on government contracts or scientists or businesspeople or people like my daughter's future father-in-law (born in Sudan but now with a British passport).

The Sudanese are quite civilised, you know! Sudan has vast natural resources and was a British colony until 1956, so there will still be British contacts.

growstuff

Poppyred

Seems to be lot in a poor African country……

I really don't understand why there shouldn't be!

Some of them will be engineers working on government contracts or scientists or businesspeople or people like my daughter's future father-in-law (born in Sudan but now with a British passport).

The Sudanese are quite civilised, you know! Sudan has vast natural resources and was a British colony until 1956, so there will still be British contacts.

I agree growstuff

Please excuse my brain fog, but Sudan is the major grower/exporter of an ingredient which is necessary for almost all fizzy soft drinks.

So we can expect another shortage on supermarket shelves in the coming months.

I think it's called gum arabic. It's used in weight-loss products too.

growstuff

I think it's called gum arabic. It's used in weight-loss products too.

Yes that’s it.

(Contrary to another thread, my brain fog is due to Granny duty, the two staying over aged 3 & 5 have just gone to sleep, I have every thing crossed)

We use gum arabic in art college. It is added to either the water or the paint when painting watercolours. It makes the picture more glossy looking. Our tutor uses it to highlight reflections.

My partner works with polysaccharides and glycoproteins, which gum arabic contains (that's how I knew what GG13 was talking about). It's a natural emulsifier and, as you say Meryleene, it's useful stuff with multiple uses. Disruption to the main supply chain will undoubtedly lead to empty shelves/increased prices.

Poppyred

Seems to be lot in a poor African country……

Not surprising at all, there are 24,000 of Sudanese heritage living in the UK they will have family members and business interests back home. Many of them will be from middle class backgrounds in Sudan, teachers, shopkeepers, civil servants, it’s natural they travel back and forth for holidays and family events. In addition there are Britons that have development or business interests in Sudan.

This is true of many nationalities, especially commonwealth countries, when you are living in an unstable country your perception of risk is much lower

It’s all too easy to criticise when you’re sitting in the comfort and safety of your home in the U.K.

A dd has worked in sundry natural disaster zones (earthquake, tsunami, typhoon, severe drought) as well as the dangerous conflict zone of Afghanistan, and more than once has despaired over criticism at home (why aren’t they doing A and B, why aren’t they doing A and B more quickly) - she’s said that so many people at home have absolutely no idea of the difficulties on the ground, including those posed by uncooperative local officials, not uncommonly demanding bribes, which her organisation invariably refused to pay.

Our AC tells the same Witzend

It’s always extremely difficult on the ground in multiple ways

Katie59

Poppyred

Seems to be lot in a poor African country……

Not surprising at all, there are 24,000 of Sudanese heritage living in the UK they will have family members and business interests back home. Many of them will be from middle class backgrounds in Sudan, teachers, shopkeepers, civil servants, it’s natural they travel back and forth for holidays and family events. In addition there are Britons that have development or business interests in Sudan.

This is true of many nationalities, especially commonwealth countries, when you are living in an unstable country your perception of risk is much lower

The figure I read was that there are 35,000 people who were born in Sudan and now living in the UK, usually with British citizenship. As you say, they travel to family events and try to be with their family at Eid.

In my list of British citizens I forgot to include NGO workers and teachers. There are numerous reasons that British people might have for being in Sudan and I don't think 4000 is that big a number.

GrannyGravy13

Our AC tells the same Witzend

It’s always extremely difficult on the ground in multiple ways

I think the problem has been that communication with the public has been poor. A number of government ministers have been telling different stories. You would have thought the Foreign Office would have sent round an urgent memo telling MPs to stick to one official version for interviews - they usually do - you can tell because they don't answer questions directly and use the same words.

The difficulty isn’t the numbers, it’s that many people are in outlying areas. It’s difficult for them to travel to get to the capital. There are checkpoints and the roads aren’t always good. It must be very frightening. I think more people were out there just at the moment because it was Eid recently. People travel to spend Eid with their family. I travelled to New Zealand last Christmas to spend Christmas with my daughter and her children.
It was announced on the lunchtime news that the last plane will leave for Cyprus shortly. I hope most people have managed to get to the capital.

We were in Iran at the time of the revolution and, although the situation was nowhere near as bad as Sudan, it was difficult making arrangements to leave. I sympathise with all those waiting to leave.

We have friends there
They tell us this all came about because of a deal with Russia to use a port on the Red Sea.

Poppyred

Seems to be lot in a poor African country……

I read that some are refugees who originally fled the danger yet felt safe enough to return for the holiday. It does seem unusually high number seeing that Britain left Sudan years ago.Are we a soft touch?

kircubbin2000

Poppyred

Seems to be lot in a poor African country……

I read that some are refugees who originally fled the danger yet felt safe enough to return for the holiday. It does seem unusually high number seeing that Britain left Sudan years ago.Are we a soft touch?

I really don't understand why you think 4000 is a high number. To be honest, I would have thought there would be more.

There are probably several hundred NGO employees for a start. I know there are scientists and academics. There are almost certainly business people and people working as advisers for Sudanese companies.

Sudan might be poor, but it's not North Korea. It does have links with other countries, including in Europe and the US.

kircubbin2000

Poppyred

Seems to be lot in a poor African country……

I read that some are refugees who originally fled the danger yet felt safe enough to return for the holiday. It does seem unusually high number seeing that Britain left Sudan years ago.Are we a soft touch?

Couldn’t possibly comment. 🙄

Do either of you have any idea of the history of Sudan or the change in regime a couple of years ago?

Until recently, Sudan was a strict Islamist state with an appalling record on human rights for people who didn't agree with the dictatorship's interpretation of Islam. It's really no wonder that people wanted to flee.

Sudan was partitioned in 2011 with Sudan being Muslim and South Sudan Christian. Christians in Sudan are still discriminated against and vice versa. In 2019, President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown and Sudan became a theoretically secular state.

As with so many transitions, there have been power struggles, which is what the country is currently experiencing. Before that, it was relatively safe for people who would previously have been tortured or even murdered.

Feel like commenting now Poppyred?

Incidentally, my daughter's (about to be) father-in-law, who was born in Sudan, is an extremely successful businessman in the UK. Of his three children, one is a senior research chemist, one is a doctor and the third is a computer nerd, who earns millions for the UK in exports.

Soft touch? I think not!

An extra flight is being sent tomorrow, pickup Port Sudan.