The Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria has successfully facilitated the safe return of 369 Syrian citizens who were stranded in Sudan, a country currently gripped by intense clashes lasting over a month. The foreign relations department of the administration announced the successful evacuation of three separate groups on Monday.
In an official statement, the department revealed that after the first group was evacuated on 22 May, the second consisted of 18 individuals, including three infants, who were transported to the city of Qamishli (Qamişlo) in northeast Syria. In a third group, the administration repatriated 201 individuals, including women and 31 infants. The department further confirmed that the latter safely reached Syria’s capital, Damascus.
The urgent appeal for assistance came from Syrians in Sudan who had received no aid from the Syrian government. In response, the Kurdish-led administration established a committee on 27 April to draw a road map for assisting and evacuating Syrians trapped in the country.
Sudan has been engulfed in fierce clashes since mid-April, with the Sudanese National Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) locked in deadly fighting. The clashes have claimed the lives of at least 850 people and left more than 5,500 injured, as reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday.
Sudan currently hosts nearly 90,000 Syrian citizens, including 65,000 displaced individuals. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has documented the deaths of at least 15 Syrians due to the ongoing conflict.