Syrians Face Death in Sudan Amid Clashes

Smoke rises from burning aircraft inside Khartoum Airport during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)
Smoke rises from burning aircraft inside Khartoum Airport during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)
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Syrians Face Death in Sudan Amid Clashes

Smoke rises from burning aircraft inside Khartoum Airport during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)
Smoke rises from burning aircraft inside Khartoum Airport during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it was following with concern the developments in Sudan, a week after deadly clashes erupted in the country, killing 11 Syrians.

Syria is also following with great interest the situation of its nationals and the diplomatic mission in Sudan, it said.

State-owned Syrian News Agency (SANA) official news agency quoted an official source as saying that the Ministry instructed the Syrian embassy in Khartoum to register the names of Syrian community members wishing to be evacuated.

Syrian refugees residing in Sudan had sent out, via social media, distress calls to evacuate them from the troubled country.

A Syrian woman told Asharq Al-Awsat that she lost contact with her brother four days ago, who informed her earlier that the situation was challenging. She said he and his family were confined to their home without electricity, water, or enough food.

The woman was trying to find a way to help her brother out of the country, but that didn't seem easy.

Aside from the dangerous security situation, her brother cannot return to Syria because his passport has expired, and he is wanted by the Syrian security forces.

According to Syrian sources in Sudan, several Syrian workers were stabbed when they left their embassy in Khartoum on Friday. They also confirmed that the death toll had risen to eleven since the outbreak of the clashes a week ago; four of them were killed in an attack at the embassy five days ago.

Meanwhile, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Syrian Embassy in Khartoum, Bishr al-Shaar, stated that they were outside the embassy, and it was difficult to reach the premises due to the security conditions difficult situations.

Syrian website, Athr Press, quoted Shaar as confirming the difficulty of evacuating all 30,000 Syrians after Khartoum International Airport was closed.

He explained that other evacuation options included Port Sudan, which is a 15-hour car ride.

The official said that the embassy would prepare for the evacuation if airports were re-opened or land roads were secured, pointing out that the evacuation of 10,000 people to safe areas requires 50 planes or 200 buses.

Unofficial sources estimate over 90,000 Syrian refugees live in Sudan, mostly young men fleeing compulsory military service, and hundreds of families who oppose the regime.

Since the outbreak of the war in Syria in 2011, Sudan has been at the forefront of countries that received refugees "without conditions," treating them as Sudanese citizens. Several of them were also given passports.

The number of Syrian refugees in Sudan in 2019 was estimated at more than 250,000. Many left the country after the toppling of the Omar al-Bashir regime, and the transitional government imposed restrictions on Syrians.

The Syrians were required to obtain an entry visa, and the Sudanese passports of 10,000 of them were revoked.



US Says Disagrees with Amnesty International's Genocide Accusation Against Israel

Displaced Palestinians sit next to a makeshift oven in a tent set up on an area in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Displaced Palestinians sit next to a makeshift oven in a tent set up on an area in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
TT

US Says Disagrees with Amnesty International's Genocide Accusation Against Israel

Displaced Palestinians sit next to a makeshift oven in a tent set up on an area in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Displaced Palestinians sit next to a makeshift oven in a tent set up on an area in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The United States disagrees with Amnesty International's conclusion that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza war, the State Department said on Thursday.

State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at a regular news briefing that the US continues to find allegations of genocide in Gaza unfounded, after the London-based Amnesty International human rights group in a report on Thursday said Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
Israel has consistently rejected any accusation of genocide, saying it has respected international law and has a right to defend itself after the cross-border Hamas attack from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 that precipitated the war.

Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities across the border 14 months ago, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Gaza's Health Ministry says that Israel's military campaign since then has killed more than 44,400 Palestinians and injured many others.
Palestinian and UN officials say there are no safe areas left in Gaza, a tiny, densely populated and heavily built-up coastal territory. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been internally displaced, some as many as 10 times.