A Kenyan working in Sudan revealed how she and her friends were left out during the evacuation exercise conducted by the Kenyan Government on Sunday, April 23.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Monday, April 24, Fayzz Fayzul noted that she was left out alongside 10 other friends she was in constant communication with. The total number of Kenyans stranded in the conflicted region she estimated at around 100.
She further added that she was fearful for her life because there was heavy gunfire in Khartoum and if they were not rescued soon, they would not survive in the war-torn country.
“I work here at Khartoum as a housemaid and we are over 100 who are stranded and I am in direct communication with ten of my friends.
“We had been in constant communication with the Kenyan Embassy in Sudan but we were not able to be rescued,” she told Kenyans.co.ke.
On why they were not rescued, Fayzz explained, “We were told last night that we should get to a certain place before 7:00 am but we could not manage to get there due to lack of transportation.”
“The Embassy told us sorry and that they had left already,” she added.
Fayzz added that the dozens of Kenyans who were left behind were not safe in the Sudanese capital as everyone was fleeing. Among the countries that airlifted its citizen were Canada and the United States.
“We are not safe here. The families we were working for have already left and they told us to contact our Embassy,” she told Kenyans.co.ke.
She added that they were starving as they could not go out to buy basic needs.
“There is shooting all over and we risk dying of starvation since there is nowhere we can get food.
“We cannot even find our way to rescue centres since there are no public service vehicles in operation,” Fayzz explained adding that the streets were full of armed men.
On whether she knew any Kenyan who had been injured during the conflict, she revealed, “Sometimes you are chatting with a friend and she suddenly goes offline completely. You have no way of knowing what happened.”
The Kenyan government was able to evacuate 100 students from Khartoum through Ethiopia.
It was impossible to airlift the students directly to Nairobi due to the extensive damage done at Khartoum Airport.
“It is difficult to land there. So, the plan is to get Kenyans to Port Sudan from where they will be airlifted to Jeddah and then hopefully to Nairobi,” Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei explained the challenges Kenya is undergoing in rescuing Kenyans stuck in Sudan.
According to Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, there were over 3,000 Kenyans stuck in Sudan as of Sunday, April 16.
