Several Hamiltonians attempting to flee war-torn Sudan

The federal government says efforts are underway to airlift Canadians caught inside war-torn Sudan. On Tuesday, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said 100 Canadians have now made it out, but another 1,600 remain, including some from Hamilton.

A 72-hour ceasefire which began at midnight is holding for now, as foreign nations try to get their citizens out. Hamilton is one of the many communities around the world, impacted by the horrific bloodshed.

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Several Hamiltonians are stuck inside Sudan, trying to find a way out. Sarah Alizerig’s Canadian citizen parents, Nawal and Abdulazim Alizerig, are trapped in Sudan, “it’s really scary, it’s really upsetting.”

Nawal and Abdulazim Alizerig from Hamilton spend several months every winter visiting family in the city of Madani, about 200 kilometres from the capital Khartoum.

Sarah says food and fuel are becoming scarce, “the resources are very limited, prices have skyrocketed.” Hundreds have died since fighting erupted earlier this month between the military and a rival paramilitary group who are both vying for control of the country.

Sarah says to get out, her parents would have to cross through the war zone, “they’d actually have to drive into the war and into the chaos to get to that point, so we’re hoping that the Canadian government starts to have some more accessible points of evacuation.”

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the country is looking at doing direct airlifts for Canadians and dependents. Ottawa says two military vessels are off the Sudanese coast and allies are helping get Canadians out. The feds say 550 Canadians in Sudan have asked Global Affairs for assistance escaping.

The details of the evacuation plan are not yet clear, and Sarah is concerned, “it doesn’t seem like there’s a concrete plan.”

Hamiltonian Baha Elshikh has an 80-year-old mother and four siblings escaping their home in Khartoum, only one is a Canadian citizen.

Elshikh says, “They saw a lot of bullets penetrating their house, so they were sleeping under beds, in the ground, they couldn’t go to second floor because everyplace is just not safe.”

He says they’re travelling more than 1,600 kilometres to the Egyptian border where he says they have been stalled without food and water for 24 hours and enduring very difficult conditions.

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Elshikh is worried for his family and his home country, which threw off the shackles of a brutal dictator in recent years only to have that progress towards democracy interrupted by the ruling military regime and this latest bloodshed. “They were never serious about transitioning to a civilian government.”

The federal government is introducing new immigration measures to allow Sudanese nationals who may be visiting or studying in Canada to temporarily extend their stay to avoid the violence.

If you would like to support humanitarian efforts inside Sudan, you can donate to a number of charities including Islamic Relief Canada, Sadagaat-USA, and Sudan NextGen.