During the 2023 Sudan conflict the outbreak of violence has led foreign governments to monitor the situation in Sudan and move towards the evacuation and repatriation of its nationals. Among some countries with a number of expatriates in Sudan are Egypt, which has more than 10,000 citizens in the country, and the United States, which has more than 16,000 citizens, most of whom are dual nationals.
Efforts at extraction were hampered by the fighting within the capital Khartoum, particularly in and around the airport. This has forced evacuations to be undertaken by road via Port Sudan on the Red Sea, which lies about 650 km (400 miles) northeast of Khartoum. from where they were airlifted or ferried directly to their home countries or to third ones. Other evacuations were undertaken through other land crossings or direct airlifts from diplomatic missions and other designated locations with direct involvement of the militaries of some home countries. Some major transit hubs used during the evacuation include the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Djibouti, which hosts military bases of the United States, China, Japan, France, and other European countries.
Timeline
19 April
Japan's government announced that it was preparing to evacuate its approximately 60 citizens from Sudan, becoming the first foreign nation to pull citizens from the country. Three JSDF planes were sent to Djibouti on standby for that occasion.
Germany attempted a mission to evacuate around 150 citizens from Sudan. Der Spiegel reported that the German Air Force dispatched three A400M transport planes that stopped over in Greece to refuel and were later expected to fly to Khartoum. However, the plan was aborted by the Bundeswehr because of renewed clashes and airstrikes. The news was later confirmed by the German government. On 21 April, the Federal Ministry of Defence said that it was preparing again to rescue its citizens from Sudan.
20 April
The Norwegian Armed Forces stated that two C-130 transport aircraft and a surgical team were sent to Jordan on 20 April. One of the aircraft flew three sorties and evacuated 75 Norwegian citizens and an undisclosed number of other foreign nationals.
22 April
The SAF agreed to secure the evacuation of UK, US, French and Chinese diplomats and nationals from Sudan by air. Saudi diplomats were evacuated by land to Port Sudan and then by air. Some 150 foreign nationals also began to be evacuated by boat with the assistance of the Saudi Armed Forces from Port Sudan, with the first vessels arriving across the Red Sea to the port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
From the night of April 22–23, an airlift was set up by the French army during . A C-130 Hercules arriving from Djibouti landed with night vision binoculars in the Wadi Seidna Air Base; the French commandos on board secured the base after negotiations with the Sudanese military. Three A400M Atlas then also arrived from Djibouti and evacuated French and foreign nationals.
23 April
100 US diplomats and nationals at the US embassy were evacuated aboard six Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters with the help of the US Navy Seals and Army Special Forces, who were part of additional forces sent to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. The RSF said that it had coordinated with the US military regarding the operation, and said it will assist in the evacuations of other nationals. However, a French convoy which left the embassy, was shot at while leaving which forced it to turn back. The French government later confirmed one of its soldiers had been injured in the incident. Later in the day, the French Foreign Ministry announced that it had managed to evacuate around 100 people of multiple nationalities from Sudan by air after what it called a "complicated" rescue operation. The UK government also evacuated its diplomatic staff and their families with the help of its armed forces. Planes from Italy, Jordan, and Spain also airlifted evacuees of various nationalities to Djibouti or directly to their home countries.
Turkey began rescue operations via road from the city of Wad Madani, but the effort was postponed from one site in Khartoum after explosions near the area while the Russian ambassador announced that most Russian citizens in Khartoum had been secured in the embassy.
After its cancelled attempt on 19 April, the German government finally began evacuations of its nationals. The Bundeswehr confirmed that the first of three planes in the evacuation operation had left Sudan, carrying 101 people on board. The plane made a stopover at the German evacuation hub in Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan before proceeding to Berlin on 24 April.