The couple are being rescued from a conflict between the army and paramilitary forces in Sudan that has already consumed 427 people and left 3,700 injured.
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A young Keralite and his pregnant Sudanese wife have been stranded in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital city, since April 15, unsure of what to do next.
On Monday, at around 4 p.m., the pregnant woman was admitted to a hospital with stomach pain and bleeding. The doctors found that she had suffered a miscarriage. After treatment, despite being weak, she was discharged because the hospital was full of victims of the new armed conflict raging in the country.
Talking to The Leaflet at around 9 a.m. Indian Standard Time (IST) on Tuesday, Rajiv (name changed upon request), said that there was still no update from the Indian embassy on evacuation.
“Due to the excessive bleeding, Aamira (his Sudani wife) is frail and fatigued. We do not have any food. There is no electricity. There is no internet to seek help online. Many in our building have fled. The city looks like a ghost town,” Rajiv said.
“I don’t know whether we will get help— and in time. We have knocked on every single door. Unfortunately, we have received only bitter responses,” he lamented.
Rajiv and Aamira (name changed) are staying near the airport, the hotspot of clashes and heavy gunfighting. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), headed by his deputy General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, are locked in a deadly fight for power in the streets of Khartoum.
SAF planes are dropping bombs in and around the airport area to flush out RSF men. According to reports, so far, 427 people have been killed and 3,700 injured in the conflict.
When it was love, not war
Rajiv migrated to Sudan in 2020 and started working as a restaurant manager in Khartoum. He met Aamira, who was an employee in the same restaurant. They fell in love and got married some 17 months ago. Last November, Rajiv and Aamira visited Kerala. Aamira was one-month pregnant at that time.
Aamira has sought an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. However, according to the Rules, Rajiv and Aamira must be married for at least two years before she can be granted an OCI card.
The two-year rule for OCI has locked Rajiv and Aamira in Khartoum.
When the Indian embassy in Sudan sought evacuation applications, Rajiv and Aamira applied. Rajiv’s application was approved. But the Indian embassy denied Aamira the opportunity to fly to India.
Rajiv approached everyone in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs via email and phone. But all his efforts were in vain.
When he came to know that Saudi Arabia is taking Sudanese as refugees, he asked the Indian embassy whether he can send Aamira as a refugee from Sudan to Saudi Arabia.
The reply from the Indian embassy was, “Ask them.”
When Rajiv got an internet connection on Tuesday evening for a few minutes, he told this reporter that, “I will not leave alone. I will be with my pregnant wife, come what may.”
Tharoor’s intervention
Meanwhile, Rajiv approached Dr Sashi Tharoor, an Indian parliamentarian from his state, seeking help.
Luckily, Dr Tharoor took up the case and initiated talks with the Minister of External Affairs of India, Dr S. Jaishankar’s office.
On Monday, Dr Tharoor texted this reporter, “I am in touch with him (Rajiv) directly in Khartoum and have contacted Minister of External Affairs Dr S. Jaishankar’s office to arrange an emergency evacuation on a temporary permit till her OCI card can be processed. The external affairs ministry will probably need to coordinate with the home ministry to get this done. My sympathies are with him (Rajiv).”
Tharoor’s intervention gave Rajiv and Aamira hope.
Finally, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Rajiv got a call from the Indian embassy in Khartoum informing him that both he and his wife will be evacuated by evening.
“Finally, the ordeal has come to an end. I hope to get better medical treatment for my wife in Kerala soon,” a perceptibly relieved Rajiv said.
Meanwhile, Dr S. Jaishankar tweeted on Monday night, “Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist[ing] all our brethren in Sudan.”
Last Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs had announced that two Indian Air Force C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft are on standby in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and INS Sumedha has docked at Port Sudan.
What is happening in Sudan?
Following the 2021 coup in Sudan, the African country came under the rule of a ‘council of generals’. It is led by Burhan and Dagalo.
The council was tasked with laying the groundwork for a democratic administration. Talks were held last December, which didn’t turn out fruitful. Additionally, confusion continued about how the RSF, formed by former president Omar Al Bashir, will be integrated into the SAF and who will be the boss.
Finally, failure of talks resulted in a face-off between the men of Burhan and Dagalo on the streets of Khartoum.
The RSF, allegedly backed by the Russian mercenary group Wagner, has taken control of the airport, radio station and an army camp.
In 2017, there were reports that the Sudan government had signed deals with Russia on building a port and also a concession pact on gold-mining between Russian company M Invest and the Sudanese Ministry of Minerals.
There are allegations that M Invest and a subsidiary group, Meroe Gold, are fronts for the activities of the Wagner Group in Sudan, Africa’s third-biggest gold producer.
According to CNN reports, gold has been transported overland to the Central African Republic (CAR), where Wagner is known to operate— exports not recorded in Sudanese official trade data.
Worsening situation
Meanwhile, the UN reports that there are acute shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel in Sudan.
The reports add that access to communications and electricity is limited and prices of essential items, as well as transport, when and where available, are sharply increasing.
The World Health Organisation has verified 11 attacks on healthcare facilities since the start of the fighting.
The remaining facilities in Khartoum and Darfur states are stretched beyond capacity and nearly non-functional due to staff fatigue and lack of supplies. Displacement of civilians has been reported in Khartoum, Northern, Blue Nile, North Kordofan, North Darfur, West Darfur and South Darfur states, and cross-border movement from Sudan to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan have been observed.
