AANES evacuates 161 Syrians from Sudan
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) evacuated on Monday 161 Syrian citizens who were stranded in Sudan, a country that has been witnessing fierce clashes for about a month.
The AANES announced on April 27 the formation of a committee to help the Syrians stranded in Sudan to evacuate them.
“During this month, the AANES’ Foreign Relation Department and we, the committee tasked with the repatriation, contacted our trapped people in Sudan,” said Mustafa Bali, member of the committee formed to evacuate the Syrians from Sudan.
Bali told North Press that they had formed a committee in Sudan to coordinate with the AANES for helping the citizens, and that they managed to plan for the launch of the first flight from Sudan to Qamishli.
“The flight arrived today from Sudan with 161 Syrians onboard,” he said. “Later, work will continue to organize other flights to repatriate all Syrians.”
The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, have been clashing across the country since April 15, leaving behind hundreds of casualties, most of whom are civilians.
Sabil Muhammad, a woman who lived in Sudan with her husband for a year, said the situation in Sudan “has worsen.”
“Planes hovered in the sky, we witnessed water and power outage, and food shortage, so the number of the thieves increased, and they robbed houses,” she told North Press. “The Kurds there were beaten and stripped of their money.”
Muhammad indicated that a lot of refugees are waiting to be returned, adding, “We thank the Autonomous Administration for repatriating its people to their cities from Sudan.”
Faysal Ali, a young man from Raqqa Governorate, confirmed that Sudan is passing through a brutal war that devastated the infrastructure.
“Syrians have not been repatriated. Only two flights were secured and then the repatriation was in turn for paying bribes,” he told North Press.
“The price of a ticket reached $1,000, then the AANES interfered to return the people of Rojava,” he added. “We hope it will repatriate all its trapped people to Qamishli safely.”