Pakistanis trapped in Sudan: 'When bullets started falling in our factory, we decided that it is not appropriate to stay here anymore'
"When the bullets started falling in our factory and the situation started getting worse, we decided that it was not appropriate for us to stay in Sudan any longer." It was a difficult journey to the Pakistan House established by the Embassy of Pakistan in the capital Khartoum. Now we are waiting at the port to know when we will be delivered to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and then to Pakistan.
It is said that Ozheer Ahmed from Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, who is currently in Sudan port and is waiting for the start of sea journey to Jeddah.
Ozheer Ahmad works with his brother in the factory of a Pakistani industrialist in Kobar industrial area and has been living in Sudan for the past three years for employment.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, the Pakistani embassy in Sudan is providing assistance in the evacuation of Pakistanis living here and the evacuation of Pakistanis is ongoing.
In a tweet made some time ago, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that a ship carrying 37 Pakistanis has arrived in Jeddah from Port Sudan.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that a convoy of 211 Pakistanis has reached Port Sudan safely. He thanked the friendly countries of the region, especially Saudi Arabia, for providing facilities for the evacuation of Pakistanis stuck in Sudan.
It should be remembered that due to the daily intensification of the recent clashes in Sudan, several rescue operations have been conducted to evacuate foreign nationals safely from the country. These operations have been carried out by land, air and sea means.
The main airport of the capital Khartoum is the center of these fierce clashes and is under the control of the paramilitary group RSF.
This is the reason why the Sudan port in the Red Sea is being diverted for evacuation, which is located 850 km from Khartoum.
Meanwhile, several countries have conducted operations to evacuate their citizens from Sudan. Saudi Arabia facilitated the evacuation of 150 people, including foreign diplomats, from Sudan by ship.
Ozheer Ahmed and a convoy of around 427 people, including some families, are staying in a Pakistani embassy building in Port Sudan. This convoy reached Port Sudan on Monday after a long journey, while the second convoy, which includes 211 people, reached Port Sudan on Tuesday.
The third convoy consisting of Pakistanis has started its journey on Tuesday night. There is no information about how many people are involved. According to Pakistanis waiting for evacuation in Sudan, some people are even traveling standing when there is no place to sit in the bus convoy. He is expected to arrive in Port Sudan sometime on Wednesday evening.
Ozheer Ahmed and his colleagues do not know when their journey to Saudi Arabia will begin. Despite the contact, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan and the embassy in Sudan have not given any information about this.
The embassy in Sudan said that they are currently very busy helping the Pakistanis to evacuate and that all the information in this regard is available with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan.
"When the conflict started, none of us wanted to leave our jobs, but a week before Eid, things started to get worse," says Uzheer Ahmed. Missiles and rockets were heard all the time, government army jets were also flying in the skies.
He said that there was an army supermarket next to our factory, bombs were also dropped there. Now the situation had reached such a point that the bullets started falling in our factory, so the owner said to stop the work and make arrangements to return.
Stopped at 15 places during the journey
Ozheer Ahmed says that the Pakistani embassy created a WhatsApp group for Pakistanis and announced that those who wanted to return to Pakistan would be assisted and should reach Pakistan House in Khartoum.
He said that the owner of the factory put us in a car and we all went together. Apparently, our journey to Pakistan House was not difficult, but during this time, anti-government armed groups had established their check posts at various places. They would stop the vehicle at every check post, ask people's identity and see which country we belong to.
Ozheer Ahmed said that during the journey we were stopped at 15 places. After seeing the Pakistani identity card, they let us go at one or two check posts. They asked us that there is no Egyptian citizen among us. On suspicion, he also checked the documents of a few passengers and then let them go.
Those Pakistanis at the port whose accommodation has not been arranged at present
Muhammad Ahsan Sami is a chemical engineer and has traveled to Sudan Port along with his family. Speaking to the BBC, he said that it is very difficult to travel in Sudan at the moment. The first problem is the non-availability of buses, the ones that are available demand high fares, the second problem is the non-availability of petrol and diesel.
He said that the buses in which we traveled charged exorbitant fares. On the way, these bus drivers also obtained fuel in unconventional ways.
Muhammad Ahsan Sami said that the non-governmental forces have taken refuge in the civilian population. Heavy weapons are also hidden there. Sometimes it is announced that there is a ceasefire, but in practice it does not happen, firing continues all the time.
Due to these conditions, we have reached Port Sudan after a difficult journey of about 24 hours. Where we have been accommodated in a building.
Muhammad Ahsan Sami and Ozhir Ahmed were lucky enough to find a place to live in Port Sudan. But the members of the second caravan were not so lucky and are still busy trying to arrange accommodation.
Abdullah belongs to Peshawar. He has reached Port Sudan along with another convoy. He explains that 'a lot of time has passed since we arrived at Port Sudan and the people who were with their families have been given accommodation but the rest of the people have not been provided with any accommodation facilities.'
He said that we are trying to find a place to live on our own, but there is no indication yet that we will be able to find a place to live. The people of the embassy are saying that they are also trying.
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Abdullah says that the Pakistani embassy has not taken any money from us for rent. Adequate food and drink are also being provided. It was a difficult time in which to have this facility was a great help. But now there is no residence, so how can they live under the open sky? I don't even know how many days and nights I will have to stay here.
In this regard, contact has been made with the Pakistani embassy in Sudan and the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but they did not give any response.
But Muhammad Ahsan Sami says that this is a war situation. There is a rush of foreigners at Port Sudan. It doesn't seem that any building has been vacated there. In this way, in these conditions, the rents and prices of everything have increased and the banks are also closed, it is difficult to manage money in such a situation.
Abdullah agrees that getting money in Sudan has also become difficult. But he says that this situation is unpleasant. This situation can lead to accidents. There may be incidents of looting under the open sky. We did not take out our mobile phone during the entire journey so that no one would steal it.
"Pakistanis have also been victims of looting"
Uzheer Ahmed says that there have been incidents of robbery with some Pakistanis in these circumstances. The match factory of a Pakistani industrialist has been looted.
Muhammad Ahsan Sami says that an incident has also happened in the steel factory of a Pakistani. In this way, they entered some people's houses by jumping over the walls. Cooked food, ration, mobile phone and whatever cash they had were stolen from these people.
Uzheer Ahmed says that there are Pakistanis with us whose passports etc. have been taken away during the theft. No Pakistani suffered much loss because everyone knew that this could happen, so they did not keep much cash etc.
For those whose passports have been confiscated or lost, their passports are being prepared by the Pakistani diplomatic staff at Port Sudan.
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