At the same time, UN agencies are also assisting in emergency relief, including the International Organization for Migration (International Organization for Migration).IOM), has a Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) to assist refugees and third country nationals who are desperately trying to flee combat by flee to a neighboring country.
The Sudanese National Army and the Rapid Support Force (RSF), a paramilitary unit, have locked in a violent conflict since April 15. According to the United Nations, more than 400 people have been killed in the fighting while tens of thousands of It is estimated that more than 100,000 people have been internally displaced, including more than 100,000 who have fled to neighboring countries.
Mr. Sharma moved to Sudan in 2021 with his brother. At the time of the violence, he was working at the Omega steel plant and living with 160 workers in a guesthouse on the company’s campus 15 kilometers from the capital Khartoum.
“We have been working to clean up the environment by recycling scrap metal. It’s been almost two years since I’ve lived there, and things are going well. Unexpectedly, the conflict began there on April 15. Both the army and the paramilitary fought each other, and the airfield was shelled and burned.
When the airport was destroyed, we were worried about how to get back home to India. We can’t even contact anyone in India. We are also trying to establish contact with the Indian Embassy, but network problems have made it difficult.
Fighter planes flew over the guesthouse where we were staying, dropping bullets and missiles.
We are very worried about how to get to a safe place in Sudan.
Indians line up at Port Sudan after being rescued from Khartoum.
Robbery and intimidation
On April 17, a group of armed men entered the guesthouse. We all locked ourselves in our rooms in fear. They vandalized and shot indiscriminately and spoke in a local language we couldn’t understand.
Then they took one of our colleagues hostage. He started calling for help.
Gathering courage, we went to his rescue, and gave them whatever we had – cell phones, laptops – gave them the car keys, and that’s how we gave them. Go.
Car business for ‘our lives’
We devised a plan that as soon as armed groups entered the guesthouse, we would not let them in. We feel that as long as we have a vehicle and a cell phone, our lives will be preserved. We let them take whatever they want; We just need food to survive. We had to hide our rations.
We let them take whatever they want; We just need food to survive. We had to hide our rations.
They come back again and again, hour after hour, and take whatever they want. They will come, we will give them a car and they will take it. We have 10 to 15 cars with us.
It has been on this road for seven days. They come every day, and we will all gather outside the guesthouse. During this time, we could not sleep well nor eat. When they come, we’ll go out and give them whatever they want. By staying calm, we were able to save our lives.
Child soldier
Oddly, those armed fighters appeared to be mostly children, about 10 to 15 years old. They don’t seem to know when and how to fire a weapon. A gun was given to a child who should have had a pen and a book in his hand.
Meanwhile, there is no proper contact with our family. At least 150 phones were stolen from us, but we kept a dozen of them hidden. We had to deal with serious network issues, but by the time we got in touch with the Indian Embassy, the evacuation effort had already begun.
‘Feeling of immense relief’
On April 23, an Indian Embassy bus picked us up, taking us on a nearly 1,000 km journey to Port Sudan. When we reached the port of Sudan, we were finally relieved to see the Indian Army. We feel extremely relieved that our lives can be saved.
We can only pray for Sudan. It would be good if the UN could take some action, especially towards children who are being exploited by paramilitary forces.
The people of Sudan love us and they are happy to help. There is a lot of respect for Indians. People are crazy about Bollywood too. Sudanese people listen to Hindi songs and Indian Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan are easily recognized by everyone.
I hope that things will return to normal in Sudan soon.”
In happier times, Raghuveer Sharma and his brother visited the Nile. Behind is a bridge, which he said is now “completely destroyed”.
