Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada has no means of evacuating citizens from Sudan, where violence has drastically escalated between the country's army and its rival paramilitary force. Joly rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, March 27, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada has no means of evacuating citizens from Sudan, where violence has drastically escalated between the country’s army and its rival paramilitary force.
The streets of the capital of Khartoum were generally calm a week ago, but a skirmish over a planned transition to democratic rule escalated into raging battles between the two groups.
The Global Affairs Department knows of roughly 1,500 Canadians registered as being in Sudan, and Joly is urging anyone in that country who hasn’t submit their details to the government to do so.
She says all of Canada’s diplomats and hired local staff have been accounted for, and are trying to offer services while working remotely.
Joly is planning to speak with her counterparts in the African Union as well as nearby countries such as Egypt and Djibouti, and she urged a de-escalation to the conflict.
She added that a historic number of conflicts means Ottawa must invest more in diplomacy, both to offer consular services to Canadians and to prevent conflict.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2023.
