Several Europeans are missing in Sudan, says Borrell

Several European citizens have gone missing since fighting broke out in Sudan last Saturday, which has claimed at least 270 lives, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell announced this Tuesday.

“We know there are several missing people, (…) people we don’t know where they are. They’re gone,” said Borrell, in statements to the Spanish office EFE from the seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, without giving details of their nationalities or specific numbers.

The High Representative also confirmed that both the European Union Ambassador to Sudan, Aidan O’Hara, and the delegation staff are “well”, despite a raid on the diplomat’s residence on Monday.

“Unfortunately, it cannot be compared to the hundreds and hundreds of Sudanese who have died, both civilians and military, in a conflict between two generals vying for power,” said the head of European diplomacy.

Asked if Brussels is considering a possible withdrawal of Europeans currently in Sudan, Borrell said the EU is “working on the matter”, without giving further details.

The head of European diplomacy said he was in contact with Egypt, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates and the African Union to reach a ceasefire and spoke out in favor of keeping the EU’s humanitarian aid to Sudan.

Army forces led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto leader since the 2021 coup, clash with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group led by General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, better known as “Hemedti” .

The two orchestrated the 2021 coup together, but disagreements between the two intensified a few weeks ago during negotiations to reach a final deal with civilian groups, and on Saturday the military attacked the RSF’s positions in a clear response to a previous attack.

Despite calls from G7 foreign ministers in Japan, the UN and the US for an “immediate end to the violence”, fighting continued today in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

The clashes also injured more than 2,000, according to the World Health Organization.