Westmeath teenager worried about family fleeing Sudan

A Mullingar teenager whose mother and younger sister had to organise their own evacuation from Khartoum has criticised the Irish government for not keeping its citizens up to date with its plans to get them out of the Sudanese capital.

Noon Abdellatif's mother Hannah and five year old sister were attending a family wedding in Sudan when fighting broke out on April 15.

Hannah and her daughter, along with members of their extended family, left Khartoum on a coach travelling through the desert to the Egyptian border on Saturday, a week after fighting broke out,

Less than 24 hours later, news emerged that the evacuation of Irish citizens from Khartoum had begun with people leaving on planes chartered by the French and Spanish governments.

Speaking to Morning Ireland, Noon criticised the Irish government for failing to keep her mother and other Irish citizens informed about their plans.

“My mother had been trying to wait until the Irish Embassy issued a statement about the evacuation of Irish citizens, but the danger had gotten too close to their house. They could hear the bombing and shooting and neighbourhood houses were collapsing and things like that.

“...They should have given a notice ahead of time. That would have saved a lot of people the journey and the money and the actual physical movement of travelling through the desert. There is a danger in trying to flee through the buses. You don't know if you are going to get stopped by the RSF or the military. You don't know if the buses are going to break down. There is the danger from the desert in terms of heat stroke. You are not guaranteed any type of safety at all.”

When speaking to Morning Ireland, Noon still hadn't found out if her mother, sister and the rest of her family had made it across the border. She said that she had last heard from her mother on Monday morning and that she and her father were concerned.

“We are really worried for my extended family and my mother and sister because the price of the bus tickets are extortionate. People have been taking advantage of people's desperate need to flee the country. Many are now travelling with empty pockets. They have used all of their money just on the buses.

“They don't know if they will be able to afford accommodation, food or water when they reach Egypt. They are just hoping for the safety of the country itself.”

Noon added that the embassy should have kept Irish citizens better informed of its plans.

“There wasn't a lot of help on that side. It's disappointing that my mother had to be forced out and had to find her own kind of evacuation when the Irish government could easily have given a bigger notice ahead of time to what their plans were,” she said.

Noon added that while she is worried, she has to stay strong for her family in Sudan.

“They are ones hearing the bombs. They are the ones witnessing the shootings and dead bodies. You have to be brave and resilient for them.”

Listen to Noon's interview here.