On April 25th, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Canadian government would be doing whatever it takes to get their people out of harm’s way. With the cease-fire for the Muslim holiday Eid giving a small and unstable window for extraction, the country used the preceding weekend to get as many Canadians over borders or to airports as possible.
While Canada’s allies have already begun the efforts to get their people out of the country, the PM wasn’t breaking new ground here. His timing to many was questionable given the way things had evolved so quickly in Sudan yet his office had remained silent. Unlike President Biden here in the US, he at least has some semblance of a plan.
Trudeau told the press “We have assets in the region. We’re looking at doing direct airlifts, lifts of Canadians and their dependents… There’s very limited places where those airlifts can happen from.” With Canadian warships and aircraft on the way as well as a frigate and supply ship in the nearby Red Sea, they have an opportunity to work with the Fifth Fleet of the US Navy as well as the Royal Navy- both of which are assembling off the coast of Sudan for a possible water evacuation.
As things presently stand, Trudeau is following Biden and other countries’ leads by placing troops, supplies, and equipment on standby in Djibouti as they await the orders to take Sudan. This a move that many hope will not become completely necessary but given the situation of political unrest in the country and the damage being caused by these warring factions could split the nation apart.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand’s spokesman said that while numerous ways are being considered to spearhead their evacuation, the decision to leave Sudan is one each Canadian must make for themselves. If they do decide they want to leave, all they will need to do is ask the Canadian government for help, and instructions will be provided to help get them where they need to go.
Contrary to this, Hisham Mohammed, a Canadian who is from Sudan refuted these claims. From his experience, as battles raged on in Khartoum for days was that Global Affairs Canada could care less about getting him out or keeping him safe. Only being told to shelter in place as the violence closed in on his position, he knew he had to do something to assure his safety.
Over a three-day period before fleeing to Cairo, he attempted to contact the foreign ministry helpline, letting them know just how dangerous conditions had gotten. With food and water running low, and the electricity being cut off, there was little reason to remain in place. He believes that the government should have advised better at that time. Given their ability to gather intel and chatter about the uprising, they could have done more.
Yet Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly spoke before cabinet on April 25th, and she too believes that they did everything reasonable to get Canadians out given the rapidly developing situation. “We know that the situation is extremely difficult and until the ceasefire that happened last night, well, Khartoum was one of the most dangerous places in the world.” She added that they needed to consider the fact that these warring generals in Sudan don’t “have command and control on their folks and so that makes it a very volatile environment in which we can help to evacuate.”
Taking all of that into consideration, the country is doing whatever it can to get the Canadians out and free as rapidly as possible. With multiple nations across the globe offering to help smooth things out between the generals and get the county back on track, there is hope for the people of Sudan.
Should Canada send in troops, many fear this will force the hand of President Biden and other global leaders, and given the botch they created in Afghanistan, this would only be 100x worse.