NHS Doctors refused evacuation from Sudan by British Government - DISGUSTING!

[Raggletagglegypsy]

Shameful and shocking that NHS doctors should be turned away from evacuation flights from Sudan, simply because they have British residency, but are not British nationals. Just watching Newsnight on catchup and I was so enraged that I couldn't keep watching. I really hope that this matter has been put right since Newsnight aired yesterday. A medic who served the British people at Manchester Royal Infirmary through the pandemic was escorted out of the airport where he had arrived for evacuation, wanting to return to his work as a registrar. There are apparently over 20 doctors known to be in a similar position (having visited families for Eid - many with young children). The doctor who was interviewed described the situation as "disappointing" - I would use stronger vocabulary.
WE SHOULD ALL BE RAISING THIS WITH OUR MPs TODAY!

And seeing as Sudan is about to become a warzone wouldn't it make sense for these doctors to SERVE and help their family's and citizens of Sudan.

You do understand OP that it's not up to Britain who they evacuate? The Sudanese have set terms as to who can be evacuated. Those with foreign passports (in Sudan). To break these terms would put the whole ceasefire and safe passage agreement in jeopardy. Sudanese nationals without travel documents are being blocked at checkpoints by the Sudanese army not turned away by british forces.

"I work for the NHS" surprisingly doesn't have as much meaning in Sudan than it seems to have in the UK.

The government advice is also that it's still possible to get a ferry from Port Sudan but not to try to get to Egypt as the queues leaving are too long. I would suggest that chaos is likely to ensue shortly. If British nationals aren't out then people will complain about that.

Even ChatGPT can do a better job than most 'journalists'. It's wrong half the time but they're no better. At least it isn't emotive

Are we rescuing Sudanese people from Sudan?
45M people in Sudan. How many should we rescue?

It is possible to review through the WaybackWhen Archive the travel restrictions
<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230320114125/www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sudan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20230320114125/www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sudan

From Dec 2022
<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221214232037/www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sudan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20221214232037/www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sudan
Latest update:Removal of 'advice against all but essential travel' for Khartoum and some wider areas of Sudan. The FCDO now advises against all travel within 20km of the border with Eritrea and Ethiopia, and the al-Fashaga region. The FCDO also now advises against all but essential travel to the Hala’ib Triangle and Bil Tawil trapezoid. The FCDO additionally continues to advise against all travel to the Darfur states, the Abyei Region, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, the southern area of West Kordofan state that was previously part of South Kordofan, to within 50km of the border with South Sudan in White Nile and Sennar states, and to within 200km of the border with Libya ('Summary' and 'Safety and security' pages).

When I was in sixth form, I had some work experience at the foreign office. I used to think it was some department with multiple people skilled and knowledgeable about international affairs in some kind of grand control center. I don't think people understand that it's literally just one guy in a dinky room with a desk and a TV on. I have dual nationality and since then I've made sure I have my US passport with me as well as my UK one as I trust nearly any other country to be more capable at getting me out of a sticky situation than the UK.

Well yes but how would that work with evacuating Sudanese nationals from Sudan, to the UK?

The foreign office is not one guy with a tv and a desk.

The guy responsible for repatriating people back among many other things is by himself in a dinky cupboard yes. Oh I guess he had a phone too.

The other staff are just people who deal with PR, admin and procurement.

Really, no. That's not at all how it works.

@Raggletagglegypsy “I did explain elsewhere that I was just reacting to an interview that I watched on Newsnight that was focusing on doctors (I have been bogged down with a work deadline and have not had chance to be aware of all the details).”

But isn’t that exactly the point?

Newsnight chooses its clickbait narrative.
You only notice it (?) and decide to post (?) because of the clickbait narrative and up the ante with OTT nonsense about perfectly ordinary professionals “serving” in their ordinary chosen jobs for their own personal career, financial and personal gain.
And you knee jerk do that knowing that you haven’t time to read the actual details 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well, I have had to think about it now, and it still makes me cross! The small number of doctors being talked about have a disproportionate impact, through the valuable work they do for us - we should be making a similarly disproportionate effort to secure their safe passage back here, if that is where they still wish to be.

Never let facts get in the way of a good story. I'm sorry to say, but I think that a lot of journalism doesn't deal in fact but rather gives an emotive story. People like rules and regulations until a particular situation developes then they want rules out of the window.

And yet the US are not taking their citizens out, but the UK are?

People have had plenty of time and warnings to get out. Tough shit.

The Government, under pressure from some MPs did consider trying to expand criteria to include residents but decided in the end that there were compelling reason not to. Cleverly told parliament their reasoning was due to concern that while there was enough space for citizens, there wasn’t the capacity to open up to all UK residents; threat of attack from Sudanese forces who object to some of those residents leaving Sudan; the impact on the UK’s ability to negotiate similar exits in the future from the controlling forces in zones of active fighting and to manage expectations in future crises.

It does feel wrong in a lot of ways that people who have made their home in the UK, become a part of the fabric of society here, should be refused aid when things are dire. But these sorts of rescue operations are precarious and I don’t think those are unreasonable or heartless concerns for a government to have. It’s easy to say “do it all” but delivering on that in a war zone can go horribly wrong really easily, especially when changes to the basic plan are made on the fly.

This is wildly incorrect

Apparently a Turkish evacuation plane has been shot as it was landing in Khartoum today. Clearly the ceasefire isn't holding.

How many soldiers lives are you willing to risk, op, to bring out non-nationals who chose to go there on a holiday? At what point do we stop?

@CharlotteRumpling my DH isn’t British, is white and has had to jump through the same expensive hoops so I think your comment is disingenuous to be honest

Never let facts get in the way of a good story.

Well the OP shares that quality too. 6 pages in and they are still demanding that the UK remove Sudanese citizens after it has been explained on mutiple occasions why this is illegal under international law, and puts British citizens and troops in danger. And when one of our planes is downed or a soldier is killed, they will be frothing about that too.

I notice that the OP is remarkably quiet on this front so I am asking directly - @Raggletagglegypsy How many British citizens lives, how many of our troops lives, are you willing to accept is a justifiable cost to remove a Sudanese citizen from their own country?

OP Would you like a man, a woman or a child removed from the flight so he can take their place? You can pick.

The UK military are evacuating UK citizens. That is their job. There is no special reason to think a Sudanese doctor is in danger there and he didn't seem concerned with other Sudanese did he. Just himself.

But they are Sudanese.

Well until you personally need one I guess.. .. oh and try asking those Sudanese doctor’s patients who have their appointments cancelled next week how important those doctors are to them.