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!

So who else do you think should be evacuated? What other professionals? And as has been said, ad nauseum, it's not our job to evacuate people who are Sudanese. Please see the very full explanation already given.

I see part of the confusion is that people think the Sudanese doctor will never be allowed back. Maybe that was on facebook/tiktok, but it's not true.

There is an ongoing operation to evacuate British Citizens and it will do just that Later there will be the opportunity to evacuate others or they may be able to cross into Egypt when things settle a bit.

@Quveas - I am "remarkably quiet" due to being quite distracted by my day job...thought the thread was ticking along rather nicely without my input! I do keep popping in and I am finding the exchanges fascinating. At the end of the day, we are talking about a couple of dozen medics, that is all...I am sure they could have squeezed them in at some point. I still think they should have been given priority - and I do think that there are some occupations that carry higher value (for the selfless contribution made) than others - and of course, I include the soldiers risking their lives in that category.

"we need doctors from all over the world. we would be lost without them"

The practise of letting another country train medical staff and then enticing them to the UK to work saves us money and wrecks the medical services of the country they are from.

It is exploitation and claiming we can't manage without abusing these countries is not a good look.

At the end of the day, we are talking about a couple of dozen medics, that is all...I am sure they could have squeezed them in at some point.

Well, we're talking about removing Sudanese citizens from Sudan during a Sudanese civil war.
You want to evacuate a couple of dozen medics, but what about everyone else? What about the man on the news who is a sudenese born UK citizen who won't leave without his parents? Should we squeeze them on too? Why not?

Well that's good news. He can go with the French then. Problem solved.

What selfless contribution have they made, doctors coming here from Sudan have come here for the higher wages not because they care about British people.

I completely agree - it is an argument that I have made myself. We should not be poaching other countries' medics. But that will take time to put right and this is about looking after people who have already made a life in our country looking after us. I think that makes us somewhat obligated in these circumstances.

The fact is may only be "a couple of dozen medics" is completely beside the point. If they are Sudanese citizens, we would be in breach of international law removing them. As another poster said earlier, once we start doing that the risks to British nationals and troops increases because they could end up being targeted for "meddling" in Sudanese affairs.

As someone else linked to from the FCDO...
"Travelling abroad if you live in the UK but are not a British national. We do not provide assistance to foreign nationals outside the UK, even if you usually live in the UK. If you need help you should contact the local authorities or the embassy or consulate of the country relating to your passport or identity document."

No, the french were not evacuating Sudanese citizens either. They can't. No-one can.

the French flights were allowing non-sudanese people from other countries on their flights though.

The point is our NHS asked (in fact probably begged) them to come because we can’t recruit or retain our own Doctors. Don’t blame the Sudanese’s doctors for that! We wanted and needed these doctors- well until they needed a place on the rescue planes….. now apparently the NHS can manage just fine without them, oh hang on a minute maybe not 🤔

Yeah it’s their own fault for going there. Not saying we should leave them there but if they were stupid enough to go they only have themselves to black. Doesn’t matter if they are doctors, nurses or cleaners..

It would be against international law to put them on the flight. Which bit about that are you not getting?

@MissyB1 they returned to Sudan knowing the crisis was imminent, although not expected during Eid, against government advice.

As they are Sudanese citizens, we cannot remove them from the country without risking problems evacuating our nationals both now and in other conflict zones in the future.

It's got fuck all to do with whether the NHS is in need of them or not.

They are not domiciled in Britain nor are they citizens. They are purely on short-term visas here. To repatriate someone means to return them to their homeland - usually the palce they were born and always where there passport is issued, not where they are currently living. Your use of the wrong terminology shows a complete lack of understanding.

Foreign doctors aren't here because they're on some charitable quest to save the nhs. They're here for the money, often working as agency doctors are massively inflated rates, while getting the best experience and training. They go 'home' on holiday despite the advice of the government in the country they 'reside'.

The nhs needs to train more doctors and then they wouldn't need to recruit from abroad. That's the problem.

The deification of doctors is really weird. They're doing a job. They come because they can make much more money than at home, and its a way to move to Europe. They're not volunteers, they're not "serving"., they're working.

I don't agree. The team on the ground was tasked with getting more than 2000 British passport holders out of Sudan during a short and unpredictable/unstable window of opportunity.

Of course they put passport holders first. That's their job. You can't expect a squaddie in the middle of an operation, to ignore his objective. The evacuation isn't complete yet. They are all in danger.

This absolutely ^^

They are residents of our Country and employees of our Government. Did you miss that bit?

Sudanese doctors don’t come here because the NHS “begs” them to. Sudan begs them to stay. The Uk has 15 times more doctors for our population size than Sudan. They are needed there far more than here. They come to the UK for better prospects for themselves and their families. I don’t blame them for that, I’d do the same. But don’t make out that they are helping us out at great personal cost because we need them so badly.

Was it against international law when dogs were evacuated ahead of people from Afghanistan? Oh no that was fine….

Well said

My blood is boiling over this. To say it's a disgusting way of treating people is a massive understatement 😡🤬

Thank you! I wish people would look up what repatriate means if they're thinking of using it in their post.
I've lived and worked in England since studying here 25 years ago, I'm not British. If I was in trouble in another country I would go to the Embassy of my home country, not the British Embassy.