A Manchester Royal Infirmary doctor trapped in war-torn Sudan says he feels 'betrayed' after he was turned away from an evacuation flight.
Dr Abdulrahman Babiker, a registrar, is due back on shift at the MRI, where he has worked for more than four years, on Tuesday, but can't get out of the African country.
His plight was revealed as the Labour Party said all British residents should qualify for evacuation from Sudan, with Downing Street so far rejecting calls to widen the eligibility for evacuation beyond British passport holders and their immediate family.
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Sudanese Dr Babiker, who travelled to the country to visit his family for the Eid celebrations has a UK work permit but not a UK passport, reports the BBC.
As of Thursday evening, the RAF had airlifted nearly 900 people from an airfield near the capital Khartoum. Khartoum International Airport has been shut for more than two weeks due to fierce fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.
Dr Babiker, speaking to the BBC's Newsnight programme from a relative's home in neighbouring Omdurman, said he hoped to be helped to escape the conflict, which has already claimed hundreds of lives.
"I had spoken to my MP and had emails advising me to go to the air base," he said.
But after 16 hours queuing at the site north of Khartoum, Dr Babiker said he was told he could not board a flight. "They said 'we are really sorry, this is the guidance from the Home Office'. And a soldier took me out," he said.
"To be honest I feel totally betrayed…I worked throughout Covid and I'm so disappointed. I'd be more than happy to wait for other people to be evacuated before me, but to not have any chance to be evacuated in this very risky situation is...I'm really feeling disappointed."
There are a large number of people in Sudan with ties to the UK, partially due to historical links between the two countries, reports the BBC. Sudan was controlled as a British colony between the 1890s and 1956, when it became independent.
More than 2,000 British nationals in the country have registered under the evacuation plans but the true number of citizens there could be far higher.
The Foreign Office, which has not said how many of the evacuees are Britons or foreign nationals, had been urging citizens to head to the airstrip before a ceasefire ends. The Foreign Office says it is prioritising British nationals, but the BBC claimed it had learned of many other doctors in similar situations.
Speaking on Newsnight Dr Nadia Baasher, from the Sudanese Junior Doctor's Association, said Dr Babiker said she knew of at least 24 NHS doctors in a similar position, having been caught in Sudan after visiting for the Muslim festival of Eid.
The Foreign Office added that people in Dr Babiker's situation are allowed to enter the UK but must make their own way there, reported the BBC. And Downing Street admitted there would be an 'element of discretion' for people working on the ground in Sudan.
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