JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s HMS Al-Jubail arrived at the King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah from Port Sudan on Wednesday with the latest contingent of people seeking refuge from the Sudanese unrest.
A group of 22 people of different nationalities arrived safely in the Kingdom, according to the Ministry of Defense.
Those onboard included members of the media, including Arab News.
Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the ministry, said that those seeking refuge included seven Saudi citizens, eight Chinese, six Sudanese and a Kuwaiti.
He said: “There are no distinctions between nationalities. We serve everyone who meets the requirements.”
Al-Maliki added that there were more priority cases to be evacuated, including women, children and the elderly.
“This is a humanitarian case, and the evacuation requests come from other embassies in Sudan to the Saudi embassy in Khartoum. These embassies receive the names, information and documents. Then they forward them to our embassy in the Sudanese capital.”
The vessel set sail at about 1:00 p.m. with some 33 Saudi and international media representatives on board, along with the crew of the ship under the pennant number 828, captained by Brig. Gen. Abdullah Al-Zahrani.
The ship arrived at Port Sudan and docked a few miles away from the port. The passengers traveled on a Sudanese tug to the wharf where the 22 people were waiting for the ship to take them to safety.
Following media representatives’ request, and after coordinating with the Sudanese side, the correspondents were allowed to go ashore to interview the evacuees, who were lining up to get their documents checked by the Saudi authorities on the dockside.
After arrival in Jeddah, Luan Jianhua, a Chinese evacuee who works in an air-conditioning factory, told Arab News that people felt they were in danger in Sudan, but not when their evacuation request was approved by Saudi officials in Sudan.
“In Sudan, we felt the situation was a bit dangerous, but after the embassy transported us to Port Sudan we are happy now that we are safe and secure. We really appreciate all the efforts and services that Saudi Arabia provided us with,” Jianhua said.
At Port Sudan, Osama Siddiq, a fourth-year medical student, told Arab News that the evacuees had struggled with the sounds of rockets and gunfire on a daily basis.
“We were unable to sleep. We even did not know whether we would live for another day, but when we heard about the Saudi evacuation operations, we decided to go to Port Sudan to get evacuated. It took us nearly 12 hours by bus from Khartoum to reach Port Sudan,” he said.
He registered his name at the Saudi embassy and his evacuation request was promptly approved.
“I am full of hope to soon see my family members, who are living in Saudi Arabia, and I would like to thank the Saudi government and Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” he said.
Bayan Khairi, a sophomore nursing student at National University, had, for two weeks, failed to get out of Khartoum to join her family who are living in Saudi Arabia.
“The war started on April 15, and we could not leave Khartoum because of the war and the things that were happening. I stayed in the capital city 14 days before my brother arranged my evacuation with the Saudi embassy, who were very helpful and they responded very quickly,” she said.
Describing her parents’ feelings while she was in danger, Khairi said that her mother cried every day, and her father called her daily.
“I am so happy now that Saudi Arabia helped us so much, and I am grateful for their efforts in evacuating me. I truly can’t believe I came out of Khartoum safely,” she said.
Accompanying the media team to Sudan, Faiz Al-Maliki, a Saudi social influencer, told Arab News that he was at the evacuation of large numbers of Arabs and foreigners from Sudan to Saudi Arabia.
“I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their follow-up and keenness on these people’s comfort and high-quality services, entirely provided by Saudi hands,” he said.
“May Allah bless King Salman and his crown prince. Thank you also to those who participated with us today, to our Royal Saudi Naval Forces, and to all our security people, in general.”
The HMS Al-Jubail was built by the Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, Navantia. The Avante 2200 war vessel joined the Saudi naval forces in August 2022.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the vessel is the first ship of the Al-Sarawat Project, which includes the manufacturing and building of five corvette Avante 2200 — the latest of their kind in the world. The 85.8-meter-long ship is capable of confronting all threats, whether from the air, surface or subsurface levels.
