Survival story of 85-year-old British citizen living in Sudan, abandoned by UK embassy

An 85-year-old British national was shot thrice but survived in the recent Sudan conflict. He was shot dead by a sniper in Sudan and his wife has starved to death after they were left alone by the British embassy in Sudan. The statement has been shared by the family members to the BBC News Arabic. This happened during the Sudan conflict which broke out on April 15, when fierce fighting erupted in the Khartoum diplomatic sector.

The conflict has been triggered by a power struggle between former allies, the leaders of the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Here is the tweet in which one can see how the family had approached a person on Twitter with the name Wisam Elfadil, who further shared the problem of the Sholgami family on April 21. 

Urgent:
Salam, I have my two grandparents stuck at al Baladia street. They share walls with the Turkish embassy My grandmother is immobile and needs assistance to get up.
Her name is Alweya Rishwan age 80. My grandfathers name is Abdalla Ibrahim Sholgami 87.
0912343091 للتواصل pic.twitter.com/0dugT3kaWE

— Wisam Elfadil (@ElfadilWisam)

Sholgamis’ survival story amid Sudan Conflict 

Sholgami, an 80-year-old disabled wife, Alaweya Rishwan has lived directly across from the British Diplomatic Mission in Khartoum. However, the London hotel owner was never offered assistance exiting Sudan even after repeated calls for help. The old couple was not evacuated even after the UK military team was dispatched to evacuate diplomatic staff.

Instead,  the elderly couple has been informed that they should go to an airfield 40 kilometres (25 miles) outside of Khartoum, which would have meant crossing a war zone, to board an evacuation flight, reported UK Daily. According to Britain's  Foreign Office, the whole incident has been  “unfortunate” but added that “our ability to provide consular assistance is severely limited and we are unable to provide personal assistance in Sudan”.

As soon as the conflict in SDudan emerged, the family began contacting the British Embassy. Just after the week, the conflict in Sudan started, the embassy evacuated with the support of the British Army and Royal Air Force. “I was informed that they had 100 soldiers who came and evacuated their staff. Couldn’t cross the street? I’m still very disappointed in them,” said Sholgami’s granddaughter, Azhaar. According to the granddaughter's statement, Sholgami was forced to leave his wife to seek help as they were struggling with hunger and lack of water.

While he was out, snipers shot him three times, in the hand, chest and lower back. As there were no hospitals in his whereabouts, Sholgami was taken to a family member in another part of Khartoum and survived. After this, the wife who was physically challenged was left to her own devices and it was impossible for any family to reach her in an area surrounded by snipers.

In the meantime, the family contacted the British Foreign Office hotline to help Alaweya Rishwan. Still, she remained stuck in the house without assistance and was found dead by a Turkish Embassy official a few days later, reported a UK newspaper. The family has been blaming the UK government which has made no effort to make to support them and have not been in touch since May 3, when the last evacuation flight to the UK took off. According to the official Twitter account of the UK embassy in Sudan, On May 2, the UK evacuated 2,341 people from Sudan on 28 flights,  the longest and largest operation of any Western nation. 

Sudan update – 2 May 2023.

The UK has evacuated 2,341 people from Sudan on 28 flights – the longest and largest operation of any Western nation. pic.twitter.com/kk061WZd8e

— UK in Sudan 🇬🇧 (@UKinSudan)