“And we kind of thought that they were going to take us.”They waited, well into the early hours of the morning – before finally getting an email from the US State Department. However, the US State Department has advised that American citizens in Sudan “should have no expectation of a US government-coordinated evacuation at this time” due to the security situation and the closure of the airport in Khartoum. “It is imperative that US citizens in Sudan make their own arrangements to stay safe in these difficult circumstances,” said State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel at a news briefing last Friday. The French Embassy in Sudan was carrying out a separate evacuation for French citizens, and foreigners of other nationalities were welcome. Welker also argued that Americans in Sudan are largely there for humanitarian and educational reasons – and that the US should help retrieve all those who want to leave.

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