Dhaka: While waiting to be evacuated from Sudan, hundreds of Bangladeshis are stuck in a small, makeshift camp and are running out of food and water. They also have no idea when they will be taken to safety.

Since deadly fighting broke out on April 15 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces, thousands of foreigners have attempted to leave Sudan. The Bangladeshis are among them.

On April 24, when the warring parties declared a ceasefire, massive evacuations started.

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While some Bangladeshi nationals were saved by Saudi security forces, about 750 of those who had been designated for evacuation by their own government had to wait a week before they could be transferred from the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to Port Sudan in order to travel by sea to Saudi Arabia.

Since Tuesday, the group has been waiting to board a ship to Jeddah, but as the days go by, it's getting harder to predict when that will happen.

Mohammed Bahadur, a Khartoum factory worker who was one of the evacuees, told Arab News over the phone from Port Sudan that supplies were running low and that kids, including his 18-month-old daughter, were already getting sick.

There isn't enough water for drinking here. How much water can we reasonably purchase? We don't even have enough to drink, much less take a shower," he claimed.
"I'm at a loss for what to do. Given that this is a mosquito-prone area, children are also getting sick from mosquito bites.

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The length of time the evacuated people will be stuck in the camp is unknown, according to Bahadur. Every day since we arrived, we have been assured that the ship will arrive soon. But it's not happening," he declared.

Anisur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh-Sudan Friendship Council and a former manager in Khartoum, said that everyone was understanding in the early going, but that it was getting harder to put up with the worsening circumstances.

"Here, there is a severe food shortage. In the middle of April, the war began. When they were still in Khartoum, people would purchase food and other necessities for prices that were ten times higher, he claimed.

They arrived in Port Sudan with no money because they hadn't received their salaries. Even if food were readily available, they could not afford to buy it. Most people arrived here empty-handed because everything in Khartoum had been stolen.

Sanitary conditions can be challenging. About 700 men are sharing one lavatory, while women and children have been separated from the main group.
Rahman stated that there was only one loo, which was run by a mosque. "There is always a long queue of 50 to 60 people in front of it."

The Bangladeshis are staying at a school, where they are sleeping in claustrophobic classrooms on the ground.

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Rahman told Arab News that some Sudanese have stepped up to help after learning about the situation. One businessman purchased tents for the evacuees, and a local aid organisation delivered additional food. There was no one available to comment from the Bangladeshi mission taking care of the evacuees.

The date of the first batch of Bangladeshis' ability to leave Port Sudan, however, has not yet been confirmed, according to Shah Mohammad Tanvir Monsur, director-general of the Consular and Welfare Wing of the Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The well-being of the evacuees is the top priority, and our ambassador in Sudan has been asked to take all necessary measures, he said.