NHS doctor who fled Sudan pleads with PM to keep running evacuation flights

29 April 2023 , 21:16

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NHS doctor Dr Abdulrahman Babiker at Larnaca airport, Cyprus (Image: Humphrey Nemar.)

An NHS doctor who fled Sudan has pleaded with PM Rishi Sunak to keep running evacuation flights to help other medics flee.

Dr Abdulrahman Babiker was turned away when he first tried to fly out of Sudan, where he had been visiting family, as he only has a UK permit.

But the registrar at Manchester Royal Infirmary then managed to get out of the country on a flight arriving in Cyprus today.

Speaking at Larnaca airport before flying on to the UK, Dr Babiker, 33, urged the government to extend the window for evacuation flights.

He said he knew of three NHS doctors who had difficulty getting to the airbase in Sudan in time to catch the final British plane today.

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People walk among scattered objects in the market of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfu (AFP via Getty Images)

Dr Babiker said: “If this can be extended by another few days so these NHS doctors can be evacuated safely, that would be great because it’s really quite difficult for them.”

Simon Murphy