Long-time Toronto resident Azza Ahmed never imagined in her life that she’d be caught in the middle of a war zone, but that’s exactly what happened when she visited family in Sudan last month.
On April 8, Ahmed, who is 36, and her 74-year-old mother, Salma Sarour, arrived in their homeland for what was supposed to be a four-week visit. It was their first time back in Sudan since the pandemic.
During an interview with CP24.com late last week from her home in Scarborough, Ahmed said that she and her mother along with an elderly aunt, who is also a Canadian citizen, and a number of other family members found themselves in an especially precarious situation as the house where they were staying is near a television station, which she said was likely to be one of the first places the rebels would bomb in an effort to gain control of the country. Airports are also often targeted, she noted.
FILE - Smoke is seen in Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. Warring factions trying to seize control of the east African nation of Sudan have plunged the country into chaos, and thousands are fleeing the capital of Khartoum and nearby battle zones. Some countries, including the U.S., have shuttered their embassies and many are coordinating daring evacuations of their staffs and other residents in an array of convoys, flights and frantic getaway drives.
“We’d heard reports of people being robbed by the rebels,” she said, adding that as foreigners, there was a real fear that they could have been kidnapped and held hostage.Ahmed, who had been in some communication with the Canadian Embassy throughout the ordeal, said at 1 a.m. that morning she received a call advising her and her two aunts to get to a military base about 25 kilometres away to catch a plane out of the country.
The three Canadian women were then flown to Berlin, Germany, but Ahmed said they were again left to fend for themselves as the Canada did not offer them any assistance with food, accommodation, transportation, or even their flight home. “I don’t think that realized how serious the situation was or they didn’t care,” said Ahmed, who credited her relatives back in Canada for all of their support and advocacy.
A small team from the Canadian Armed Forces will also remain in the region to support Global Affairs for as long as required.
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