Global Courant 2023-05-01 15:26:15
Islamabad, Pakistan – On April 21, as the conflict in Sudan entered its sixth day, more than 1,500 Pakistanis received a message from their embassy in the capital Khartoum: “Come to the embassy grounds if you want to be taken back to Pakistan. ”
Irfan Khan, a 35-year-old Pakistani, braved rockets, incessant shelling and street violence and offered to drive some of his fellow countrymen to the embassy.
But Khan himself does not want to leave Sudan, where fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed hundreds and forced thousands to hide in their homes and thousands more to flee the country.
“As I drove about 10-12 km (6-7 miles), the streets were littered with bodies, clouds of smoke from tires and empty shells all around us. It was a very exciting ride and we were stopped more than six times by both the government army and the rebel group when they asked for our identification,” Khan told Al Jazeera over the phone.
“Fortunately, after almost an hour I managed to drop the people off.”
“I’m staying here,” said Khan, who runs an optical store in Khartoum. “I have my company, my friends, my network. Yes, things are bad at the moment, but tomorrow will be better. Or maybe a day later.”
Khan, who moved to Sudan 14 years ago following his older brother, says he feels more at home in Khartoum than in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.
“Even though my brother moved back, I chose to live here. This country and its people are amazing,” he told Al Jazeera.
“When the fighting started, it was honestly very scary. But the more I talked to my friends here over the past few days and stepped out myself, the more I felt my anxiety subside. Even if I go back to Pakistan somehow, what is the guarantee that I can return? I prefer to live here and take care of my affairs.”
His wife and son and his parents in Karachi have urged him to return, but he insists he will stay.
“I told them not to worry. I have enough savings and resources to last more than six months. I’m not saying it’s all going smoothly here, but my guess is that things will get better in the coming days.”
Third batch of 97 Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan has arrived in JIA, Karachi via Jeddah aboard PAF aircraft C-130. The Government of Pakistan will continue to facilitate the safe return of stranded Pakistanis. pic.twitter.com/leTuhqq30Q
— Spokesperson MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) April 29, 2023
More than 350 Pakistanis had left Sudan in three groups by Sunday, with another 500 or so waiting to be taken home, according to the South Asian country’s foreign ministry.
However, despite the tense fighting in the Sudanese streets, there are Pakistanis like Khan who say they will stay.
Jamil Hussain, a 40-year-old who runs a clothing store, says he is staying because he was unable to get his entire family out of harm’s way.
Hussain, who arrived in Khartoum in 2009, married a Sudanese woman in 2011.
They now have three sons and a daughter, but when fighting broke out and he tried to take his family to Pakistan, the embassy told him that would not be possible.
“I asked the embassy, but I was told it would be complicated because they are Sudanese nationals… only I could go back, not my family,” Hussain said.
“I don’t mind losing business here. But leaving my family, my children, and not knowing when I will be able to return, I have decided not to move.”
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