Spanish diplomatic personnel and citizens queue outside a military plane in Djibouti on April 24. Western, Arab and Asian countries raced to extract their citizens from Sudan on Monday by air and sea.SPANISH DEFENCE MINISTRY/Reuters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada has military transport standing by to help people flee the growing conflict in Sudan after Germans and Americans airlifted out Canadian citizens and diplomats in recent days.
With Canada’s evacuation plans still coming together, Mr. Trudeau recounted how Germany airlifted 58 Canadians from the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Sunday. He was speaking to reporters in Ottawa as he hosted German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Western, Arab and Asian countries raced to extract their citizens from Sudan on Monday by air and sea as UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of the risk of “a catastrophic conflagration” with wider repercussions.
“We have a C-17 in the region too, and we will be airlifting as well,” Mr. Trudeau said, referring to Canada’s heavy-lift aircraft, the CC-177 Globemaster.
Sudan’s conflict explained: What’s behind the latest fighting?
The U.S. military airlifted six Canadian diplomats out of Sudan on the weekend, Maéva Proteau, director of communications for Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said. “Canadian diplomats in Sudan were able to be part of the U.S. military-assisted departure on very short notice as they had collocated near the U.S. embassy. Canada extends its gratitude to the United States for its support,” she said.
It remains unclear whether Canada intends to fly into war-torn Sudan or merely airlift people who have already been transported to neighbouring countries in the region by allies.
Defence Minister Anita Anand was circumspect Monday when asked during Senate testimony whether Canada would actually send its own aircraft into Sudan, an East African country that has spiralled into chaos amid fierce fighting between two rival generals.
“Our diplomats have been extracted and are working from outside the country. And we are looking at every possible option regarding the remaining Canadian citizens” in Sudan, Ms. Anand said in a response to a question from Senator Victor Oh.
Foreign evacuations included a 65-vehicle convoy with dozens of children among diplomats and aid workers on an 800-kilometre, 35-hour journey in searing heat from the embattled capital Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
The eruption of violence between the ruling military and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group on April 15 has killed more than 400 people, knocked out hospitals and other services and turned residential areas into war zones.
As buses were picking up people in al-Seteen street in Khartoum on April 24, citizens expressed fear that conditions would become worse now that city was becoming a ghost town.
Reuters
The Department of Global Affairs on Monday said it counted nearly 1,500 Canadian citizens in Sudan but that number is believed to be low.
Ms. Joly on Monday said Canada was talking to allies about evacuation help for Canadians trapped in Sudan.
“We are exploring options regarding departure assistance in collaboration with like-minded countries and the international community for as soon as conditions allow,” she said on Twitter. Ms. Joly asked Canadians in Sudan to register or update their person information through the Registration of Canadians Abroad (ROCA) service.
Retired general Andrew Leslie said Canada should have the capacity to airlift Canadian non-combatants from such war zones. While the Canadian Armed Forces has the equipment, he fears a lack of funding has left Canada without the readiness to carry out such operations.
“A nation as wealthy as Canada, which has the assets to do evacuation of non-combatants should, and must have, its own capability. We have the aircraft, we have the troops. We have the intelligence systems. We have the local contacts,” he said. The question remains, he said, whether Canada has the requisite amount of training.
“Based on the state of readiness of the Canadian Forces, as a result of the lack of funding getting down to the troops, I suspect they’re not.”
News broke last week that Mr. Trudeau has told NATO officials privately that Canada will at no time meet the military alliance’s defence spending target, according to a leaked Pentagon document obtained by The Washington Post.
The document also says Canada’s overall military shortcomings are damaging ties with allies. Canada and its allies in 2014 agreed to spend the equivalent to 2 per cent of each country’s annual economic output on the military. Nearly a decade later, however, Canada is spending only 1.29 per cent of gross domestic product, according to NATO’s assessment of 2022-2023 numbers.
David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute think tank and an adjunct professor at the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, said Canada needs to rethink the message it’s sending to Canadians who travel to at-risk countries such as Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti and now Sudan.
“When you’re spending less than 2 per cent, you make a lot more choices about what you’re unable to do. And we’ve made a choice to have a very limited non-combatant evacuation operation,” he said.
“And if we’re going to continue to sort of set these expectations that Canadians can rely on their government to help them get out of there, then we probably need to invest more dedicated resources or rethink whether or not we’re going to leave people under the impression that the Canadian military will show up to get them home.”
Ms. Anand, speaking to reporters after her Senate testimony, welcomed a three-day ceasefire announced by the United States,
She rejected the suggestion Canada is lagging in its efforts to evacuate Canadians.
“We’re not behind. We’re actually working with our allies to ensure the safety and security of Canadians. We have extracted our diplomats and we are working on additional options and contingency plans for Canadians more generally. And we have encouraged Canadians to contact Global Affairs in terms of their situation and willingness to be extracted.”
Canada has military assets in the region.
In the last few days, three Canadian military aircraft have landed in Djibouti, a country with a U.S. base in the Horn of Africa region, according to Steffan Watkins, an Ottawa-based consultant who tracks aircraft and ships. Djibouti is about 1,200 kilometres by plane from Khartoum.
“It looks like they are flying everything into Djibouti,” Mr. Watkins said of Canada’s efforts.
One of Canada’s CC-177 Globemaster heavy lift aircraft landed in Djibouti on Saturday and then on Monday it returned to Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
As well, one of Canada’s CC-130J Hercules aircraft landed in Djibouti on Sunday and a second CC-130J landed in the African coastal capital city on Monday.
Two Canadian military ships, the frigate HMCS Montreal and MV Asterix, a supply ship, are in the Red Sea.
With reports from The Canadian Press, Associated Press and Reuters
Steven Chase