Operation Kaveri: 117 out of 1,191 passengers evacuated from Sudan put under quarantine

A total 1,191 Indian nationals have arrived in India from trouble-hit Sudan since the Centre launched 'Operation Kaveri' on April 24.

Out of 1,191 Indian nationals, 117 passengers have been put on quarantine as they were not vaccinated against Yellow Fever. All passengers will be released after seven days if they remain asymptomatic, a statement from the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.

The passengers have been provided rent-free accommodation with free food facility in quarantine centers managed by Airport Health Officers (APHO)s, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at various hospitals across states holding a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) as well as central government hospitals in Delhi such as Safdarjung Hospital. Arrangements have also been made at RHTC, Najafgarh (100 beds); NITR, Mehrauli (40 beds) and Lady Hardinge Medical College (60 beds), the press release stated.

"The first batch of passengers arrived in Delhi with 360 passengers, none of whom required quarantine followed by second flight which arrived in Mumbai with 240 passengers on 26 April of which 14 were quarantined. Two were released after the validation of their vaccination certificates. The remaining 12 will complete their quarantine period till today evening (as they were in transit for 4 days at Jeddah).

The third flight arrived in Bengaluru afternoon yesterday with 360 passengers of which 47 passengers were initially quarantined. 3 were released today after verification of vaccination. The verification of five more passengers is in process. The fourth flight containing passengers arrived in Delhi yesterday evening with 231 passengers of which 61 were quarantined (one was later released). 35 passengers are at Delhi APHO and 26 passengers are at Safdarjung Hospital. The fifth flight is expected to arrive in Delhi tonight with 367 passengers and an additional flight with 320 passengers is expected to arrive tomorrow morning at 10:30 am in Bengaluru," the statement added.

Sudan is witnessing a deadly fighting between Sudan's army and a paramilitary group, which broke out earlier this month, and left around 416 people dead and at least 3,551 injured.

Sudan's military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo were together till recently, brought down Omar al-Bashir's government in 2019 by orchestrating a military coup in October 2021 resulting in the suspension of the constitution. However, differences between the two Generals cropped up during negotiations to integrate the RSF into the country's military as part of plans to restore civilian rule.

'Operation Kaveri' is a rescue operation launched by the Indian government to evacuate Indian citizens who are stranded in Sudan.

A team of officials including the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian embassy in Sudan has been appointed by the Indians to ensure the proper process of evacuation gets followed. During the evacuation, Indians will be transferred from Sudan to the capital city of Khartoum where they will be flown back to India.