Dutch person released from custody in Sudan, evacuated by UK forces

A Dutch man who was detained in Sudan last week by the paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has been released. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Dutch man was freed last Saturday, at which point he boarded an evacuation flight operated by British forces. After the flight landed in Cyprus, he then flew to the United Kingdom, where he lives.

Relatives told British media last week that the man was kidnapped. He was on a business trip in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum when fighting broke out there between the Sudanese military and the RSF. The man is a British-Dutch dual citizen, according to British newspaper The Telegraph.

A spokesperson for the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry said the man was indeed detained by members of the RSF. During that period, the ministry was in close contact with his relatives. "We advised on an option to leave Khartoum and he took advantage of that."

The spokesperson could not commend on the circumstances regarding his release from custody. In the United Kingdom, the man was provided care at the Dutch embassy. No information has been released about his condition.

The man has a condition that requires daily medication, family members told RTL News. He is in good condition, they said on Tuesday. "The doctor immediately examined him and indicated that he was doing well." According to the family, the Dutch ambassador to Sudan, Irma van Dueren, played a major role in his release. "She was available to us 24 hours a day."

Most Dutch people who had been in Sudan at the time fighting started have now been evacuated because of the flare-up of violence in the African country. The last Dutch evacuation flight landed in Eindhoven on Sunday. Van Dueren said at the time that a number of people with a Dutch passport had remained in Sudan.

The spokesperson for the ministry could not provide an update on Tuesday about how many of them have been brought to safety.