West Bengal Engineer’s Tale of Escape from Conflict-Hit Sudan

West Bengal resident Surajit Dey, who moved to Sudan to earn a living, paid Rs 10 lakh bus fare along with 49 others to return safely to India. A software engineer by profession, Dey was stranded in a hotel in Sudan’s capital Khartoum along with other workers of his organisation.

After the hotel ran out of basic amenities like water and food, panic took over the group. In Surajit’s words, “We requested the Indian embassy to help us get out of Sudan. I, along with 49 other Indians risked our lives and hired a bus for Rs 10 lakh to take us to Port Sudan, about 900 km from the hotel we were staying at. One person paid Rs 30,000 bus fare for the ride.”

Thanks to ‘Operation Kaveri’ carried out by the Indian government to evacuate stranded Indians in Sudan, Surajit and his group reached Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on an Indian Airlines flight and flew to Delhi afterwards.

One of Surajit’s family members said, “He (Surajit) went to Khartoum in March 2023 to work for MTN Telecom Company Software. After the fighting between the country’s military and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began, his contact with the outside world was lost. He couldn’t get in touch with his family back in India.” Surajit got married only a few months ago and moved to Sudan shortly after.

Surajit’s family thanked the Indian embassy for assisting in his safe return home. India launched ‘Operation Kaveri’ last month to bring back the stranded Indians from Sudan. The African country has been witnessing fighting between the country’s army and a paramilitary group that has reportedly left around 400 people dead.

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