London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

British girl, 3, stuck in Sudan after mom denied entry to evacuation flight

British girl, 3, stuck in Sudan after mom denied entry to evacuation flight

A three-year-old British girl in Sudan was denied entry to a UK evacuation flight along with her mother, the child’s father told The Times newspaper.
Amar Idris said that his wife, Amina, 41, and daughter, Samrin, had fled fighting in Khartoum to travel to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

The city’s airport hosted the UK’s last airlift from the country on Monday, which the mother and daughter had attempted to board.

But Idris said that British officials blocked Amina from boarding because she lacked a UK visa. They then told the mother that her daughter could not be placed on the flight alone.

He said: “This morning they (British diplomats) said they would take the child on the flight by herself. Then they came back and said they couldn’t take the child without her mother. They changed their mind.”

The mother and daughter had earlier left Khartoum after their home was struck in a bombing campaign. Samrin’s UK passport was left in the house during the chaos.

Idris warned that his wife’s health was “rapidly deteriorating” because she had gone without clean drinking water for several days.

Roza Mohamed, Samrin’s aunt, said: “I have contacted the Foreign Office four times and begged them to take Samrin.”

The UK government on Monday announced that it would end evacuation flights from the Wadi Saeedna airbase north of Khartoum amid a drop in British nationals applying for seats.

The diplomatic team in Port Sudan will now serve as the communication point for remaining British nationals seeking to leave the country by commercial means.

In a statement, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly hailed British evacuation efforts and praised embassy staff.

He said: “As the focus turns to humanitarian and diplomatic efforts, we will continue to do all we can to press for a long-term ceasefire and an immediate end to the violence in Sudan.”

Separately, a British Sudanese dual citizen from Birmingham, Adam Qumar Ibrahim, told The Times that his newly married cousin refused to board an evacuation flight from the country after his wife was refused entry.

Ibrahim’s cousin, Abbas Adam, had traveled to Sudan in February for his wedding, but had sought to leave the country along with his wife as fighting broke out between the government and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary.

Ibrahim said: “When the fighting started, he tried to come back to the UK and register himself and his wife with the Foreign Office.

“He spent three days in the airport, and they refused to take his wife. They said to him ‘if you want to go, we can take you but if you want to take your wife we can’t.’

“That is a very bad way of handling it. The British government should have believed them and brought them over and they can do the visa checks once they are safe.”

Saudi Arabia is playing a leading role in planning evacuation efforts from Port Sudan across the Red Sea.

Hundreds of refugees from Sudan, including 28 Britons, arrived in Jeddah on Monday on a US Navy vessel.

So far, more than 5,000 refugees have arrived in the Kingdom during international evacuation efforts.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×