A Red Cross volunteer has told how she supported Brits fleeing war-torn Sudan by providing psychosocial support after being deployed when violence erupted.
Liz Tait was sent to Cyprus with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as part of the UK Government’s successful operation to rescue more than 2,450 people which is the longest and largest evacuation by any Western nation.
Speaking for the first time, Kilmarnock-born Liz has shared the harrowing cases she had to deal with.
The 64-year-old, who now lives in Lossiemouth, said: “The intensity of the violence meant that people were describing the most terrifying journeys just to escape and many of them had gunshot wounds.
“The memory that sticks most in my mind was a lady, probably the same age as me, who had to leave her terminally ill husband behind. They both held British passports, but he was certainly not well enough to make that journey. I think he was very much towards end-of-life and she was absolutely heartbroken because she knew she would never see him again.
“It must have been the worst of dilemmas, but the husband had very much wanted her to go. He wanted to die knowing that she had escaped to safety.”
Liz added: “I sat with her for some time talking to her about the memories she had of their life together and reassuring her that she had made the decision that brought most comfort to her husband. Her story will live with me forever.”
More than 600 people have been killed since brutal fighting broke out on April 15 between Sudan’s military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
The UK Government has contributed more than £250million in humanitarian support to Sudan over the past five years and has just committed a further £5million of lifesaving aid to help those displaced from their homes by the violence.
Liz said: “Many of the people I supported had been caught up in the violence and had literally had to run for their lives past rotting bodies in the street.
“People were describing very, very difficult journeys. There were stories of people having their cars taken from them at gunpoint. We supported unaccompanied children, including a very young toddler. The family had been in Egypt on holiday and the wee one had gone to stay with her Sudanese grandparents for a couple of weeks and ended up trapped. The fighting meant the dad could not fly in to pick her up as planned and the grandparents did not have a British passport. We worked with all the services to reunite her with her parents.”
Experienced Liz was first deployed through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to support people fleeing Beirut in 2006 and has since been involved with emergencies including the Chinese earthquake in 2008, the Tunisia terror attack in 2015, the response to Hurricane Irma in Dominica in 2017 and the Afghanistan evacuation in 2021.
She has also been part of British Red Cross teams that have responded to the Manchester arena bombing, Grenfell Tower fire and Shoreham Air Show disaster.
Liz said: "The British military had done a tremendous job at patching up the gunshot wounds and providing immediate medical care and our job is to try and help people start to deal with the psychological impact of the trauma they’ve been through.
“Just having someone there to discuss how they are feeling and letting them talk about their experience and acknowledging what they’ve been through and offering support can make such a massive difference to a person’s recovery."
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly added: “I’m incredibly proud of the vital work that the British Red Cross and people like Liz are doing to help the most vulnerable in response to humanitarian crises around the globe - often in very challenging circumstances.
“People from across the UK have been at the very heart of our efforts to help people fleeing Sudan in their hour of need, and I am grateful for their tireless service and dedication.
“The UK has coordinated the longest and largest evacuation of any Western country and brought 2450 people to safety from Sudan. Our priority now is to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches those who need it and to continue to press for a long-term ceasefire.”
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