The Dutch government has been criticised for its handling of Sudanese nationals who are unable to flee the country because their passports are locked in the embassy.

The Netherlands closed its embassy and evacuated all its staff at the weekend after fresh fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Armed Forces.

Dozens of passports belonging to people who had applied for visas were in the building at the time, with no arrangements made to return them to their owners.

When they raised the issue through the embassy’s social media channels they were advised to apply for new passports ‘with your local authorities’.

One applicant said on Facebook he had been waiting for four weeks for a visa, while another said she ‘urgently’ needed to travel after being on the waiting list for four weeks.

The only official response we received from the #Dutch authorities “We advise you to apply for a new passport with your local authorities”. I do not have words to describe how humiliating, delusional and disgusting this is. Parallel reality. pic.twitter.com/gQhO3xLkZC

— Yomna ElSharony | يمنى الشروني (@YomnaSharony) April 26, 2023

In a reply to one comment, the ministry wrote: ‘The fights in Sudan started during the weekend. We were forced to close the embassy and evacuate our staff.

‘This unfortunately means we can’t get to your passport. We advise to apply for a new passport with your local authorities.’

A spokesman for the ministry for foreign affairs confirmed to DutchNews that the passports were still in the embassy.

‘Our capacity to help is very limited as there are no staff on the ground,’ he said.

‘Those concerned are advised to contact the foreign affairs ministry and we will see what can be done.’

500 dead

Some travellers had requested visas so they could join family members living in the Netherlands when hostilities broke out in Sudan two weeks ago.

At least 500 people have died and 4,000 have been wounded in street battles in the capital, according to the UN.

The Netherlands also said it was no longer arranging evacuation flights for Dutch nationals who wanted to leave Sudan. Around 160 people have left the country on seven emergency flights, which also carried 130 citizens from 18 other countries.

The Dutch government came in for similar criticism during the crisis in Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, when the Taliban took over the country by force months after the United States withdrew its last troops.

More than 1,000 people, including Afghan interpreters and others who worked for Dutch organisations during the war, were unable to reach Kabul airport to catch the evacuation flights.

Some were later evacuated overland via Pakistan, but when the official route was closed those who remained were told they would have to make their own travel arrangements.