Handover Sudanese passports locked at the Swedish Embassy in Sudan, Help Sudanese people!

The Issue

War broke out in Sudan on 15 April 2023. The military and militias fight each other at the expense of the civilian population - e.g. using air power in densely populated residential areas. More than 1000 people have died already due to the war, and more than 700,000 people have fled - the number of unreported cases cannot be determined more precisely; lines of communication regularly break down. Sweden has evacuated the embassy's staff until further notice - the processing of visa applications has been suspended, while Sudanese passports are still locked at the Swedish Embassy. 
The passports and documents, which were requested by the embassy for the purpose of processing visa applications, will remain inaccessible to their rightful owners until further notice.

This has serious consequences for those affected: Many of them theoretically have the possibility to get to safe cities outside Sudan, but in practice do not have the necessary documents, given that in order to enter one of the neighboring countries without complications, they need their passports. At the same time, the situation is rapidly deteriorating throughout Sudan - prices are rising sharply, basic resources, such as water and food but also cash, are becoming scarce, and the health system, as well as administrative structures, have collapsed. 


At the time of filling this petition (one month after the outbreak of the war), there is no solution from the Swedish Embassy/Foreign Office on how people who are affected can get back their urgently needed documents, or reply to emails. Inquiries from those affected as to when and how they can expect support remain unanswered by the embassy. Other Western embassies managed to hand over passports to Sudanese people before their evacuation, thus we need urgent action by the Swedish Embassy to do the same.

This petition calls for the matter to be resolved as follows: 
1. The immediate handover of Sudanese passports by the Swedish embassy in Khartoum to those still remaining in Khartoum, taking advantage of the proposed truce, starting from Monday 22/5/2023 - 30/5/2023. 

2) The return of all passports and original documents by the Swedish Embassy in Khartoum to accessible/safe towns in Sudan as soon as possible, according to the location of the holders, e.g. after their internal displacement (e.g. Medani, Dongola, Port Sudan, Gedaref, Sinnar);

a) Sending of all passports and documents digitized by mail to the persons concerned including the passport pages with visa people already had (e.g. for Egypt); 
b) Activation of the Swedish embassies in the neighboring Sudanese countries in order to agree with the governments there that digitized documents are sufficient for all those affected to enter the neighboring country - lists can be drawn up for this purpose with all the names of those affected, which can be given to the border posts; 
 c) supporting the Sudanese administration and other relevant governments to issue new passports for those affected reaching Sudan's neighboring countries;

Your signature will make a difference. We appreciate it if you support us and the affected people by signing and sharing.

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The Issue

War broke out in Sudan on 15 April 2023. The military and militias fight each other at the expense of the civilian population - e.g. using air power in densely populated residential areas. More than 1000 people have died already due to the war, and more than 700,000 people have fled - the number of unreported cases cannot be determined more precisely; lines of communication regularly break down. Sweden has evacuated the embassy's staff until further notice - the processing of visa applications has been suspended, while Sudanese passports are still locked at the Swedish Embassy. 
The passports and documents, which were requested by the embassy for the purpose of processing visa applications, will remain inaccessible to their rightful owners until further notice.

This has serious consequences for those affected: Many of them theoretically have the possibility to get to safe cities outside Sudan, but in practice do not have the necessary documents, given that in order to enter one of the neighboring countries without complications, they need their passports. At the same time, the situation is rapidly deteriorating throughout Sudan - prices are rising sharply, basic resources, such as water and food but also cash, are becoming scarce, and the health system, as well as administrative structures, have collapsed. 


At the time of filling this petition (one month after the outbreak of the war), there is no solution from the Swedish Embassy/Foreign Office on how people who are affected can get back their urgently needed documents, or reply to emails. Inquiries from those affected as to when and how they can expect support remain unanswered by the embassy. Other Western embassies managed to hand over passports to Sudanese people before their evacuation, thus we need urgent action by the Swedish Embassy to do the same.

This petition calls for the matter to be resolved as follows: 
1. The immediate handover of Sudanese passports by the Swedish embassy in Khartoum to those still remaining in Khartoum, taking advantage of the proposed truce, starting from Monday 22/5/2023 - 30/5/2023. 

2) The return of all passports and original documents by the Swedish Embassy in Khartoum to accessible/safe towns in Sudan as soon as possible, according to the location of the holders, e.g. after their internal displacement (e.g. Medani, Dongola, Port Sudan, Gedaref, Sinnar);

a) Sending of all passports and documents digitized by mail to the persons concerned including the passport pages with visa people already had (e.g. for Egypt); 
b) Activation of the Swedish embassies in the neighboring Sudanese countries in order to agree with the governments there that digitized documents are sufficient for all those affected to enter the neighboring country - lists can be drawn up for this purpose with all the names of those affected, which can be given to the border posts; 
 c) supporting the Sudanese administration and other relevant governments to issue new passports for those affected reaching Sudan's neighboring countries;

Your signature will make a difference. We appreciate it if you support us and the affected people by signing and sharing.

Petition Updates