About twenty Spanish residents in Niger have already been evacuated from the African country that is plunged into chaos after the military coup it suffered last week. The evacuees have arrived in Paris in one of the planes chartered by the French authorities last morning. From there, as planned, they will travel to Spain on a commercial flight, while the Government continues to negotiate with Niger the entry of an Air Force plane to the Niamey airport, the country’s capital.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, on his Twitter account. “Today the first Spaniards have arrived from Niger, in collaboration with France. We continue working on the ground for the rest of our compatriots”, reported the head of Spanish diplomacy.
Sources from the department headed by Albares detail that those landed are about twenty of the Spaniards who have asked to leave the country. The number of Spaniards who live in the Sahelian country or were traveling when the military coup took place is around 70, but Foreign Affairs has not reported how many of the total colony have asked to be evacuated.
On Tuesday the Government reported that the air evacuation operation was being finalized due to the instability of the country. The evacuation was an open secret after Albares urged all Spaniards residing in Niger to contact the Embassy “for any eventuality that may occur.”
The Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has convened and chairs a crisis committee from which, in collaboration with Defense, the evacuation operation is being coordinated. However, negotiations continue to this day with the Nigerian authorities who have not authorized the landing of the Air Force plane in which to transfer the rest of the Spaniards who have requested it. For security reasons, the secrecy around the operation is total. Foreign Affairs and Defense have shielded themselves informatively.
The situation in Niger, and especially in the capital, Niamey, is especially tense as demonstrations are taking place this Thursday on the occasion of Independence Day. Thus, thousands of people walk the streets of the capital chanting slogans in favor of Russia, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Mali and against France and the Economic Community of African States, according to Europa Press reports.
Last April, the Government evacuated 72 people from Sudan who remained trapped in the African country due to fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries. Spain successfully completed the risky operation, in which 34 Spaniards and 38 other citizens of eleven nationalities residing in Sudan were rescued.
