Irish Citizens and families to be evacuated from Djibouti and Sudan

Strumms

https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0423/1378622-defence-forces-sudan/

Two of the most verifiably (UN, Amnesty etc) corrupt, unstable, violent and dangerous countries on earth.

Irish citizens and families go stay there by choice and when it all goes south…. The good old taxpayers here pay for the defence forces, to go there, risk their own safety and wellbeing potentially, to get said citizens out to safety….

a six figure or seven figure bill for the taxpayers here…. Just to get them home.

it might be kicking off just now but those countries are and have been extremely dangerous and unstable for 10 plus years….

if I’m one of those defence force members I’m not enamoured with that assignment and small talk would be at a minimum for the return journey.

Threadbans:

Yurt2

subidooby

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058293719/irish-citizens-and-families-to-be-evacuated-from-djibouti-and-sudan

Most of those Irish citizens and dependents are aid workers. They're not there on a pub crawl or vlogging for YouTube.

Don't worry too much, the French air providing the airlift facility. You may send your thanks to the long-suffering French taxpayer.

Btw, the Ranger Wing love this sort of stuff. It's what they signed up for and take their duties seriously. They wont be p*ssing around giving Irish citizens the silent treatment like you think they will. They were itching to go to Kabul the last time out.

Kermit.de.frog

Yet again Ireland's lack of any heavy air lift capability exposed (the only country in Europe without such basic capability). Same in Afghanistan, same in Libya.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513431#Comment_120513431

Agreed. It's time to get the chequebook out on this front.

We were extremely fortunate in Kabul the French agreed to let the Ranger Wing hitch to Afghanistan and indeed allowed for space for Irish citizens to be brought home.

The next crisis we may not be so lucky.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513420#Comment_120513420

I agree, but those people are not there politically, or for diplomatic work. It’s by their choice…. I’m sure said ranger wing are diligent, professional but I’d be wondering quite frankly what the hell I’m having to enter such a dangerous region for. They have families im sure so I don’t know about itching…..

if the French are providing fuel AND aircraft free gratis it’s a bonus but the risk and associated costs not covered will be significant enough….

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513456#Comment_120513456

?

Are you making the arguement that aid workers shouldn't be in potentially unstable or poor countries? Hot take. Where should aid workers ply their trade - Monte Carlo?

Ranger Wing members spend their time daydreaming about missions like this. They're on their way to Africa right now with a sh*t eating grin on their collective faces. It's what they singed up for, it's what they're trained out the wazoo for, and it's what they wanted to do ever since they were in short trousers.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513467#Comment_120513467

Great, we will … us the taxpayers can pay for their action man excursions. Great that they have been dreaming about it. 😵‍💫

I don’t think the citizens of Monte Carlo need help 😉

unstable and poor countries, no problem.

inherently violence ridden, corrupt countries… to the extent of the above…..as civilians we shouldn’t be near.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513553#Comment_120513553

What's your bellyache? That aid workers are out there doing their jobs? That the Army Ranger Wing are heading out there doing theirs? This thread is silly and you haven't made a single point beyond some garbled angryman boilerplate.

The travel advice from all Western governemnt foreign ministries was consistent with all other countries in the region until the latest fissure of violence which came out of the blue.

It's Africa, and every country on the continent is liable to have their securtity situation upended. If you're trying to make some sort of odd point that no Irish or Western civilians in general should be in Africa at all, then make it.

Until then, the Ranger Wing are on their way, and they'll be extracting Irish citizens who do honourable and important work in a country that needs it. And aid workers will continue to do their decent work in parts of the world you don't think about until it becomes a headline. End of.

lmao10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513574#Comment_120513574

Agree 100%. Poor post by the thread starter I thought. Thankfully he's not in the defence forces.......

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513574#Comment_120513574

You accuse me of ‘anger’ yet…. “This thread is silly and you haven't made a single point beyond some garbled angryman boilerplate.”

ok.

My issue is again, civilians, and especially civilians with families including children shouldn’t be entrenched in that situation, for whatever reason… charity, humanitarian or otherwise… then expecting the taxpayers and our diplomatic services / military here to bail them out when shît hits the fan and a pretty bad and dangerous situation deteriorates further as is happening…

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513606#Comment_120513606

Give over with your "taxpayers" nonsense as if this is a feckless county council misappropriating their budget.

Here are some facts:

Irish aid workers work all over the world, often in difficult situations in conditions you don't understand or woudn't live with for a day, are extremely highly regarded in the field and are world-class people; they have made a genuine difference to millions of lives over many decades. They are not a burden or an inconvenient line-item in our national budget if they need help. They bring honour to Ireland with their work and are credit to the nation.

The Ranger Wing are chomping at the bit to do their job to extract them, and there is no question that the Irish Government would abandon them.

Some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. You appear to be one of them.

charlie_says

I bet the US are balls deep in arming and funding a good chunk of this shithole meltdown.

Looks like the non serious white people are leaving.

Fun times ahead!

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513636#Comment_120513636

Wagner Group arming the RSF causing this mess actually.

charlie_says

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513638#Comment_120513638

Ah yes, according to the Twitter historians.

Dumb times ahead!

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513641#Comment_120513641

No according to documented evidence and reality. Russia and Wagner is all over Sudan like a rash. The paramilitary General of the RSF was in Moscow just last year glad-handing seeking further Russian support.

Do some reading before getting smart. Dumb times indeed when people mouth-off without knowing what they're talking about.

TooTired123

It started seriously kicking off in Sudan weeks ago. Aid worker or not, why stay until the point where you need to be rescued? Also, why oh why are we always begging other EU armies to save us? It’s pathetic.

The other point I want to make is, if the government is responsible for evacuating private Irish citizens from the scene of serious incidents then how would we rescue the 1000s of people we’d need to fetch home from London or New York if something similar happened there?

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513804#Comment_120513804

It is more preferable that the current Sudan government remain in power than RSF, because the current government agreed to let the Russians build a naval base in Port Sudan not long ago.

Perhaps thats what all this is about.

irishproduce

I wouldn't be so sure that those needing rescuing are Mary and Patrick O'Malley working on an Irish Aid Mission. There wil be a significant cohort who are Sudanese but happened to get themselves Irish citizenship. That element worries me due to the stupid risks such situations give rise to. Those who "Flee" here but spend a lot of time going back where they "fled" from

Montage of Feck

What a load of bs posturing, the french are getting them out. Why the need to sent the crack squad, they're not going to do an Entenbe style raid that's for sure.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514095#Comment_120514095

how many is this "significant cohort"?

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514131#Comment_120514131

It’s a huge problem for the UK actually and part of the reason they’re so silent on repatriating private citizens. That and people pretending to be uk citizens when they’re not.

Yurt2

Here we go. Thread has taken a predictible turn.

To pre-empt, there is no such thing as two tier Irish citizenship. There's not "an Irish passport" and a "nod and a wink, not really Irish passport".

I'll be plain about it, racist gunge. Thread had a bang of it from the off to be frank.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514463#Comment_120514463

It doesn’t matter to me how or why anyone has an Irish passport. I see no reason for the taxpayer to pay to bring back any private Irish citizen who didn’t leave Sudan or any war zone when the sh** hit the fan weeks ago.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514498#Comment_120514498

Suck it up. The government has a duty to protect Irish citizens in a crisis, and they're going to.

Not everyone spends their lives sitting with their thumb up their ar*e in a provincial Irish town. Some people live lives of meaning doing things like working in the aid sector actually doing good in the world.

They are not, and will not be abandoned. Niall Boylan "taxpayer" bullsh*tter rhetoricians can go to hell on this front. There'll be another "taxpayer" whinge the next day about something else. You're never finished.

Geuze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513431#Comment_120513431

I don't know much about military affairs, but I agree 100% here.

Given the size of our GDP, given the globalised nature of the world now, given that I hope we aspire to be a serious nation, we should acquire an aircraft.

I don't follow these issues, but isn't this the second time within a few years that we needed to ask other countries for a lift?

Yet we attract hundreds of MNCs, and collect 10bn+ in Corporation Tax.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514437#Comment_120514437

that doesnt answer the question. we are not the UK. the post i responded to seemed very authoritative. i was wondering if there was any basis to that authority.

paul71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513636#Comment_120513636

Not really, but guess who is. Surprise, Surprise, the Russians again.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514522#Comment_120514522

Try not to get so upset over someone else’s opinion Yurt. I’ve lived all over the world and I can safely say if I was anywhere and it got a bit hairy I’d have just legged it.

My only child is in the Middle East and the responsibility to look after her own safety is hers and hers alone.

Your total dependence on the nanny state to make all your big boy decisions for you is fairly typical of the prevailing wind at the moment.

You’ve failed to give any suggestion as to why they didn’t make any attempt to leave earlier….

elperello

When it all kicks off rapidly and there are rival factions roaming the streets armed and jumpy it's incredibly dangerous.

The only thing to do is hunker down and wait for assistance.

That assistance is what DOFA and the Defence Forces are arranging with the help of other countries.

It's the only sensible response at this time.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514632#Comment_120514632

They failed to "leg it" earlier because the assualt on Khartoum came out of nowhere, and no Western governments were advising evacuation before then.

Even your genius worldly balls would have been in a vice being squeezed purple. Or are you smarter still than every Westerner in Khartoum? You obviously rate yourself.

If your daughter lives in the middle east, I hope you don't have to ring the Department of Foreign Affairs some day wondering what happened to her and what they can do for her. I mean that.

Happens every day in some part of the world, and you know what? The person answering the phone won't respond with "well what the f*ck was she doing there the f*cking eejit?"

Because they're professionals and know that not everyone is sitting by the pool in Dubai every day.

griffin100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513467#Comment_120513467

If their lifelong dream was to see military action then the made a big mistake joining the Irish army.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514695#Comment_120514695

The Ranger Wing fellas have seen more action than you'd think. Most would have been deployed to Mali fairly recently and that was no joke of a mission.

Gatling

And yet again the defense forces lack of capabilities on show again,no heavy lift and only 12 soldiers being sent because of the great triple lock agreement that we gives other countries vetos over where and when we can deploy soldiers,meho couldn't even figure who or what we were evacuating, Irish citizens , Irish passport holders ,or the Sudanese family members of Irish citizens and other dependants,

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514711#Comment_120514711

what is the difference between an irish citizen and an irish passport holder?

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514731#Comment_120514731

Passport holder doesn't necessarily mean Citizen

paul71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514701#Comment_120514701

It is not just the rangers. The entire army has been on a constant rotation for all my adult life in The Leb, and I am not young. The Irish army has seen a lot more action than you would expect of a non-alined country which has never been at war.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514761#Comment_120514761

how do you get an irish passport if you are not a citizen?

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514776#Comment_120514776

A question for the government

paul71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514761#Comment_120514761

That is simply incorrect.

Montage of Feck

While I don't really agree with sending missions to far flung destinations, we really should have at least one capable transport plane.

Get Real

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514761#Comment_120514761

"You must be an Irish citizen to be eligible for an Irish passport."

According to Citizens information.

Therefore, anyone with an Irish passport is an Irish citizen.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/passports/irish_passports_an_overview.html#:~:text=You%20must%20be%20an%20Irish,if%20you%20meet%20certain%20conditions.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514788#Comment_120514788

you misunderstand. Your claim that "Passport holder doesn't necessarily mean Citizen" is just nonsense.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514665#Comment_120514665

“I mean that”

I think we all know what you actually mean Yurt. Only you know why you’re incapable of having a reasonable discussion with strangers on the internet without wishing death and destruction on them and their family members. Or maybe you don’t know. Either way you should seek help for that.

Once again demonstrating that you feel the government need to wipe everyone’s bottoms for them by suggesting that foreign nationals needed to wait to be told to get out before they could make a decision for themselves. The trouble flared up in February. It’s now nearly May.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514875#Comment_120514875

No I actually meant it. I had cause to ring the Department of Foreign Affairs years ago when a relative went missing abroad. I cannot be more complementary to their professionalism and wouldn't wish it on anyone.

So you can take a walk son...

The crisis in Khartoum only broke out on the 15th of April, and suddenly. Coup plotters don't tend to tell aid workers or anyone else what they are up to.

Sudan is about twice the size of France. It's a large country. Get your facts straight

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Sudan_conflict

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514761#Comment_120514761

Only Irish citizens can have Irish passports. I don’t know why this even needs to be said.

Yurt2

As addendum, get up the yard clutching your pearls about what I posted ("I mean that") when you're basically telling Irish citizens sit and swivel in a crisis not of their making and one that wasn't signposted.

I don't usually post this word as it's pretty unparliamentary, but you're a grade-A hypocrite. Spare everyone your preciousness when you're basically telling everyone you don't give a f*ck what happens to them and it's their own fault for not getting out.

charlie_says

US has extensive "involvement" over last decade with Sudanese politics.

Since the CIA backed operation to secure resource rich part of Southern Sudan, where they fuelled a civil war (which essentially hasn't stopped in contemporary Sudan since, cool but blame Russians and Chinese again) and caused country to split into South Sudan and Sudan it has been absolute chaos in Sudan ever since.

Aid was officially withheld due to legislative restrictions recently but money and weapons flowed through US partner nations since.

Ex CIA officers have written books about the disgust they had with what came a result of their work there.

Russian military base announced and it's time for shooting.

Considering that both military faction groups are murderous corrupt maniacs, is the "good" side whomever propagates US interests in the area?

lizzyjane

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513636#Comment_120513636

Was only a few weeks ago that the Russians agreed to put troops in Sudan and set up a small naval base so I would say you aren't far off the mark with that synopsis.

Yet another US proxy war.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514931#Comment_120514931

All your post are anti US

StudentDad

The way the world has gone, has to my mind left us in the position where a piecemeal response isn't good enough. We are all EU citizens and as such an EU response to this is required. Whether someone is taken out on a French or German or whomever helicopter or pulled out by French or German etc., troops, is irrelevant. We are EU citizens and as such this requires an EU response. If that requires an EU military command structure so be it.