There are no Maltese citizens in Sudan but an international company has asked Malta for assistance to evacuate their employees, foreign minister Ian Borg said on Tuesday.  

Times of Malta understands that the international company is Corinthia Hotels, which has a hotel in Sudan's capital Khartoum. 

In parliament, Borg said that the country is helping an international company evacuate its workers, however, “none of the employees are Maltese,” he said.

Multiple nations are scrambling to evacuate their embassy staff and citizens from Sudan, while a 72-hour ceasefire is in place. 

Egyptian evacuees from Sudan disembarking upon landing in Cairo. Multiple nations have scrambled to evacuate embassy staff and citizens by road, air and sea from chaos-torn Sudan. Photo: AFP

Asked to comment about the impact of the conflict on its operations, a spokesperson for Corinthia Hotels said it was "closely following events on the ground in the best interests of the safety of our guests and colleagues."

It confirmed there are no Maltese nationals at the hotel.

Fighting between two Sudanese armed factions has led to a crisis in the country as hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded. 

Some evacuees have been airlifted from Khartoum and taken to Djibouti, Jordan and Cyprus.

Others have driven to Port Sudan, 850 kilometres (530 miles) away, then boarded ships to Saudi Arabia, or headed by road to Egypt and Ethiopia.

“There are no Maltese citizens who have asked to be evacuated,” Borg said, replying to a parliamentary question by opposition MP Mario De Marco.

Borg earlier answered a similar question by government MP Naomi Cachia. 

Fighting that erupted earlier this month pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces. 

In 2021, a civilian-led government was ousted by the two generals who are now at loggerheads. 

The foreign minister said the situation worries the government as Sudan borders Libya, which in turn borders Malta. 

“Libya is anticipating problems,” Borg said.  

He said Malta has the same position as the EU, which condemned the fighting last week. 

“The outbreak of hostilities undermines efforts to restore the transition towards a civilian-led democratic government. It also risks regional destabilisation,” the EU High Representative said.  

“The EU deplores the loss of lives and the violations of international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law, calling on all actors to comply with international humanitarian law and implement an immediate cessation of hostilities without pre-conditions," the statement said.   

Borg said he will be visiting Ethiopia and Rwanda in the coming days to talk to African leaders about the conflict.