Canada sending up to 200 troops to support evacuation of civilians in Sudan

Canada will deploy roughly200troops to help coordinate the evacuation of civilians from war-torn Sudan, Defence Minister Anita Anand confirmed Wednesday.

Ahead of question period in the House of Commons, Anand told a hastily assembled group ofreportersthat two C-130J Hercules transports are in east Africa preparing for flights into Khartoum "as soon as conditions on the ground permit."

Global Affairs Canada says that up to1,800 Canadians are trapped between the warring parties in Sudan androughly 700 of them have indicated they want out.

Defence sources tell CBC News that a company of infantry soldiersfrom Camp Petawawa, Ont.is expected to be deployed to provide force protection andhelp coordinatethe evacuation. An element of the 1st Canadian Division headquartershas also been sent to provide additional oversight and coordination.

Thosetroops will operate out of Jordan, said a senior federal officialwho spoke on background at a technical briefing in Ottawa.

WATCH | Canadian flown out of Sudan'grateful to be alive':

200 troops sent to help get Canadians out of Sudan

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Duration 3:06

The federal government has deployed roughly 200 troops to help Canadians who are trapped in Sudan amid violence and chaos. There are also Canadian military that are preparing for flights once it's safe to land in the country.

Anand did not give a precise breakdown of the military contingent and it's not clear whether the numbers she presented include the air detachment.

Anandalso did not confirm the locations of the aircraft or where the troops are headed. Military flight tracker Steffan Watkins has data that shows the transport planes were last reported in the east African country of Djibouti.

Federal officials, speaking on background Wednesday, confirmed the presence of the aircraft in Dijibouti and said they're accompanied bya small contingent of Canada's special operations force.

Federal officials also said the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal and the supply vessel MV Asterix are in the region and have moved into position with allied warships off the port of Sudan in anticipation of a possibleseaborne evacuation.

Canadian officialssaid they're focused on the air evacuation routebecause many evacuees would have to travel more than 800 kilometres to reach the port. The officials noted thata UN convoy had to pass through 22 checkpoints "throughvery dangerous terrain" to reach the port.

Anandsaidthe movement of Canadian personnel and equipment is already underway.

"The Canadian Armed Forces is providing military assistance for Canada's effort to evacuate Canadian eligible persons from Sudan. Canadian Armed Forces personnel and assets have been deployed to the region and are planning for evacuation operations in what remains a hostile and volatile security environment," she told reporters.

The minister would not say when actual evacuation operations will begin. Much seems to depend on how longthe ceasefire between Sudan's warring factions lasts.

"The conditions on the ground have to be right for Canadians to be evacuated via the Canadian aircraft," Anand said, adding that the C-130sare ready to start taking passengers once conditions on the ground improve.

Anand said that means it has to be safe for the aircraft to land, and safe for Canadian evacuees to get to the military airport in Khartoum that has been used by other allied countries for their evacuations.

A federal official, speaking on background, saidconsular services are still being provided to Canadians through an emergency centre in Ottawa.They said they have been reaching out to people on the ground who have registered with the government.

The official stressed that thereis "no guarantee of future evacuation plans past this week."

The Sudanese Canadian Community Association has asked Ottawa for special immigration measuresthat would open the door to family members who are not Canadian citizens.They want something similar to what was offered to Afghans and Ukrainians who fled their countries.

Foreign Affairs Minister MlanieJoly saidit's a possibility.

"All this is definitely something that the minister of immigration is considering right now, and so this is something that we will be looking at and working on," Joly said early Wednesday.

Federal officials said that thoseon the evacuation flights out of Sudan itself will not be charged for the flightsbutonce they're in a third country, evacuees maybe asked to shoulder the cost of flying back to Canada.

"If Canadians cannot afford ... travel,they can discuss this with consular staff," said a federal official. "The objective is to get people to a third country, then assessed ona case-by-case basis in terms of means."