Sudan evacuation: Children and families arrive in UK

British children have told the BBC how happy they are to be safely out of Sudan.

Karim, who is 8, and Hassan, who is 12, were both on UK military flights helping British people - including many children and families - out of the African country and back to the UK.

The people on board are trying to get away from violent fighting between two rival armies, who are battling over control of the African country.

The UK has evacuated 897 people on eight flights and there are more to come but for Sudanese people, the fighting goes on.

Life has been very hard for people in Sudan since fighting began. Many people have been caught up in the violence, and it has been difficult to get simple things like food and water.

So the government sent military planes and soldiers to Sudan to bring British families out. They flew from Sudan to the island of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean Sea. From there, people were flown to the UK.

One of the children rescued is 8-year-old Karim, and the BBC caught up with him in Cyprus. He told us he was happy to be out of Sudan: "We're safe now because there is no war here at all."

Karim was sheltering in a house in Sudan, and could hear the fighting going on outside.

"We heard lots of gunshots when we were in the house…we also heard explosions," he said.

Karim also described the moment he saw British troops, and knew he was safe.

"I saw men with guns, but they were friendly, because they were on our team. They were from the (UK) military."

Hassan, who is 12 and from London was visiting family in Sudan for a holiday and to celebrate the religious festival of Eid.

"The day we were planning to leave, everything started to escalate and everyone started fighting so we were stuck there for an extra week", he said.

Describing what it's been like for him and his family, Hassan said it had been "very stressful" and he says he has barely been able to sleep.

"During the night, I don't know what is going to happen. I don't know whether or not there was going to be bombing or shooting."

Hassan and his family were picked up by the British army and taken to a plane to fly to safety. However, the UK government has said only people with British passports are able to make the journey.

This meant Hassan's cousins had to remain behind as they are Sudanese civilians.

"One of my cousins wouldn't let go of my Mum. She was grabbing and hugging her."

More than 2,000 British nationals in Sudan have registered for help.

The UK government says the flights were possible because of a pause in the fighting - a ceasefire - in Sudan.

The military says it will continue to bring people out but the foreign secretary has warned there is no guarantee further evacuation flights will leave Sudan once the ceasefire has ended.

The UK government says it is also working to provide other routes out of Sudan, however while many people are delighted to have escaped some people have criticized the UK response as being too slow.

Some British citizens in Sudan said they felt "abandoned" when the UK first evacuated its officials - although the government said that was because they were facing a direct threat.

The Foreign Office has also said that evacuation flights are currently open only to British passport holders which means that for some people living in Sudan, flying to safety would mean having to leave behind other family members.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the government would be supporting British nationals and their children, but added there were no plans to introduce a legal route for non-British people to claim asylum in the UK.

However, Conservative Member of Parliament Alicia Kearns who leads the senior group of MPs, the foreign affairs select committee, has called for elderly people dependent on their adult British citizen children to also be allowed on flights to the UK.