‘Massive relief’ as son reunited with father who fled Sudan

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A man whose father fled Sudan on an evacuation flight has spoken of his relief after the pair were reunited at Stansted Airport following “a constant rush of bad news”. Ahmed Babikir, a British-Sudanese start-up founder from Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, picked up 63-year-old Sharief on Wednesday and described his father’s return to their family home in the UK as a “massive relief” – but added he still fears for the safety of other family members who have refused to leave Sudan. To be honest, no one’s thought ahead more than that, I think there’s a sense of, let’s make sure everyone’s safe first and then we think about the next steps.” Sharief Babikir, who was born in Sudan but moved to the UK as a student in the early 1990s, boarded a chartered flight from Khartoum to Stansted, although his son said he had to use a flight tracker to find out which gate his father would arrive at. You're never sure whether you're able to go back Ahmed Babikir “Every friend, relative, that’s based here or in Sudan has been touched in some way.