Three-hour wheels up evacuation from Juba during city lockdown
On 7 July 2016, low-level fighting broke out on the outskirts of Juba, South Sudan. Initially thought to be a dispute at a checkpoint where five government soldiers were killed, the incident was consistent with the local risk environment. Healix issued regular alerts to clients and employees via the Travel Oracle app. Over the following days, the skirmish escalated into heavy, coordinated fighting that spread to the city centre, resembling the unrest of December 2013 that led to civil war.
Challenge
As the situation worsened, Juba went into lockdown. Airports and land borders closed, and road travel was too dangerous due to troop movements and banditry. For 24 hours, no one could leave – including British and US government personnel. Healix received evacuation requests from two clients across four locations. The challenge was to move people quickly and safely despite severe restrictions and widespread disruption.
Approach
Healix assigned an analyst to monitor developments and assess client exposure while our Africa Regional Security Coordinator reviewed contingency plans. We reserved aircraft at Juba, Entebbe (Uganda) and Wilson (Nairobi) for remote extractions and deployed a fixer to Juba airport to secure flight clearance as soon as operations resumed. On 12 July, clearance was granted. While other providers quoted four-hour lead times for ground transport, our consultant leveraged local contacts to secure an armoured vehicle. Within 10 minutes, the team reached the client location and moved evacuees to the airport in 20 minutes. The fixer expedited immigration and security checks and physically escorted passengers onto the plane.
Outcome
From activation of the ground move to wheels up, the evacuation took just three hours – despite city-wide lockdown and severe disruption. The operation demonstrated the value of rapid decision-making, strong local networks and pre-planned contingencies.