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Thursday March 28, 2024

First batch of stranded Pakistanis leaves Sanaa for safer place

Special PIA plane to bring them back home tomorrow

By our correspondents
March 29, 2015
SANAA/ISLAMABAD: The first batch of Pakistanis stranded in the Yemen capital, Sanaa, left for a safe location on Saturday and a PIA special plane will bring them back to Pakistan tomorrow (Monday). The first batch of 500 Pakistanis stranded in Sanaa left for Hudaydah as Saudi-led air strikes continued to pound Houthi rebels.
The Foreign Office on Saturday assured that its embassy in Yemen, with the cooperation of other stakeholders, was making all-out efforts to evacuate Pakistanis from Yemen who wanted to return to their homeland due to the deteriorating situation in the country.
Addressing a press conference here at the Foreign Office late on Saturday night, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said Pakistan’s Ambassador to Yemen Dr Irfan Yousaf along with a group of 200 Pakistanis was heading towards Hudaydah from Sanaa, so that they could be evacuated on a PIA flight on Sunday or as early as possible.
He said that there were about 3,000 Pakistanis working in different cities of Yemen and only 1,000 were in the disturbed zones and were willing to be evacuated to Pakistan.
He said the Foreign Office is making all necessary arrangements for the immediate evacuation of the Pakistani community and embassy personnel from Yemen under the special directives of Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif. He said that the prime minister was monitoring the whole operation personally and he was in constant touch with the Foreign Office.
The foreign secretary said that in view of the situation in Yemen, Pakistanis were being taken to safer cities in Yemen from where PIA special flights would be arranged to bring them back home. He said a Crisis Management Cell (CMC) had been established in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate arrangements for their evacuation. He said due to the no-fly zone declared by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan was also trying to get special permission from the Saudi government so that its special flight could land at Hudaydah.
He said two ships of the Pakistan Navy were also going to the Red Sea to bring back the Pakistanis. The foreign secretary said arrangements had also been made for the stay of Pakistanis going to Al-Hadeed from Sanaa if there was any delay in the flights from Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Saturday night phoned Saudi Defence Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss in detail the evacuation of Pakistanis from Yemen.
The Saudi defence minister assured Khawaja Asif about the peaceful evacuation of Pakistani citizens from Yemen and said that they would be carefully evacuated just like the Saudi citizens.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that all possible routes would be used for the immediate evacuation of Pakistani community members and Saudi government was in contact with the Pakistan Embassy.
Meanwhile, a Pakistani school principal living in Sanaa was quoted by the media as saying that Pakistanis were leaving for Hudaydah in the form of a convoy. “We appeal to Pakistanis to pray for our safe travel,” she said.
The principal said that many women and children are among those travelling to Hudaydah.
A PIA spokesman said that a passenger aircraft would leave for Yemen on Sunday to bring back the Pakistanis.
The spokesperson said a Crisis Management Cell (CMC) had been established in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate arrangements for the evacuation.
The spokesperson said any one could contact them through telephone numbers 0092 51 90569119 and 0092 51 90569346 and email mcmofa@gmail.com regarding the evacuation arrangements by the Foreign Office from Yemen.
All those in need of assistance in the context of evacuation of Pakistanis from Yemen may contact the CMC.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Ambassador to Yemen Irfan Shami said evacuation of stranded Pakistanis was their top priority.
He further said the Pakistan Embassy is in constant touch with people restricted to their homes and was trying its level best to safely evacuate them under tight security.