Lijo George and Jacob Korah, two Keralites who, along with several other Indian nationals, were safely evacuated from Yemen reached home on Monday.
Arriving here by a Qatar Airways flight in the morning, the duo was received here by their friends and family members. They had been evacuated to Djibouti from the Sana’a airport on Saturday, and reached Doha late Sunday.
Mr. George, a native of Irattupettah, was working with an IT firm, while Mr. Korah, who hails from Kanjirappally, was with a shipping company for the past six years.
Talking to presspersons, Mr. George said foreigners in Yemen were scrambling to reach the airport as the civil war was intensifying with each passing day.
“Nobody is safe in that country, though there are no specific threats to Indians. What is now taking place is targeted attacks, and civilian areas are safe as of now,” he said.
Mr. Korah said several hundreds of Malayalis were stranded in Yemen, and there had been complaints that many of them were not able to secure their passports to return home. “There are also reports that Keralites trapped at several locations were facing acute shortage of drinking water and depleting food stocks,” he said.
They said that air strikes by forces from the Gulf nations, led by Saudi Arabia, were fierce in the regions of Sa’dah, Gudiga, and Sana’a. Several countries, including Pakistan, were also moving to repatriate their people home.
Praising the Indian Embassy for helping Keralites settled there, they said they hoped to go back once the situation improved. They also thanked the Kerala government for its support.
