Sana’a airport made operational

Glimmer of hope for Indians stranded in Yemen

March 28, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:52 am IST - KOTTAYAM:

The international airport at Sana’a in Yemen has been made operational bringing a ray of hope to Indians stranded in the war-torn country, as per reports reaching their relatives here.

A person from Kerala, who did not want his name to be disclosed, informed The Hindu through WhatsApp that nearly 70 Indian nationals who reached the Sana’a airport had to return as they were no allowed to board the plane.

They had reached the airport by 11 a.m. Indian time as the airport had become operational. However, according to him, they were turned back after six hours as the flights operated were for UN personnel and oilfield employees.

The airport is at present controlled by Saudi forces and daylight evacuation can start only with the clearance from Saudi Arabian authorities, Minister for NoRK Affairs K.C. Joseph said.

The State government was in constant touch with the Indian embassy in Yemen, he said. Mr. Joseph said the attempt to evacuate the UN employees was also a failure according to the Indian embassy personnel.

Evacuation plans

He said the government was thinking of evacuating Indians via the port of Djibouti. However, that would need the transportation of people through land, which was also risky. The situation was normal during the day at Sana’a but they could not sleep in the night on account of intense attacks, Jacob Korah, one of the Malayalis stranded in Sana’a, said.

Mr. Joseph said there were about 3,000 Indians stranded in Yemen, of which 75 per cent were from Kerala. Most of the Keralites were nurses and a good number among the rest, paramedical staff.

The passport of the majority of nurses was with the hospital managements and they had not received remuneration for the past two months. The State government had called for Central intervention to redress the grievances of the nurses and paramedical staff, Mr. Joseph said.

Central help sought

Special Correspondent writes from Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has sought the urgent intervention of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to rescue the Indians caught in Yemen.

Mr. Achuthanandan said in a release here on Friday that the Indian Embassy in Yemen should play an active role in ensuring the safety of Indians, including Keralites, there and those caught in the strife should be rescued through air or sea.

Airport under control of Saudi forces

Govt. in touch with Indian embassy: Minister

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.