A Somali diplomat in the conflict-hit Yemen has said that a preparatory work to remove Somali nationals trapped in the Country has started.
A five-day ceasefire offered by the Saudi-led air strike coalition is expected to start on Tuesday to allow humanitarian aid reach civilians and make possible evacuation of foreign nationals possible.
Somalia’s Consular General based in Sana’a Ahmed Osman Mohamed stated they will use the slot for evacuating citizens, especially the vulnerable ones.
The evacuation will be carried out evacuation by the International organisation for immigration (IOM) after the Federal government of Somalia had sent a request to it, he added.
‘’A plane will arrive in Sana’a on 17th of this month and will be able to carry 145 people, We will evacuate as many people we can during the five days of the truce,’’ he said in an interview with the BBC Somali Service.
Since the violence in Yemen erupted, more than 50 Somali have lost their lives.
Somalia’s federal government has been criticized for delaying to speed up the process of evacuating stranded citizens while other small nations have went on to seek from other nations like China and India to assist the withdrawal of their nationals from the strife-torn country.
With the government’s evacuation plans failing, thousands of citizens took the risk of travelling by small boats to reach Somalia’s shores.
Though the exact number of Somalis stuck in Yemen is unknown, hundreds of people in Somalia and abroad have expressed concern about loved ones in the middle-eastern country.
Saudi Arabia unleashed a series of air raids against the Houthis rebels on March 26 in an attempt to restore power to embattled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally to Riyadh.
The embattled president fled Aden to the Saudi capital city of Riyadh after the Houthis pushed into Aden, where he had sought to set up a temporary governmental operation after the Shiite rebels seized control of Yemen’s capital Sanaa.
Horseed Media
Somalia to evacuate citizens from Yemen in ceasefire deal
Published: May 12, 2015