Three Keralites return from strife-torn Yemen

Two ships sail to Djibouti to bring back home 1,200 more stranded Indians

Three Keralites, who were stranded in strife-torn Yemen, returned home today morning.

Lijo of Erattupetta and Jacob Korah of Kanjirappally reached Cochin International Airport via Doha by Qatar Airways, while Ruben Jacob Chandy, a native of Changanassery, arrived at Thiruvananthapuram International airport.

Lijo told reporters he returned on his own expenses and was helped by the Indian Embassy in Yemen. Around 3,500 Indians, mostly nurses from Kerala, were stranded in Yemen, he said.

The situation of Indians in places like Aden was grave as they cannot step out of their homes and were deprived of water and food items. The condition of nurses was quite pathetic and the hospital authorities were not giving their passports, according to him. Some nurses had sent videos of attacks at several places to local TV channels.

Ships tasked for rescue
Meanwhile, on Monday morning, two passenger ships had set off on sail to Djibouti port to evacuate Indians stranded in Yemen, said the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) traffic manager.

The port is strategically located at the crossroads of one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, linking Europe, the Far East, Africa and the Persian Gulf.

He said ships, MV Kavarathi and MV Coral Sea, equipped with all facilities, including food, water and medicines, had sailed to Yemen to evacuate 1,200 Indians. The entire mission is being assisted and controlled by the Indian Navy.It will take seven days to reach Djibouti port.

Earlier in the day, a 180-seater Air India flight took off from New Delhi to Sanaa, the capital city of Yemen, via Muscat to airlift the stranded Indians.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj yesterday said India had received permission from authorities to fly from Sanaa for three hours a day. Chief minister Oommen Chandy said he had communicated with several Malayalee nurses in Yemen over the phone last week.

With complaints emerging that the passports of Indians were being detained without any reason, the Indian Embassy in Yemen has decided to issue exit pass to get them to India. The ministry has also set up a 24-hour control room to monitor the situation in Yemen, where all airports had been shut down.

"Eighty Indians took Yemenia Airways first flight from Sanaa on March 28. They are headed to Djibouti where the Indian mission will assist in their journey home," a spokesperson in the external affairs ministry said.