DUSHANBE, April 2, 2015, Asia-Plus – Evacuation of Tajik nationals stranded in the strife-torn Yemen is expected to start today.
Ms. Shahnoza Gadoyeva, one of Tajik medical workers staying in Yemen with two children, told Asia-Plus by phone today that she was told to be in the Sanaa airport at 4:00 pm local time (6:00 pm Dushanbe time).
“They said Russia sent a plane to Yemen. First of all, women and children will be evacuated,” Ms. Gadoyeva said, noting that some people have stayed in the airport since yesterday.
We will recall that Abdulfayz Atoyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus on March 31 that many Tajik medical workers working in Yemen do not want to leave the country, “because they are quite satisfied with conditions existing there.”
According to him, employees of Tajik diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia are currently engaged in resolving issues related to relocating Tajik nationals in Yemen to safer areas before returning them home.
“The majority of our medical workers in Yemen are working in rural areas that are located far from the conflict sites,” said Atoyev. “They told employees of our embassy by phone that they do not feel threat to their lives and health. They are satisfied with their job and receive wage in time. Therefore, they do not want to leave Yemen.”
Tajik diplomats together with employees of Russia medical companies for which Tajik doctors and nurses work in Yemen are making lists of Tajik nationals who want to leave Yemen.
The Tajik MFA said on March 27 that Tajik Embassy in Qatar is trying to relocate Tajik nationals in Yemen to safer areas before returning them home with the help of Russian authorities and companies.
As it had been reported earlier, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Office in Sanaa, Yemen is discussing the issue of evacuation of Tajik nationals from Yemen.
Davron Muhammadiyev, IFRC Regional Representative in Russia, says some one thousand Tajik nationals – specialists and their families – are now in Yemen.
Meanwhile, a state-chartered Russian plane destined for the Yemeni capital Sanaa on April 1 was diverted to Cairo, after the Saudi-led coalition reportedly refused it landing permission, leaving scores of Russian citizens – mostly oil industry employees and their families – awaiting evacuation to languish at the airport.
The refusal was reportedly in contravention of earlier promises made by the coalition to Moscow.
Russian news agency Itar Tass reported on April 2 that a Russian plane has flown from Egypt to Yemen’s capital Sanaa to evacuate Russian nationals from the country.
“The plane flew from Cairo to evacuate embassy personnel and others who want to leave the country where military actions are underway,” the Russian Embassy in Yemen was quoted as saying said.
Cairo International Airport told TASS that the plane will make a stop in Cairo on its way back for refueling. “It will most likely happen later today,” an airport spokesperson said.
Many countries have already evacuated their citizens from the country.
Last week, five Gulf states, Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco and several other Sunni Muslim countries launched a series of airstrikes against the Shia Houthi rebels, who had gained control of the capital and large swathes of territory in the west of the country.
Neighboring Saudi Arabia, has taken full control of the country’s air and sea ports, purportedly to prevent the inflow of weapons from abroad. Riyadh has openly accused its regional arch-rival Iran of funding the rebels, and fomenting unrest in the country of 25 million people.
