The relief witnessed for the past three days in Kerala at the homes of those stranded in conflict-ravaged Yemen gave way to anxiety on Sunday after reports said that expatriates in the Gulf country had been asked to leave within five days as there was possibility of escalation in the ongoing war.
Indians who have connections in the Yemeni Government said there was every possibility that the military might launch land war against the Houthi militia with Saudi help anytime. Once it began, it would be extremely difficult for foreigners to get out, they said. Reports in this regard lessened the spirit of Easter celebrations in hundreds of homes in Kerala.
The Kerala Government will hold a high-level meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday on the issue of evacuation of Malayalees from Yemen. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will chair the meeting. Culture Minister KC Joseph, who also holds the charge of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs, said that as many as 469 Malayalees had been evacuated from the Gulf country so far.
“We should thank the Government and the embassy for what they are doing to help our children there. The anxiety has taken away all joy of Easter,” said the mother of a Malayalee nurse, a native of Idukki, working in a Sana’a hospital, who was yet to return. “She is calling us every three or four hours to tell us that everything is fine. I like to believe her,” she added.
Reports from Yemen said that as many as 677 Indians were evacuated on Sunday. Of this, 488 were airlifted from Sana’a by Air India flights while 189 including 28 women and eight children were evacuated by INS Sumitra from the southern port of Al Mukalla, currently under the Al Qaeda control, to Djibouti.
Sources in the Non-Resident Kerala Affairs Department hoped that all Indians stranded in Yemen could be brought back in three or four days at the current pace of the evacuation process but some of those stranded in the Gulf country suspected this confidence. As per official figures, Yemen had an Indian population of over 4,500.
“I am on the ship to Djibouti now along with 203 other evacuees,” Babu John, Operations Manager of the petroleum company, Petro Masila, told The Pioneer from on board INS Sumitra at 4.45 PM IST Sunday. “It was a difficult operation. We had to deploy three Petro Masila boats to take the people from the Al Mukalla port to Sumitra stationed 4 KM off the coast,” said John.
“There are 204 on board the ship but 15 belong to other countries,” he said, adding that evacuation of Indians in the Al Mukalla area could have almost been over. Twelve Indians including four Keralites had sailed out of the southern Yemeni port on Saturday aboard a Pakistani ship bound for Karachi.
“I have just heard that Babu has left Al Mukalla for Djibouti,” said John’s brother Kuriakose, a lawyer. “The trip to Djibouti may take anything between 16 hours to 24 hours. Therefore, he may reach home on Tuesday. Our two relatives are currently on the Pakistani ship. All we can do is to pray and hope that everything will be all right,” he said.
Grace (name changed at her request), a Keralite nurse working in Hajjah, located north-west of Sana’a, said she was not confident of getting out in five days. “Even if we can make it in five days, I am sure we will have to forego two months’ salary. We are amidst a war here and what awaits us in Kerala is financial darkness,” she said.