A feeling of relief has spread among Keralites, especially the relatives and friends of those stranded in Yemen, as evacuation of Indians from the conflict-ravaged Gulf country has picked up speed with reports coming in that India has got permission to operate flights for evacuation from Sana’a airport. State Chief Minister Oommen Chandy sought to reassure the people saying that the Yemen mission was progressing well. He said on Friday that steps were on to immediately evacuate 1,900 people from Yemen and a flight carrying Indians would land in Kochi and two other aircraft would arrive in Mumbai.
The Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) cell informed that efforts to bring back the Malayalees stranded in Yemen had been intensified. Norka’s chief executive officer hoped that as many as 1,000 Indians would be brought back by three aircraft immediately. As many as 128 Keralites had arrived in Kochi from Yemen early Thursday morning. Though the two aircraft which had ferried 351 Indians to Djibouti from Sana’a on Friday morning did not get permission to carry out a second mission in the afternoon, Indians who had been waiting at the Yemeni airport to be taken to the neighbouring country told the media that they hoped to fly out on Saturday.
Chief Minister Chandy said that two ships of the Indian Navy would reach Aden and Hudaydah in Yemen on Saturday and hoped that they would be able to sail out for India on Saturday itself. NORKA asked the Keralites in Yemen who wanted to leave by ship to contact the Indian embassy in Sana’a. “Considering the situation in Yemen, the evacuation process is progressing efficiently,” said a petroleum sector professional who had left the Gulf country three months back when the strife had shown signs of worsening. “From what my former colleagues and friends there are telling me, I think that the Indian embassy is managing the pressure effectively,” he added.
“Our people are not concentrated in one or two places in Yemen. The road networks are fairly developed but using them in the present circumstances is not really advisable. In such a situation, the pace we see in evacuation is quite reasonable,” he said, adding that the process had already achieved some level of credibility though shortcomings were expectable. At the same time Chief Minister sent his fourth letter on the Yemen issue to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to dispatch more aircraft to Sana’a in the context of the permission India had got to use the airport for evacuation. He also requested the Prime Minister to send more ships to Yemeni ports.
Chandy said that the Indian Government should consider seeking the help of agencies like the Red Fort as Indians in Yemen were finding it difficult to access airports and harbours. He sought directions to the Indian embassy to effectively intervene for making available the passport and other travel documents of Indians which certain companies were refusing to part with. The CM said in the letter that there should not be a situation where Indians were denied permission to leave Yemen because of lack of travel papers, adding that more officials experienced in evacuation operations should be sent to the Indian embassy in Sana’a. He pointed out that some other countries had already completed evacuation of their citizens from Yemen.