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The Kenyan government has arranged to have China and India help evacuate some of its citizens stranded in Yemen, where a conflict has been raging since last year.
Chinese and Indian naval vessels are currently in the region rescuing their nationals as well as those of friendly countries.
Kenyan diplomats say the two countries’ have agreed to help after a formal request through their respective embassies.
The deal, however, comes just as India completes a massive air rescue from the capital Sana’a, which lies in the hinterland, evacuating nearly 1,000 nationals from 41 countries.
The operation, which involved several Air India aircraft, helped almost 6,000 people flee Yemen before coming to a close Friday.
No figure has been provided for the total number of Kenyans still in Yemen, but ministry officials suggest some 150 Kenyans in Yemen’s largest city may have missed the air rescue and could now remain stranded as the sea rescue continues.
Haki Afrika, a non-profit that recently had its accounts frozen over possible ties to terrorism, was one of the loudest voices urging government action to help “about one hundred Kenyan families†trapped by months of fighting.
So far, the Ministry states, its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Oman have facilitated the safe return of 60 Kenyans.
At least 643 people, including children, have died and thousands have been wounded since violence erupted in Yemen last year, the Guardian reports.
Fighting has escalated in the last 11 days as a Saudi-led coalition tries to push back Iran-allied Houthi forces opposed to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Evacuees will be taken to Djibouti from whichever port they can access, Foreign Affairs ministry officials said in a statement Friday urging Kenyans in Yemeni coastal cities to prepare themselves.
“Those stranded on the eastern side of Yemen are asked to travel to Oman so that they can be evacuated through Muscat, while those near the border with Saudi Arabia are to be evacuated via Jeddah,†reads a statement signed by Public Affairs Communication official Edwin Limo.
The statement, however, also reassured the 150 people stranded in Sana’a that plans to evacuate them using chartered planes are being worked out. Sana’a is currently under rebel control and under Saudi bombardment.
“Those at volatile locations are advised to assess the situation on the ground and, if in doubt, stay where they are until the situation stabilizes,†the statement ends.
- Business Daily