TAXILA: The call Sajjad Sadiq received on Saturday afternoon from his brother in Yemen — Waseem Sadiq, the leader of a group of Pakistanis trying to flee the strife-torn country — was alarming. To make matters worse, it ended abruptly.

Talking to Sajjad, who lives in Wah Cantonment, Waseem said: “Time is running out for us, as the Yemeni military has stopped our convoy of 40 buses carrying more than 500 Pakistanis. We are losing valuable time but they want to check our documents.”

“We are in dire need of immediate evacuation,” the vice principal of the Pakistan School in Sanaa added. But he could not complete the conversation because his call dropped abruptly.

Sajjad told Dawn that his brother had called him to let him know of the problems the latter was facing as leader of a convoy of Pakistanis going from the Yemeni capital Sanaa to the port city of Al-Hodeida. “This was an SOS call,” he said.

Sajjad said his family, including his mother Sarwar Perveen, were extremely worried about the welfare of Waseem, his family and other Pakistanis who were trying to leave Yemen on Saturday.

He said his brother had gone to Sanaa about four years ago with his wife and children because he had been appointed as vice principal at the Pakistan School in the Yemeni capital. But now Waseem was leading a convoy of Pakistanis trying to flee the war-torn country as quickly as possible.

“With each passing moment my worries are increasing because we are getting reports that the convoy is running into lots of problems,” Ms Perveen said.

“Who would have thought that the situation in Yemen would deteriorate so rapidly? Within hours the rebels have taken over complete cities and towns,” the 62-year-old mother of Waseem and Sajjad said.

Tasneem, another brother of Sajjad and Waseem, said the Pakistanis living in Sanaa had gathered at the school to plan for their evacuation from the city. They then hired buses to proceed to Al-Hodeida, from where they would be brought back home.

“Now the time has come for the government to move quickly and decisively,” said Sajjad. He appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to order immediate and safe evacuation of all Pakistanis stranded in Yemen.

Meanwhile, reports reaching here on Saturday night said the 500-strong Pakistani convoy was allowed to leave Sanaa, hours after it was stopped at a military checkpost.

According to estimates, 560 Pakistanis were stranded in the Yemeni capital. In all about 2,200 Pakistanis were living in the country when it plunged into crisis.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2015

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