Pakistani plane, ship to bring back 208 Pakistanis from Yemen

Published April 5, 2015
Foreign nationals onboard Pakistan Navy Ship ASLAT 
after evacuation operation in Al-Mukalla on Saturday, April 04, 2015.— PPI
Foreign nationals onboard Pakistan Navy Ship ASLAT after evacuation operation in Al-Mukalla on Saturday, April 04, 2015.— PPI
Pakistan Navy Ship sailing back for Pakistan after successful evacuation of 147 Pakistani Nationals including men, women and children and 36 foreign Nationals stranded in Al Mukalla, Yemen.— APP
Pakistan Navy Ship sailing back for Pakistan after successful evacuation of 147 Pakistani Nationals including men, women and children and 36 foreign Nationals stranded in Al Mukalla, Yemen.— APP
Stranded families safely taken onboard Pakistan Navy Ship upon completion of immigration formalities. Pakistan Navy Ship has sailed back for Pakistan after successful evacuation of 147 Pakistani Nationals including men, women and children and 36 foreign Nationals stranded in Al Mukalla, Yemen. — APP
Stranded families safely taken onboard Pakistan Navy Ship upon completion of immigration formalities. Pakistan Navy Ship has sailed back for Pakistan after successful evacuation of 147 Pakistani Nationals including men, women and children and 36 foreign Nationals stranded in Al Mukalla, Yemen. — APP
A child along with his mother onboard Pakistan Navy Ship 
ASLAT after evacuation operation in Al-Mukalla on Saturday, April 04, 2015. — PPI
A child along with his mother onboard Pakistan Navy Ship ASLAT after evacuation operation in Al-Mukalla on Saturday, April 04, 2015. — PPI
Pakistan Navy Ship has sailed back for Pakistan after successful evacuation of 147 Pakistani Nationals including men, women and children and 36 foreign Nationals stranded in Al Mukalla, Yemen. — APP
Pakistan Navy Ship has sailed back for Pakistan after successful evacuation of 147 Pakistani Nationals including men, women and children and 36 foreign Nationals stranded in Al Mukalla, Yemen. — APP

ISLAMABAD: A PIA aircraft will go to Sana’a on Sunday while a Navy ship already on way to Yemen will reach Al Hodeida on Monday to evacuate the remaining 208 Pakistanis still stranded there, in what could possibly be the end of a nine-day evacuation operation.

According to an evacuation update issued by the Foreign Office on Saturday night, 174 Pakistanis are in Sana’a and 34 in Al Hodeida.

Read: Around 500 stranded Pakistanis return from Yemen

A total of 849 Pakistanis have already been evacuated.

PIA will operate a special flight to Sana’a on Sunday to bring the remaining Pakistanis, while a Navy ship will be reaching Al Hodeida on Monday.

“A special PIA flight has been planned for Sana’a tomorrow (Sunday) to bring back the 174 stranded compatriots. An aircraft is on stand by, ground clearances have been obtained, while exemption of ‘No Fly’ restriction is expected shortly,” the FO statement said.

Also read: Over 300 Pakistanis evacuated from Yemen are back home

Meanwhile, the navy ship PNS Aslat that reached Mukalla on Friday, but could not evacuate Pakistanis because of deterioration in law and order situation following the jailbreak there in which Al Qaeda reportedly freed 300 inmates, had to be diverted to the nearby Ash Shihr port. The ship on Saturday evacuated 148 Pakistanis. In addition to the Pakistanis, the ship helped evacuate 35 people of other nationalities. The nationalities of 23 were identified in the FO statement — eight Chinese, 11 Indians and four British citizens. The ship will reach Karachi on Tuesday.

Also read: Another 176 stranded Pakistanis arrive in Islamabad from Yemen

A group of 12 Pakistanis has also been evacuated through land border with Oman. Before the Houthi takeover of Sana’a in September 2014, the statement said, there were some 3,000 Pakistanis living in different parts of Yemen.

“By the embassy’s reckoning, around 1,800 of our expatriates gradually exited the country” over the past few months, it added.

At the time of start of air strikes against Houthi targets by the Saudi-led coalition, the FO said, 912 expressed willingness for evacuation.

So far, 849 have been evacuated.

A Boeing 747 flight brought back 503 Pakistanis on March 31. Subsequently, 186 were evacuated from Aden on board a Chinese vessel to Djibouti and from there to Pakistan by a special PIA flight.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.