Stranded families left to fend for themselves

While 503 people were brought back to Pakistan, around 2,000 Pakistanis are still stranded in Yemen

KARACHI:

With the Pakistani ambassador and his staff’s return from Yemen on Sunday, hundreds of their compatriots still stranded in the war-torn country are left in a state of confusion, as their escape without any diplomatic mission has seemingly become quite difficult.

Speaking from the port city of Aden by the telephone, Tauqeer Ahmed said that after the embassy staff’s return home, Pakistanis in Yemen have volunteered to help coordinate evacuation of their compatriots.

“Obviously, we are facing a lot of difficulties. If a government official was here, things would have been more organised and more resources would have been used to bring people together. Right now, volunteers are doing the work that the officials should have been doing.”

While 503 people, including Pakistani Ambassador Dr Irfan Shami and his staff, were brought back to Pakistan on a special flight Sunday night, around 2,000 Pakistanis are still stranded in Yemen.

Tauqeer Ahmed, who works for an oil terminal and a lubricant manufacturing company, said he could hear the tanks and rockets in the areas around the airport.

Six Pakistanis with him are currently staying at their office, which they feel is a secure place. “We are in the clear for now,” said Ahmed, “but God knows when things could go wrong and the rebels might come here.” Living in Aden for the past four years, he has compiled a list of 150 Pakistanis there.

When The Express Tribune called Ambassador Shami, he hung up without responding. Meanwhile, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said they had coordinators and focal points in Yemen, and their crisis management cell in Islamabad was in touch with them.

But her statement does not satisfy the affected people and their families – like Talha, whose sister Romana Hafeez, her four children and her paralysed husband are stranded in the capital city of Sana’a.

“The embassy staff should have logically and technically stayed there until everyone’s return,” he said. “But I am willing to go and save people there as I have worked in conflict-hit areas before.”

For the 503 people, the embassy had made arrangements for them in Sana’a and together they went to the city of Hudaidah to leave for Pakistan.

“Those people were helped by the embassy, but now they don’t know who to coordinate with and what to do,” said Talha.

Prisoners stuck in Yemen

The return of the embassy staff has also increased problems for the Pakistani prisoners in Yemen. “If the prisoners are released before completing their jail time, they would have been handed over to the embassy. But now who will receive them? Who will verify them and issue them travel documents?” wondered human rights activist Ansar Burney.

He said 20 Pakistani prisoners, including 11 fishermen, were in two jails of the Yemeni capital. One of the fishermen, Mohammad Siddique, has been languishing in the Sana’a jail for the past nine years. His brother Abdul Sattar, who lives in Karachi’s restive town of Lyari, appealed to the government to bring him back.

“The ambassador left everyone behind and got himself rescued first,” he told The Express Tribune. “My brother’s life is in danger and the rebels are trying to kill him.”

Another issue is of Pakistani employees whose employers are in possession of their passports, and if the embassy was functioning, then it would have issued them papers for bringing them back home, said Burney.

Evacuation

The Foreign Office said efforts were being made to evacuate the remaining stranded Pakistanis. “The focus of our endeavours has now shifted to evacuating the remaining Pakistanis stuck mainly in Aden and Mukalla,” said the FO spokesperson.

She said the renewed fighting around Aden had prevented the envisaged movement of Pakistanis stranded in Aden to Mukalla, which is located around nine hours’ driving distance.

“As such, even as a PIA aircraft is on stand-by to fly to Mukalla to airlift the stranded Pakistanis in Aden and Mukalla, we now have to use the sea evacuation option.”

Tasnim said two Pakistan Navy ships had been despatched to the area and were expected to reach there in a few days.

The possibility of evacuation from Aden with Chinese assistance is also being explored, since Chinese vessels are currently undertaking evacuation operations for their citizens in Aden, she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2015.