Pakistan

PNS ship, with 147 on board, homebound

Women and children are among the 147 Pakistanis on board the ship

APP April 05, 2015

Stranded Pakistanis board PNS Aslat from a boat off the coast of the Yemeni port city of Mukalla. PHOTO: INP

ISLAMABAD:

A Pakistan Navy frigate, carrying 147 Pakistanis and 36 foreigners, has sailed off from the Yemeni port city of al Mukalla after a successful evacuation operation. The vessel, PNS Aslat to be precise, is scheduled to dock at Karachi port on April 7.

Women and children are among the 147 Pakistanis on board the ship. And the foreigners include 11 Indians, eight Chinese, five Philipinos, four Britons, two Indonesians, two Syrians and one each from Canada, Egypt, Jordan and the UAE.

PNS Aslat reached al Mukallah port on April 2, but Yemeni authorities had restricted movement of people from the assembly point to the port for embarkation due to the fluid security situation in the city, according to a press release issued by the naval authorities.

In a related development, a PIA plane is scheduled to fly into Sanaa, the troubled capital of Yemen, on Sunday (today) to bring back another 174 stranded Pakistanis. Another PNS vessel will also reach al Hudeida city Sunday (today) morning to evacuate 34 Pakistanis, the foreign ministry said in a handout.

Given the extremely volatile security situation in Sanaa and partial damage to the city’s airport, Pakistanis living in the Yemini capital were brought to al Hudeida port by road. Assistance is also being provided through Pakistan’s Embassy in Muscat to 12 Pakistanis for evacuation across the land border with Oman.

According to the handout, Pakistan’s Embassy had an estimated figure of 3,000 Pakistanis residing across Yemen before Houthi rebels started marching on the capital in September 2014. As a result of subsequent advisories issued by the Pakistani mission, more than half of them left Yemen.

When the country slid into chaos in February 2015, the embassy sought willingness of community members for emergency evacuation. Initially, only 278 Pakistanis enlisted for evacuation – but when the Saudi-led military coalition unleashed air strikes in Sanaa the number jumped to 912.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2015.