Indonesia To Intensify Evacuation Of Citizens From Yemen

Jakarta, March 30 (Antara) -- Indonesia is intensifying efforts to evacuate its citizens out of Yemen due to the worsening situation in the country. "Given the current condition, it is now time to step up the evacuation of our citizens in Yemen," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L. P. Marsudi said here on Monday. She added that there are some 4,159 citizens in Yemen, including 2,626 students, 1,488 professional workers in oil and gas companies and 45 embassy staff and their families in Sana'a. "Most of them live in Yemen's eastern region," she pointed out. According to the minister, the Indonesian government, through the evacuation task force set up by her office, had informed and approached citizens in Yemen to register themselves for evacuation since February. A total of 148 citizens had been evacuated and brought back to Indonesia in March, she said. With regard to ways to evacuate and repatriate the Indonesian nationals, Minister Marsudi stated: "There are several options. We can evacuate 90 citizens from Sana'a to Al Hudaydah in half an hour. Other options include (transporting them) via Oman and Saudi Arabia. If we opt for Oman, we can start from Salalah." "As the situation is still dynamic, we will try to carry out the evacuation plan expeditiously," she affirmed. In addition, a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Arrmanatha Nasir, noted that the government would consider taking every possible means of evacuation, whether it is by land, air or sea. "The first evacuation option is by land, but for long distances, we will try to travel by air via Salalah. We will also try the sea route and attempt to rescue our citizens through every available option," he emphasized. Nasir added that the evacuation process had been hindered as airports in Yemen were opened only for a few hours a day. In view of that, the Foreign Affairs Ministry would cooperate with the Indonesian military (TNI) to pick up the citizens using TNI aircraft. Furthermore, Director of Protection and Legal Aid of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lalu Muhammad Izbal, said that Indonesia has applied for a flight clearance from the governments of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen in case it decides to conduct evacuation by air. "We have communicated with our ambassadors in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen. We are seeking flight clearance, but a decision has yet to be made with regard to which aircraft will be used for the operation as it would also be determined by the number of citizens to be evacuated," he explained. Saudi Arabia, supported by nine countries, has launched air attacks on Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen to preserve the legitimacy of the current government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. The operation was carried out following a request from President Hadi to the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. While Saudi Arabia has prepared 100 fighter jets and 150 thousand soldiers to carry out military operations, the United Arab Emirates will send 30 fighter planes, and Bahran and Kuwait, four warships through the Suez Canal. The last few days, strong explosions had often been heard in several locations in Yemen as fighter jets from Saudi Arabia and its allies bombed the air base, government offices and arms depots of the rebels.