40 Sri Lankans to arrive in Sri Lanka from Yemen today
Tuesday, 7 April 2015 01:14
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By Waruni Paranagamage
The Government yesterday said that the Chinese Embassy had volunteered to fly 40 Sri Lankans, who were evacuated from Yemen camps through Djibouti, back to Sri Lanka, following the unrest in Yemen.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ajith P. Perera said that the Sri Lankans who had consented to come back to Sri Lanka had been brought to the port premises of Hodeidah in Yemen yesterday by buses and would be transported to Djibouti through a ship belonging to China. From there flown they will be flown to Sri Lanka on a direct Chinese flight.
Perera also said that the Government had taken steps to initiate a special operation centre adjoining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) to take swift action regarding this situation. He also pointed out that this centre was getting support from the Saudi Government and other countries to bring back Sri Lankan.
“Five Sri Lankan citizens came to the country last morning from Yemen through land transport facilities. Altogether 83 people have been registered at SLBFE to be living in Yemen. From that 40 will be arriving in the country today and another 15 have already arrived in Sri Lanka. The rest are saying that they do not wish to return,” Perera said.
Last Tuesday Saudi Arabian forces and Yemeni Houthi rebels engaged in heavy cross-border fire and Yemen’s Foreign Minister pleaded for an immediate Arab intervention on the ground. The crisis commenced after the coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which comprises five Gulf Arab states and Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan and Sudan, launched airstrikes in Yemen last week.
