With fighting in Yemen intensifying, the easiest way to evacuate stranded Indians there - by airlifting them - is getting difficult, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Thursday. Minister for Diaspora K.C. Joseph later said permission has been received for two Indian aircraft to land at Sana'a airport on Friday morning.
After trouble broke out in Yemen, there was just one aircraft that was Indian, "which flew out with our people and it took place last week", Chandy told IANS.
"The two flights that came yesterday (Wednesday) all flew in from Djibouti. I was speaking to the Indian ambassador in Yemen and he says the airport in Sana'a is open just for three hours a day and it won't be enough for an aircraft to do evacuation operations," Chandy said.
Joseph told the media here Thursday night that according to the latest information from Yemen, permission has been received for two Indian aircraft to land at the Sana'a airport on Friday morning.
"This is going to be a great relief because if this happens, a good number of Indians will be airlifted," said Joseph.
On ships being sent to Yemen to evacuate more Indians stranded there, Chandy said: "With regards to the ships also, there are problems. There are three ports in Yemen and the distance to these ports for Indians to reach ranges from 250 km to 600 km. It's a major problem to reach these ports safely travelling so far."
Chandy on Thursday spoke to a few stranded Keralites and assured them that he will again take up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"They said they are not being given their passports, certificates and salary arrears.
"I told them they need not worry about their passports, as we have informed the Indian embassy that all be given an exit pass. Once they arrive here, we will get them new passports.
"Similarly for the certificates also, I told the nurses that the state government will give them new certificates. We are planning to give them some financial assistance too, but the exact amount is undecided," Chandy said.
He said an easy way out of Yemen was flights, "and for that both Saudi Arabia and Iran should agree and we are all hoping that diplomatic efforts will finally break the deadlock".
Chandy said another drawback was that they did not have the exact number of Keralites in Yemen.
"Rough estimates point to about 5,000 Indians and half of them are Keralites. We all wish and wait to hear good news that the air curfew has been lifted, and if it happens we will be able to bring all our people at the earliest," he said.
