Dhaka mulls alternative measures to evacuate Bangladeshis from Yemen

Bangladesh will rent ships, if necessary, to evacuate its nationals from war-torn Yemen, the foreign secretary has said as India called off its rescue operations.

“We are ready to do everything. The problem is the ongoing war. It’s difficult to anchor ships there,” Md Shahidul Haque said at a press briefing on Yemen situation on Saturday.

He said the situation turned so volatile that even the ships of IOM, the UN migration agency, for assisting Bangladesh could not touch base.

The foreign secretary said at least 360 Bangladeshis had been evacuated with India’s support. But India closed their mission after evacuating all their nationals.

He said they have planned “alternative” measures, including taking IOM’s support, to bring back 500 nationals listed as willing to leave Yemen.

“Of them, 360 have been taken to Djibouti with India’s support,” he said, adding that 11 of them came back to Dhaka on Friday. Ten more would come on Saturday evening.

“The rest were on board a Kerala-bound Indian cruise ship. We’ll bring them from Kerala,” he said.

Bangladesh has set up a ‘Repatriation Control Room’ in Djibouti, a tiny East African country near Yemen.

Bangladesh’s Kuwait-based diplomats are conducting repatriation process from Djibouti as Dhaka has no mission in Yemen or Djibouti.

Yemen became volatile with the rise of Shia Houthis who took over the capital six months ago and ousted its President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque

The conflict has turned the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation into the latest theatre for Sunni Saudi Arabia’s proxy war with its regional Shia rival Iran.

Tehran, however, denies Riyadh's charges that it has been arming the Houthis.

Bangladesh earlier endorsed its support to Saudi-led efforts in Yemen.

The foreign secretary said they have also spoken to the Saudi authorities about evacuating Bangladeshis from Yemen.

“I want to assure you that we, including the foreign minister, are active round the clock for the safe return of our nationals,” he said.