Tesfa-Alem Tekle
21 June 2011
Addis Ababa — The Ethiopian government has begun evacuating its nationals from Yemen as violence in the Gulf country escalates.
A first group of Ethiopians landed late Monday night in the capital, Addis Ababa.
“A first group of 275 Ethiopians have arrived last night at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport” Ambassador Dina Mufti, Ethiopia foreign affairs spokesperson, told Sudan Tribune.
“The evacuation process will continue this week. We will return a total of 2,000 Ethiopians who have willingly registered for repatriation” he added.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of Ethiopians who entered Yemen illegally as of January 2010 was over 30,000.
Yemen has been the scene of widespread unrest since January, 2011, when massive protests began against the leadership of President Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power since 1978.
In April 2011, Ethiopia similarly evacuated its citizens from Libya who were stranded there due to the ongoing conflict there. The government in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) was able to evacuate over 400 of its citizens from Libya via Tunisia
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Country Begins Evacuating Citizens From Violence in Yemen