Pinoys from Yemen Continue to Arrive in Saudi
SAUDI ARABIA – Filipino evacuees from strife-torn Yemen heaved a sigh of relief when they reached the Yemen-Saudi Arabia border of Jizan.
Among the 387 Filipinos who fled Yemen were Arturo Armea and Crisostomo Estelyore. The group had take a land trip to get to the border.
“Ang bombing kasi nagsisimula ng gabi. So pagdating ng araw, pag nagta-travel ka, safe. Although may mga areas na unpassable at saka destroyed na talaga,” said Eng. Armea.
Estelyore added, “Actually, nakarating kami dito sa Jizan, medyo panatag na ang loob namin, dahil nakalabas na kami ng Yemen”.
Armea has been working as an engineer in Yemen for 13 years. He said he was still having second thoughts about leaving.
“Ok pa nung umalis kami pero there are reports sa mga kasamahan namin na nandoon pa, yung areas na malapit sa amin, binomba na rin. So hindi na suitable sa amin na mag-stay pa,” he said.
Yesterday, the first batch of repatriates left Riyadh for Manila yesterday.
“So yung umuwi kaninang hapon, 22 po sila, tapos itong gabi po, 68 po sila. So a total of 90 po ang nakalipad ngayon araw,” said Consul General Leo Tito Ausan of the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah.
Ausan said they continue to work hard to get more Filipinos out of Yemen through the government’s mandatory repatriation program.
“We are now working so hard through our embassy in Riyadh, to get flight bookings. This is of course through the Philippine government expense. We are hoping that we can get their bookings soonest so that we can get them out readily as fast as we can.
Ausan added that they are ready to help Filipinos still in Yemen.
“But we hope that this will happen very soon, because for this to take longer is going to be very dangerous for everyone already,” he said.