23 Singaporeans evacuated from Yemen: ministry

A total of 23 Singaporeans have been evacuated from Yemen over the past fortnight, said Singapore' s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in a news release on Monday.

Eight Singaporeans were ferried out from Tarim, Yemen, to Oman on Sunday after the MFA cooperated with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore to evacuate them. Also on board were nationals from Brunei, Cambodia, India, Malaysia and Vietnam, according to the MFA press release.

MFA said it sent a Crisis Response Team (CRT) to Oman on April 11. It was on hand to receive the eight Singaporeans, and is arranging for their returning home later this week.

"The Singaporeans told us that the journey was tiring, more than 20 hours on the road with several stops. My colleagues and I are relieved that they arrived safely in Salalah. We would also like to thank the Omani government for facilitating the operations of our CRT," said Richard Grosse, Consul-General of the Singapore Consulate-General in Muscat and head of the CRT.

However, there are still Singaporeans who have opted to stay in Yemen. MFA said the ministry remains deeply concerned over their safety, and will continue to maintain close contact.

MFA said in the news release that the window of opportunity for Singaporeans to leave Yemen safely is narrowing.

Another overland evacuation to bring Singaporeans out of Tarim is contingent on the ground conditions which are increasingly difficult. The rapidly deteriorating situation may prevent MFA from mounting further evacuation operations. Endi