DFA urges Pinoys in war-torn Yemen to register for repatriation

(CNN Philippines) — As bombs continue to batter Yemen, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday (April 8) urged Filipinos remaining in the war-torn country to immediately register with the crisis management team for mandatory evacuation.

An Alert Level 4 or mandatory repatriation was issued by DFA last February citing the "continued deterioration of the political and security situation in Yemen.”

Repatriation of nationals started last Sunday (April  5) with 99 evacuees. The second and third group followed on Monday (April 6) and Tuesday (April 7) with 243 and 44 evacuees, respectively.

Evacuees were from the Yemeni cities of Hodeidah, Taiz, Aden, and Hajjah, according to the DFA.

A CNN report stated that hundreds of people died within days due to the fighting between Houthi rebels and troops loyal to deposed Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.

Last Saturday (April 4), some 44 people of various nationalities were evacuated by French forces stationed in Djibouti following a four-hour window by the Saudi air force.

Related: Yemen crisis: Evacuee prays for 'those we left behind'

Yemen’s capital of Sana’a, which is under the control of Houthis, has been the target of strategic bombings by Saudi Arabia which is working to reinstall Hadi.

The airstrikes have reduced buildings into rubble, though airstrips were spared.

Aside from the DFA, the Philippines' crisis management team in Yemen include personnel from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah.

With evacuation getting “progressively difficult with each passing day” the DFA called out for the urgent registration of Filipinos who are still in Yemen at the Movenpick Hotel Sana'a and in Al-Sherif Hotel Hodeidah so they can be repatriated.