Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry has announced that the government has finalised efforts to evacuate Ethiopian citizens who are willing to return to their country as a result of the current political instability in Yemen.
It was reported that a task force, comprising of Ethiopian government and other national and international organizations, has been established to deal with the evacuation process.
While available information indicate that more than 10,000 Ethiopians are estimated to be living in Yemen legally, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates show that as of January, 2010, over 30,000 illegal immigrants from Ethiopia were living in the Gulf state.
The ministry has, however, stopped short of disclosing the number of Ethiopians earmarked for evacuation.
In April 2011, The Ethiopian government, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Sudanese Embassy, evacuated about 400 of its citizens from Libya via Tunisia.
Yemen has been the scene of widespread unrest since January, 2011, when massive protests against the leadership of President Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power since 1978, begun.
Saleh was wounded after the al-Nahdain mosque in his compound was shelled during last Friday’s prayers.
About 350 people have reportedly died in the Yemeni uprising.
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