Yemen evacuated 179 foreign tourists from the remote island of Socotra to the Saudi city of Jeddah on Wednesday in a dramatic airlift aimed at protecting visitors stranded by escalating conflict and disrupted flights, officials said. The information was reported on January 7 by Turkish news agency Anadolu Ajansı.
The Socotra archipelago is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It offers exceptional eco-adventures focused on exceptional biodiversity, featuring among others Dragon’s Blood Trees, But also pristine beaches, massive caves and a rich marine life for snorkeling and diving.
The crisis on Socotra Island stems in part from broader tensions between regional powers with competing interests in Yemen’s protracted civil war. The United Arab Emirates, which had previously maintained a military presence and enabled regular flights to the island, withdrew its forces under pressure from Saudi Arabia in recent days, disrupting the only major air link for tourists.
The operation, coordinated by Yemenia Airways was supported in coordination by Yemen’s Foreign Ministry, Saudi authorities and foreign embassies. It marked the first of a series of planned evacuations as the security situation in southern Yemen deteriorated. The ministry said the inaugural flight departed Socotra early Wednesday morning and successfully transported 179 passengers to Jeddah, where they are expected to continue onward to their home countries.
Local media and international reports indicate that the number of tourists still on the island likely exceeds 400. Most visitors affected by the sudden shutdown come from Italy, Poland, Russia as well as from the United States and China. Flights out of Socotra were halted after fighting intensified on Yemen’s mainland and a state of emergency was declared late last month.
Italy, which has one of the larger contingents of its citizens on the island, reported repatriating 46 Italians on the first evacuation flight to Jeddah and said around 59 more would depart in subsequent rotations. Efforts to organize further evacuation flights are underway as diplomatic and airline officials work to clear the backlog of visitors.
(Source: Anadolu Ajansi)
