Dhaka backs Saudi efforts in Yemen
Bangladesh yesterday declared its support to the Saudi-led coalition which launched air strikes against Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday after the rebels took control of large parts of the country.
“Bangladesh strongly condemns actions by the Houthis against the legitimate government led by President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi of Yemen. It deplores acts of violence perpetrated by them on the people of Yemen resulting in humanitarian crisis,” said a foreign ministry statement.
The Bangladesh government backed all efforts led by Saudi Arabia in restoring the legitimate state authority and realisation of aspirations of the people of Yemen, as well as upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yemen, it added.
Dhaka also urged resumption of political process guided by the commitment made by the parties within the Gulf Cooperation Council Framework, the National Dialogue Conference outcomes and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain joined the Saudi Arabia-led coalition against the Houthis, according to international media reports.
BANGLADESHIS STRANDED
Two Bangladeshi engineers have been stranded in two hotels in Saana for five days as there is no flight from the Yemeni capital to Dhaka.
In an e-mail to The Daily Star, civil engineer Golam Mostafa yesterday said, “I am in the hotel. There is no arrangement to leave the hotel in near future. I am ill both mentally and physically.”
On Thursday, he along with another engineer Sirajul Haque checked in separate hotels in Saana and planned to leave for Dhaka by the next day.
Earlier, they had made an appeal to the government to rescue them immediately. As there is no Bangladesh mission in Yemen, the Bangladesh foreign ministry instructed its embassy in Kuwait to look into the matter.
The embassy in Kuwait has introduced a hotline (00965-94934363) for helping the Bangladeshis in Yemen.
Many foreign missions in Yemen and the United Nations evacuated their staff from the Arab country in the face of the attack of the Houthi rebels.
SM Mahabubul Alam, counsellor at the Bangladesh embassy in Kuwait, said, “It's really difficult to make an assumption about the number of the Bangladeshis in Yemen. But we think it's somewhere between 150 and 200.”
The expatriates are safe and the mission is in contact with the Bangladesh honorary consul general in Saana, he told this newspaper yesterday over the phone.
On any probable evacuation of Bangladeshis, Alam said they would take necessary measures as per directives of the foreign ministry.
“Most of the Bangladeshis don't want to return home. Rather, they consider taking refuge in Oman or Saudi Arabia.”
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