Evacuation of Pakistani citizens during the Yemeni Civil War (2015)

The evacuation of Pakistani citizens was a civil-military combined effort by Pakistan to extract and evacuate overseas Pakistanis from war-torn areas of Yemen.[1]

Pakistan is in green and Yemen is in orange.

Evacuation of Pakistani citizens from Yemen
Part of Yemeni civil war (2015–present)
Type	Civil military operations
Location	Yemen
Planned by	Government of Pakistan Pakistan Navy
Objective	Humanitarian relief
Date	26 March 2015 - 29 March 2015
Executed by	Pakistan International Airlines
Outcome	Around 503 Pakistani citizens evacuated from Yemen

According to Ministry of Human Resource Development of Pakistan, there were ~3,000 overseas Pakistanis residing in Yemen prior to the Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen.[2][3] In response to the Yemeni crises, the Pakistan government authorized the Pakistan International Airlines to launch of the special flights for aerial evacuation while the Pakistan Navy evacuated the remaining stranded Pakistanis with two frigates.[4]

Besides the evacuation of overseas Pakistanis, citizens of China and the United Kingdom among other countries were also evacuated by Pakistan.[5] Approximately, ~1,800 Pakistan's citizens were extracted from Yemen and safely returned to Pakistan, before the conflict escalated.[6][7]

Background

On 26 March 2015, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, announced the Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council launched a military operation against Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen.[8] This was preceded by weeks of turmoil during which the Houthi guerrillas toppled the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and took over the large parts of the country.[8]

The Foreign Office had earlier instructed the Pakistani community to leave Yemen as the situation on ground could worsen. However, 3000 Pakistani citizens had not heeded the warnings and were trapped in Yemen.[2] The overseas Pakistanis began reaching out the country's news media, notably Geo News, ARY News, and Express News, appealing the government for a safe evacuation on 27 March.[9] The Pakistan Embassy in Yemen worked towards moving the Pakistani community from Aden to Sana'a; around 150 to 200 Pakistani citizens were still reportedly trapped in Aden.[10] The Pakistan Navy deployed the PNS Aslat missile frigate as well as special aerial missions by PIA were flown in Yemen. On March 29, 2015, the PIA flights evacuated ~503 Pakistani citizens from al-Hudaydah to Karachi.[11]

Month Data	Citizens of Pakistan	Evacuation		Foreign Nationals
Month	Number	Aerial evacuation	Naval evacuation	Foreign Nationals	Number
February–March	1,800[6]	Various sources
31 March 2015	503[11]	Boeing 747		0	0
2 April 2015	176[12]	Airbus A310		0	0
3 April 2015	176[13]	Airbus A310		0	0
4 April 2015	150[14]		PNS Shamsheer	0	0
5 April 2015	146[15] 142[15]	Airbus A310	PNS Shamsheer	India  People's Republic of China  United Kingdom Philippines Indonesia Egypt Syria Jordan  United Arab Emirates	11[15] 8[15] 4[15] 5[16] 2[16] 1[16] 1[16] 1[16] 1[16]
6 April 2015	134[17]	Airbus A310		Canada[17] Somalia[17]	2 2
8 April 2015	51 (36 Pakistanis)		PNS Shamsheer	Romania  Bangladesh  Qatar  Germany  United Kingdom Philippines	2[18] 4[18] 3[18] 1[18] 1[18] 1[18]
8 April 2015	119[19]		PNS Aslat
Total estimates	~3,382				~52

Naval warship deployment

The Pakistan Navy had deployed two Zulfiquar-class frigates for the evacuation: the PNS Shamsheer and PNS Aslat.[20]

See also

• Operation Raahat

References

1. Haider, Irfan (27 March 2015). "Nawaz orders evacuation of Pakistanis stranded in Yemen". Dawn Newspapers, Haider. Dawn Newspapers. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
2. PD, Public Domain. "Crises Management Cell". mofa.gov.pk/. Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
3. "Pakistan to fly citizens out of Yemen amid Saudi raids". PressTV, 2015. PressTV. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
4. Web edition (4 April 2015). "150 Pakistanis in Yemen to be evacuated on Navy ship today". News International, Edition. News International. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
5. "Pakistani warship PNS Aslat evacuates 11 Indians from Yemeni port". Hindustan Times, New Delhi. Hindustan Times. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
6. FO (8 April 2015). "Govt using all possible means for safe evacuation of Pakistanis from Yemen: FO". News International, FO. News International, FO. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
7. The Newspaper's Staff Reporter (6 April 2015). "Pakistani plane, ship to bring back 208 Pakistanis from Yemen". Dawn Newspapers, 2015. Dawn Newspapers. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
8. Web edition (26 March 2015). "Saudi and Arab allies strike Huthi in Yemen". News International, edition. News International, edition. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
9. "Bring us home, Pakistanis in Yemen appeal to Islamabad". News International, 2015. News International, 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
10. Staff writer (29 March 2015). "Most Pakistanis from Sana'a safe, 150 to 200 still trapped in Aden: FO". News International, Staff writer. News International. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
11. "PIA plane with Pakistanis from Yemen reaches Karachi airport". News International, 500. News International. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
12. "PIA plane brings 176 Pakistanis back from Yemen". News International, 3 April. News International. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
13. "PIA plane brings 176 Pakistanis back from Yemen". GEO NEWS. GEO NEWS. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
14. Web edition (4 April 2015). "150 Pakistanis board Pakistan Navy vessel from Yemen". Express Tribune, 4. Express Tribune. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
15. "Yemen evacuation: 11 Indians rescued by Pakistani naval ship". First Post, 2015. First Post. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
16. AFP (5 April 2015). "Navy ship leaves Yemen port with 147 stranded Pakistanis". Daily Times, 7 April. Daily Times. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
17. Ali, Fawad (6 April 2015). "Rescue mission: PIA brings back 134 Pakistanis from Yemen". Express Tribune, 2015. Express Tribune. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
18. FP (8 April 2015). "PNS Shamsheer reaches Djibouti with 51 survivors". Frontier Post, Karachi. Frontier Post. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
19. "119 Pakistanis rescued by PNS Aslat reach Lahore". Awaz Today, 2015. Awaz Today. 8 April 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
20. "36 Pakistanis evacuated from Al-Hudaydah on PNS Shamsheer". News International, April 2015. News International. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.