Following the start of the Yemen crisis in March 2015, IOM Sudan has assisted in the evacuation of stranded Third Country Nationals (TCNs). The Republic of Sudan has been used as an evacuation hub and humanitarian bridge with a total of 1,347 TCNs thus far evacuated on chartered flights departing from Sana’a, Yemen to Khartoum, Sudan since 12 April 2015. Since the conflict began, IOM has supervised 10 flights to Sudan, and one each to Ethiopia and Somalia.

Upon the safe arrival of evacuees from Yemen to Sudan, the operation extended to include the provision of onward transportation for TCNs from Khartoum, back to their home countries. These passengers were reunited with their families and loved ones, and IOM has received an abundance of messages of appreciation from numerous embassies and government representatives, as well as families of those who have been safely returned to their homes.

IOM continues to provide support for those stranded in Yemen wishing to return to their homes and return to safety. During the past six weeks IOM staff in Yemen have continued to provide humanitarian aid, including shelter, non-food relief items (NFI), healthcare and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services to displaced Yemenis and third country nationals across the country.

IOM’s medical teams are providing emergency medical assistance and are monitoring their health conditions of migrants. IOM extended its evacuation operation further by organizing for evacuations to take place by sea. IOM evacuated 200 Ethiopian migrants by boat from Yemen, to Djibouti. The evacuation, which took place on Wednesday June 10, involved two boats carrying evacuees to the Djibouti port of Obock.

After a 24-hour journey across the Red Sea between Al Hudaydah, in Yemen, and the port of Obock all migrants arriving at the port were provided with immediate humanitarian assistance by IOM teams .

For more information please contact:

Amani Osman at IOM Sudan, Tel: +2499 2240 6686 aosman2@iom.int

Bekim Ajdini at IOM Yemen, Tel. +962 79 826 4 906, Email: bajdini@iom.int