Advisory for OFWs in Yemen: Stay Home on Friday and Be Safe
Mar 24, 2011
Aside from Libya and Bahrain, another country in the Middle East that is undergoing political crisis is Yemen. Opposition groups in Yemen are said to be planning a protest this Friday (March 25, 2011 ) to pressure President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign.
Even a Reuters report stating the willingness of Yemen President to resign by the end of the year did not placate the growing demands of protesters for his resignation.
In the light of these developments, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a travel advisory to Yemen that was raised to Level 2 this month. There is also an ongoing deployment ban in the said country.
Furthermore, to assure the safety of all Filipinos in Yemen, the Philippine Embassy in Sanaa there advised them to stay at home or limit their outside activities this Friday and Saturday.
Ezzedin Tago, Charge d'Affaires (CDA) to Riyadh said in a statement that was posted in the DFA website, "The Embassy team sent an advisory by email and SMS to the Filipino community in Yemen through their area coordinators on Wednesday, advising them to stay at home over the weekend and restrict their movement."
They also requested Filipinos in Yemen to monitor the developments in Libya and always keep their communications lines open with the Embassy in Riyadh and their designated community coordinators. They are also reminded to inform their whereabouts to the Embassy or assigned Filipino community coordinators to their area.
It would also be wise to prepare and keep an emergency kit that contains ready to eat foods (such as noodles, crackers and canned goods), water, clothes and medicine that would be enough for them and their family in case of an emergency. Important documents such as passport and visa should also be ready in case it is needed. Keeping some money that can be used in case of an urgent situation would be a great help too.
The Philippine Embassy has a 24/7 coordinating center and monitoring developments. One may contact the Embassy hotline numbers for Yemen at: +966-536-881-787 and (01) 482-3559.
