Tajikistan seeks Russian help to evacuate medics from Yemen
Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
Publication Date | 27 March 2015 |
Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Tajikistan seeks Russian help to evacuate medics from Yemen, 27 March 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/552f9da53c.html [accessed 3 June 2023] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
March 27, 2015
By RFE/RL's Tajik Service
Tajik officials say they have asked Russian authorities to help evacuate some 100 Tajik medical workers and their families from Yemen as a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes there.
Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry said on March 27 that its embassy in Qatar "is trying to relocate Tajik citizens in Yemen to safer areas before returning them home with the help of Russian authorities and companies."
The ministry said most Tajik doctors and nurses working in Yemen went there under contracts obtained through Russian companies.
Tajikistan had repeatedly urged its citizens to leave Yemen as the Arabian Peninsula country was plunged into chaos amid the Huthi Shi'ite takeover of the capital and other areas, but medical workers ignored the warning, the ministry said.
A Tajik nurse was kidnapped and held captive for nearly four months in southern Yemen by a group seeking ransom and a prisoner exchange with Yemeni authorities. She returned home in February.
With reporting by Interfax
Link to original story on RFE/RL website