‘Yemen to ensure war patients coming to Jordan have identification documents’

AMMAN — Yemeni authorities are working to “better organise” procedures concerning Yemeni war patients receiving medical care in the Kingdom, an official said Thursday.

Some of the war-injured Yemenis in the first and second batch entering Jordan faced some difficulties as they did not carry passports or personal documents, said Abdul Wahab Al Olofi, medical consultant at the Yemeni embassy in Amman.

He added that many of the patients carry expired identification cards, an issue that Jordanian authorities have shown cooperation in dealing with.

“There is no intention to stop transporting war-injured Yemenis to Jordan for medical treatment,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone, adding that authorities in his country are working to respond to Jordan’s request that patients carry passports.

Olofi noted that the agreement between the two countries entails that Yemeni authorities send the documents of patients 48 hours prior to their arrival in Jordan, once they receive confirmation of empty beds at hospitals. 

Also under the deal, the Yemeni government is required to commit to paying hospital bills, and it is scheduled to sign an agreement to that effect with six private Jordanian hospitals on Friday.

For his part, Private Hospitals Association President Fawzi Hammouri said Jordanian private hospitals have the capacity, readiness and the expertise to deal with “any number of war-injured Yemenis”.

He noted that the association notified the Yemeni government of its readiness to receive more patients, highlighting the need for procedures and documents to meet the requirements of Jordanian security forces that “have the right to check the identity of patients”.

Hammouri said Jordan has so far received around 200 Yemeni patients, with expectations for larger numbers to arrive in Jordan for medical care, especially with news of some 8,000 injured Yemenis only in Aden.

“Only one Yemeni patient died on the way from the airport to hospital,” he said, adding that the majority of patients have major bone and burn injuries.

Commenting on financial arrangements, the physician said the Yemeni government has paid a “small” amount of the medical expenses with the arrival of the first batch of patients as a down payment, adding that it is “difficult” to estimate treatment expenses at this stage.   

“Jordan’s doors and medical capacities are always open to Arab brothers in need,” he concluded.