First group of Jordanians airlifted from Yemen

AMMAN — A total of 48 Jordanians were transferred from Yemen to Saudi Arabia, in a step to arrange their return to Jordan, an official at the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

“The ministry plans to ensure transferring all Jordanians currently in Yemen back to Jordan,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Sabah Al Rafie, told The Jordan Times over the phone, adding that the transferred nationals had not reached the Kingdom yet.

Priority is given to transferring Jordanian families as well as students studying at Yemeni universities, she said, noting that the transferred group included both.
The number of Jordanians in Yemen amounts to 1,000, including some 350 students at Yemeni universities, Rafie said in recent remarks to The Jordan Times.

“The majority of the Jordanian community in Yemen is in contact with the ministry and its operations room, where officials are working to arrange for their transfer and document their data,” she said.

She urged members of the Jordanian community in Yemen who did not contact the ministry to do so by calling the ministry on mobile number 00967733820073, and the ministry?s operations room at 0096265501444, or 0096265735166 in case of emergency.

Under directives of Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Judeh, the operations centre at the ministry and embassy employees in Sanaa are in 24-hour direct contact with Jordanians in the Arabian Peninsula country, Rafie added.

In a recent statement, the ministry advised Jordanians not to travel to Yemen due to the current situation, urging Jordanian citizens in Yemen to exercise caution, take prudent security measures and stay away from danger zones.