Kenyans who have been living in Yemen arrive at Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport in Nairobi on April 29, 2015. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Kenyans who were stranded in Yemen have safely arrived back home from the war-torn country.
They
arrived on Wednesday afternoon after weeks of living in fear in the
country, which is now under the control of Houthi rebels.
Among those who arrived in the group of 20 Kenyans is 22-year-old Sanaa Mohammed Abdalla.
When
Mohamed walked through the international arrivals terminal at Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport, he was a confused and traumatised young
man with sunken, sad eyes.
Sanaa Mohammed Abdalla, 22, who has been
in Yemen for the past nine years, arrives at Jomo Kenyatta
international Airport on April 29, 2015. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION
MEDIA GROUP
It has been a long, strenuous journey from Yemen’s capital Sanaa — which he is interestingly named after.
It
has been weeks of running, hiding, praying, long flights and a series
of endless security checks and screening at airports in Qatar and Kenya.
One would expect the young man to be happy and
relieved to be back home after a grueling period of being stuck in a
war-torn country — only that Mohamed is not all that excited to be home.
He had been living in Yemen since 2006 and had gone to be with his ailing father, who was working and living in Yemen.
Now
it breaks Mohamed’s heart to return home alone to a worried mother and
siblings, having left his ailing father in a war-torn foreign country.
“When
the war broke out, my father told me that I must come back home to
Kenya to be with the rest of the family. I didn’t want to leave (him)
there. He is very sick,” says Mohamed.
Mohamed’s family
lives in Nyali and none of them was able to come and meet him at the
airport. He is not very sure where he will go after this because all he
can think of right now is his father, who has been left alone in Yemen.
“My father insisted that I leave Yemen to save myself, but I keep thinking about him. Who will take care of him?” Mohamed asks.
THRIVING BUSINESS
Ali
Salim is also a Kenyan businessman who had lived, studied and worked in
Yemen for the past 16 years. Salim had a thriving business in Yemen,
selling honey and other imported goods, but he had to close down his
business and take cover.
“When the air strikes began
and people started running away, we had to pack up our things and find a
way out. There was no aircraft allowed in and out of Yemen for a while
and it took the government of Kenya’s intervention to get us out of
Yemen,” says Salim.
Ali Salim, a Kenyan businessman who has
been in Yemen for the past 16 years, arrives at Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport in Nairobi. He is among the Kenyans repatriated
from the war-torn country. PHOTO |JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Kenyan government, through its embassy in Riyadh, came to their rescue by assembling Kenyans in Yemen and giving them air tickets back home.
“The
government officials came to Sanaa and started interviewing us one by
one. After that, they told us when we would be leaving,” says Mohamed.
The
war has disrupted their lives and careers, and most Kenyans in Yemen
have been forced to leave their jobs, close their businesses and look
for escape routes.
Some took buses to the neighbouring
cities of Jitha, from where they were able to leave the country, while
some waited on the government for help.
“People used
different escape routes. Some went to Djibouti first before coming to
Kenya, but we used the Qatar route. We are just grateful to God to be
home safe,” says a relieved Salim.
So far, about 23
Kenyans have arrived safely from Yemen, although Salim and Mohamed say
there could be more Kenyans stranded there.
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