Thursday, April 30, 2015

Kenyans return home from war-torn Yemen

Kenyans who have been living in Yemen arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on April 29, 2015.
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 
By NJOKI CHEGE
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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
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.
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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