TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The armed clashes in Yemen between the Houthi rebel forces and the coalition of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia is putting the lives of 1,800 Indonesian citizens in Yemen at risk.
As a result, the Indonesian Embassy on Beirut Street at the Faj Attan Hadda Diplomatic Area in Sanaa, is also at risk of being targeted, whether intentionally or not, because the Arab-coalition is currently closing in onto Yemen's Presidential Palace, which is currently under the control of the rebels.
It is known that coalition forces launched a military assault on several cities in Yemen since last Thursday, which was conducted at the request of Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour.
The Yemeni president is currently in exile in Saudi Arabia after the Houthis, which are suspected to be backed by Iran, launched an attack on Aden.
Hadi, who is Yemen's legitimate President, fled to Aden last February after having been placed under house arrest by Houthi forces in Sanaa, since September 2014.
A student in Hudaidah, Dhia ul Hady Albairuney, said that the coalition's assault into rebel-held pockets in the area had caused severe food shortage in the affected areas. It is known that Hudaidah, which is located in Yemen's west, is home to at least 102 Indonesian citizens, and 70 of which are students. According to Dhia, everyone in the city is desperate to leave but the airport is bombed out and the harbor is currently under the control of the rebels.
Alwi Zaid, an Indonesian student in Aden, said that so far the condition had yet to escalate because air raids had not reached the vicinity of the city. That said, Indonesians in Aden still want to be evacuated, but evacuation routes out of the city are currently under constant threats from rebel attacks.
"The Indonesian Embassy is ready to evacuate us, but their efforts are hampered by the threats," said the student of Al-baihani Islamic Institute.
The Indonesian Ambassador for Yemen, Wajid Fauzi, said that the situation in Sanaa was "incredibly dynamic", and that evacuation efforts out of the country were hampered by the fact that there were no commercial flights operating out of the country due to the damages sustained by the airports in Sanaa.
Wajid has also advised Indonesian citizens in Hudaidah to stay put for the time being. "Rest assured, we will arrange their evacuation as soon as possible," he said.
In a televised interview with an Indonesian TV station, Wajid said there was a possibility of evacuating Indonesian residents through Hudaidah Harbour by sea towards the port of Jizan in Saudi Arabia, and he hoped that the airport in Sanaa could be repaired as soon as possible to ease the evacuation process out of the country.
A source at the Indonesian Embassy in Sanaa said Sunday that all staff members would be spending the night at the basement of the embassy in order to protect them from a possible bombing. As Sanaa is under constant threat, there are rumors that the embassy will be temporarily moved to Salalah, near the Omani border, although Wajid stopped short of confirming the rumors.
NATALIA SANTI | MANAN