Manila: Yemeni Foreign Minister Dr Abu Bakr Al Qirbi has reportedly assured full assistance to the families of seven Filipinos killed in attacks on the defence ministry complex in Sanaa on December 5.
Philippines Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Jesus Yabes, said in a statement that Al Qirbi had assured help for the Filipino hospital employees who were among the 54 people killed in the assault on the defence ministry complex in the Yemeni capital.
Yabes arrived in Sanaa on Tuesday and met with Al Qirbi.
Yabes also said that Yemeni President Abdo Rabbo Hadi has declared that the Filipino victims were “martyrs” just like the Yemeni fatalities in the attack.
“Minister Al Qirbi vowed full assistance to facilitate the early repatriation of the remains of the victims and cited the contributions of Filipino medical workers to the Yemeni people,” he said.
The Philippine nationals who died in the attack included a doctor, two nurses and four other health workers.
Yabes was grateful to the Yemeni government and the Interior Ministry for the assistance extended to Filipinos living in Yemen, and for facilitating the resolution of their cases especially those who overstay in the country after the expiration of their entry visas.
Yabes’ December 10 arrival in Sana’a came less than a day after the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs raised the Crisis Alert Level for Filipinos in Yemen to level 3.
Alert level three equates to the voluntary repatriation of Filipinos living in a country.
In the case of Yemen, the sending of new Filipino workers as well as the return to Sanaa of those on vacation has been banned.
The DFA had lowered the crisis alert level in Yemen from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1 on January 29, 2013.
