PHL deploys crisis management team to Yemen to assist in repatriation

The Philippine government has sent a crisis management team to Yemen to help repatriate Filipino workers there after it raised the alert level to 3.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Filipinos may opt to register for voluntary repatriation with the crisis management team or consult with the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, which has jurisdiction over Yemen.

Yemen's alert level was raised due to the occupation of the capital city of Sana'a by Shi'ite Muslim Houthi rebels, blamed for the recent deaths of 15 people after an explosives-laden car was driven into a hospital in the city.

The Houthis captured Sana'a after overrunning an army brigade affiliated to the moderate Islamist Islah party, making them effectively the power brokers in the country.

Alert Level 3, which mandates voluntary repatriation, is raised when violent disturbances occur in a limited area of a country. Under this Alert Level, the Department of Labor and Employment imposes absolute deployment ban.

The DFA said Filipinos who are already in Yemen are strongly urged to return to the Philippines.

Government records show there is an estimated 1,300 Filipinos in Yemen.

The government raised Alert Level 3 in Yemen in December 2013 after a deadly attack on the Defense Ministry that resulted in the deaths of more than 50 people, including sevel Filipino workers.
 
Two months later, it lowered the alert level in Yemen to 2, or restriction phase, upon the recommendation of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.  —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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