An Irish citizen has been evacuated from Yemen as part of a Chinese naval evacuation of foreign citizens from the Arab nation, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The Irish citizen was one of 225 foreign nationals picked up from Aden, Yemen’s second city, and transported to Dijbouti. A statement from China’s ministry of foreign affairs said governments in Ireland, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Singapore, Italy, Germany, Poland, Britain, Canada and Yemen had requested China’s help.
China had earlier evacuated 571 of its own nationals, along with eight foreigners who worked for Chinese companies.
It is the first time China’s military has helped other countries evacuate their people during an international crisis.
A spokesman from the DFA confirmed the Irish citizen had been safely evacuated and was en route home but declined to give the person’s gender, age or occupation. Travel arrangements were organised through the Irish embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as there is no embassy in Yemen.
The DFA currently advises against all travel for Irish citizens to Yemen as part of its travel advice and recently called on all Irish nationals to leave Yemen immediately.
Violence has been spreading across Yemen since last year, when Iran-backed Shia Houthi fighters seized the capital, Sanaa, and effectively removed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. A Saudi-led coalition has hit the rebels with air strikes over the past week.
A state television report on Friday showed evacuees, who were mostly Pakistani, arriving in Djibouti.
“We are really thankful to the Chinese government, who really helped us, and took us out (with) the school children,” one woman told China Central Television.
The broadcaster showed footage of young children stepping off a Chinese warship waving Chinese flags, and in one case, kissing a seaman on the cheek.
The evacuation of foreigners bolsters China’s image at home and abroad, according to Shen Dingli, an international relations professor at Fudan University in Shanghai.
“We wouldn’t look very good if we have the capacity to help others but no heart to do it,” Mr Shen said.
“Now we look really good,” he added.
Beijing drew international praise last year when it sent elite troops to help Ebola-hit Liberia by building a treatment centre and help transport medical supplies.
China also sent a state-of-the-art hospital ship to the Philippines in 2013 after one of the world’s biggest typhoons killed thousands.
Addtional reporting from Reuters
