The Defense Department has not been asked by the State Department to assist in the evacuation of any remaining U.S. citizens in Yemen despite its continued assistance of the Saudi-led bombing campaign there.
On Wednesday, the State Department released information on what actions it has taken to assist the estimated several hundred U.S. citizens who remain in Yemen. The embassy evacuated the majority of its personnel in fall 2014 — and at the time warned all remaining U.S. citizens who chose to remain there to make emergency plans in case Yemen’s security situation fell apart.
Many U.S. citizens with familial or commercial ties to Yemen remained. Last month they have fled to nearby Djibouti by the hundreds as U.S. intelligence and refueling efforts assisted a Saudi bombing campaign against Houthi rebels there. At the end of April, the warning from the State Department was clear: You’re on your own.
“There are no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of U.S. citizens at this time. If you wish to depart Yemen, you should stay alert for other opportunities to leave the country,” the State Department said on its travel warning website.
The Pentagon, which has warships off Yemen’s coast and has been actively engaged with countering Iranian maneuvers to get both air and sea assets to Yemen, “as always stands prepared to respond to any request by the State Department,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said Wednesday. But so far, the State Department has not requested that assistance.
“It’s unconscionable that our own government has done virtually nothing to help Americans trapped in a combat zone to get out,” said Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper. The council filed suit last month against Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Secretary of State John Kerry for “failure to act to protect United States citizens in Yemen, whose lives are in danger from ongoing military action and violent attacks,” and “is seeking to compel a governmental agency to initiate evacuation efforts and secure the safety and well-being of its citizens.”
Hooper said his organization has received “numerous reports of American citizens being in the vicinity of [airstrikes] — being in danger.”
The U.S. as of this week was still providing intelligence and refueling assistance to Saudi Arabia, which had previously announced an end to the airstrikes but continues to hit targets.
On Wednesday, the State Department listed the actions it has taken to assist U.S. citizens fleeing there, including empowering its consular offices to approve immigrant visas for spouses, parents and children of U.S. citizens.
“Many U.S. citizens have arrived in Djibouti with their non-U.S. citizen family members,” the State Department said. “The U.S. Embassy in Djibouti had assisted more than 500 U.S. citizens arriving from Yemen, plus their family members. The State Department has sent in staff from other embassies in the region and from the United States to assist, and will send additional support as needed.”
But fleeing Yemen is a dangerous and desperate act itself. On Wednesday, a small ship of refugees fleeing from the Port of Aden was shelled in the fighting, killing at least 41, Reuters reported. Earlier refugees fled via aircraft until repeat airstrikes immobilized all runways and in at least one case, directly hit a cargo plane at Sana’a International Airport. Most cities are short on food, water and electricity, and the damaged runways mean humanitarian flights can’t get in to bring supplies.
