Barran Press
The Yemeni Ministry of Awqaf and Guidance, recognized by the international community, announced on Monday, July 1st, 2024, that it had returned "all stranded pilgrims from Jeddah Airport to Makkah al-Mukarramah, while those wishing to return to Aden were transported."
The ministry explained in a statement published by the official Yemeni news agency Saba that it is providing accommodation services for these pilgrims "throughout their stay in the holy lands and working to arrange travel for those wishing to return to their homeland "by land" to their respective governorates, based on the directives of the President of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, and Prime Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak."
These directives, according to the statement, stipulate that the "Hajj and Umrah sector of the ministry will provide all transportation, accommodation, and catering services at the ministry's expense for our stranded pilgrims, and rearrange their situation in the holy lands in coordination with the relevant authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as a result of the Houthi group, internationally designated as a terrorist organization, hijacking four planes with their flight crew."
The ministry stated that it had "transported the willing pilgrims from among the stranded to the airport of the temporary capital, Aden, in coordination with Yemenia Airlines, despite the Houthi group's intransigence, classified as a terrorist group, and its refusal to release the hijacked planes."
The ministry condemned in its statement "the Houthis' exploitation of our country's pilgrims as a bargaining chip, disregarding the suffering of dozens of women, the elderly, the old, and the sick, without respecting the least human values, Islamic morals, or Arab chivalry."
On June 26, 2024, Yemenia Airlines apologized "deeply" to the pilgrims of the Holy House for its inability to transport them to the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, due to the Houthis' detention of four of its planes.
The company explained in a statement that the Houthi group had detained four of its planes at Sana'a International Airport, considering this a threat to the safety of air navigation in the country. It stated that this "increases the difficulty of operating flights to and from within the country."
The Ministry of Transport in the internationally recognized Yemeni government stated that more than 1,300 pilgrims remain stranded at King Abdulaziz International Airport and in the holy lands, indicating that the Houthi violations against the national carrier have continued since the freezing of the company's financial assets in the Wael month of March 2023, which exceeded $100 million.
On Sunday, June 30, the Yemeni Tourism Federation stated that the signing of a contract by the Ministry of Awqaf in the internationally recognized Yemeni government with Yemenia Airlines to transport pilgrims was "the basis of the problem and gave the Houthis the justification to detain the planes."
The federation called on the Ministry of Awqaf in a statement to "assume its responsibility according to the system and the law and to oblige Yemenia Airlines to return the pilgrims by all means and according to the system and the law," expressing its "deep" displeasure with the situation facing the stranded Yemeni pilgrims in Makkah hotels.
The Yemeni Tourism Federation appealed to the Presidential Leadership Council and the government to intervene "urgently to resolve the problem, rescue our country's pilgrims, open an investigation, and hold those responsible accountable."
Last Friday, June 28, the Presidential Leadership Council approved the formation of a government committee headed by Prime Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak to manage the crisis of the Houthis' detention of three Yemenia Airlines planes that were transporting pilgrims to Sana'a International Airport.