(Adnkronos) – A group of 46 Italian tourists were set to arrive in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Wednesday after they were stranded on Yemen’s remote island of Socotra when the United Arab Emirates withdrew its troops from Yemen last week under a deadline from Saudi Arabia and return flights were cancelled.
“A first repatriation flight is scheduled to arrive today in Jeddah, carrying 46 Italian citizens,” Italy’s foreign ministry wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
“Fifty-nine tourists remain on the island and are expected to return on further flights planned over the coming days,” the statement continued.
Working in close coordination with the foreign ministry, Italy’s embassy is in “ongoing” contact with authorities in civil war stricken Yemen and the airline operating the route to repatriate the stranded tourists, said the statement.
Italian nationals will be granted a four-day transit visa in Saudi Arabia to allow repatriation procedures “to proceed as smoothly as possible”, according to the statement.
Around 400 tourists of various nationalities were stuck on Socotra after flights were grounded on 1 January amid fighting on the mainland between Saudi-backed government troops and secessionists with links to the UAE.
Socotra has been under the control of the Southern Transitional Council, a separatist group supported by the UAE which opposes the internationally recognised but fractious Yemeni government backed by Saudi Arabia and based in the southern port city of Aden.
Many of the stranded tourists had spent New Year in Socotra, which the Italian foreign ministry “strongly discourages” visiting, according to its website’s travel advice section.
