Somalia PM appeals for int’l assistance for Yemeni refugees

GARDO, Somalia, July 18, 2015 (Garowe Online)-Federal Government of Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke has appealed for international aid for thousands of refugees in Puntland on Saturday, Garowe Online reports.

Speaking to reporters at East Africa University campus in Gardo which temporarily hosts over 400 Yemeni families, Prime Minister Sharmarke expressed concerns about the plight of Yemenis fleeing from the civil war.

Sharmarke said, his government will dispatch members of National Council for Refugees to assess the situation and pinpoint the priorities for those displaced in the conflict.

“Somalia and Yemen are close and brotherly nations, henceforth May Allah quell the civil war in their country,” said Somalia Prime Minister.” We will send National Committee on Refugees members to assess the condition very soon, and I call on international aid agencies to help these people”.

Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland has been a destination for Yemenis coming ashore since the start of Arab coalition bombings.

Somalis caught in the fighting between UN-backed government and Shiite militias have also been coming back to the Gulf of Aden port city of Bossaso. 

GAROWE ONLINE