Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to repatriate UK travellers stranded in Yemen as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) suspended operations in Yemen in 2015. Since then our ability to offer consular assistance to British nationals in Yemen has been extremely limited. Since March 2011, the FCO has consistently advised against all travel to all parts of Yemen, and advised British nationals to leave the country. However, where possible, the FCO remains committed to doing what it can for those British nationals that remain in Yemen.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent restrictions put in place by the authorities in Yemen, FCO officials have been in contact with nine British nationals who have expressed a wish to return to the UK. Officials have worked with the UN and regional partners to arrange departures to neighbouring countries, from where onward flights to the UK have then been secured. To date, five British nationals have successfully left Yemen.