Mohammed Abdul-Malik - Al-Jazeera Net

Yemenis studying in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly corona virus, have revealed painful details of their situation, expecting the virus at any moment.

One of these students - 170 in number - (called Abd al-Rahman) told Al-Jazeera Net, "I spend the whole day for two weeks between four walls in the university dorm room that turned into something like a prison. The foreign students who were next to me left all of them, and only the Yemenis were left."

"The situation destroys us psychologically with the passage of time, and fears and apprehensions kill us a thousand times a day, our situation is tragic, no one turns to us, our Arab colleagues have left the city, and we live in hell, and some of us do not have the strength of their day and our government does not give us attention and only gives us empty reassurances," he added. .

On the other hand, another student contacted by Al-Jazeera Net on the phone says, "More than eight months ago, our financial dues from the government did not arrive, this compounds our suffering. We are completely trapped in housing, we cannot receive any money transfers, because all banks and banks are closed."

"What can we do? And from where can we save the price of food and drink? Food prices have gone up, and we were counting on university meals, but one of us needs at least twenty dollars a day," the student continued.

And the student, who preferred not to be named, added, "Everything is terrifying in the city; the cost is increasing, we live in universities and when we need to move to any place we do not find transportation, the situation is tense, we live in tension and despair."

Complete negligence
In the context, Abdullah Saif, President of the General Union of Yemeni Students in China, says that Yemeni students are completely neglected by the government of their country, which does not care about their lives or trying to return them.

He added to Al-Jazeera Net, "There are no direct flights to Yemen, and most countries do not accept entry to the Yemeni passport except with a complex visa and conditions, in addition to the fact that the Chinese authorities impose a stone on most of the regions."

Saif sent a message of reassurance to the students ’families, stressing that no suspicion or injury has been recorded so far among the students, considering that everyone is trying to adhere to the preventive measures and health instructions from the Chinese side.

And he appealed to the Yemeni students - in videotapes of Al-Jazeera Net - the Yemeni embassy in China and the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Transport to move quickly to evacuate them and end their suffering just like their fellow students from the rest of the Arab countries whose governments sent their planes and special teams to evacuate them.

The students said that part of them came to China with a grant from the Yemeni government, and a second part got a grant from the Chinese government, and others were studying at their own expense.

Yemeni numbers
According to the former Yemeni community leader, Muhammad al-Salami, the virus struck three regions: Wuhan, a city of more than 170 Yemeni students, and Zhejiang Province, which has more than three hundred students, and Guangzhou province, which has about five hundred students.

According to Al-Salami, there are more than 3,500 students from the Yemeni community, most of whom work in trade and services, and are distributed in most Chinese cities besides the scholars. Most of them are concentrated in two major cities: "Gwangju and Iwo, which are well-known for their trade, and dozens of them are in Fujian Province.

Al-Salami mentioned that the beginning period of the spread of the Corona virus coincided with the days of the famous Chinese Spring Festival, and it is customary to have a long holiday that reaches about a month, during which many Yemenis return to Yemen and the Gulf countries, which means that about half of the community’s members have left China Before the virus spreads.

The role of government
On the legitimate government's efforts to rescue and evacuate the students, Yemeni Transport Minister Saleh al-Jabwani said of the government's plan to evacuate the students that it is up to the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Presidency and their coordination with the Chinese authorities, adding that if coordination is made, there are three planes for the Yemeni government that will run their ministry directly for the evacuation .

Al-Jabwani said in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that there is no clear plan until the moment, and that the matter is still within the framework of study and discussion with the Yemeni foreign and health ministries, and that the Chinese authorities carry out the duty, and include Yemeni students with the necessary care, but in the event of evolving conditions, they will be evacuated .

The Minister confirmed that they circulated on Yemeni airports and ports and land and sea ports by taking precautionary measures to prevent the transmission of infection to Yemen.

In the same previous, sources at the Yemeni embassy in China confirmed that they have sent a detailed report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the conditions of students in areas of spread of the virus, and is awaiting that the foreign minister will meet the Chinese ambassador to discuss the establishment of a quarantine area in Yemen, and to discuss who will be responsible for transporting the injured and the costs of flying and others.