A number of Saudi medical students in Yemen have been able to return safely after completing their studies and obtaining their bachelor’s degrees.
Despite a directive issued by authorities Saudi citizens in Yemen to return to the Kingdom due to the security situation, a number of Saudi students, including Abdulmajeed bin Rabah Al-Mutairi and his colleague Hussin bin Sakheel Al-Shamri, insisted on staying in the Yemeni capital until completion of their studies.
According to a source at the Saudi cultural mission in Yemen, five male and female Saudi students insisted on staying in the country until they wrote their exams, after which their departure was arranged with close follow-up from Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al-Jaber. Two female students arrived in Jordan to complete their studies, while Al-Mutairi was able to obtain his bachelor’s degree in dentistry in Sanaa.
“We were forced to stay in Yemen to achieve our goal and make our parents proud,” says Al-Mutairi. “We moved around in Yemeni clothing, while two of our Saudi female colleagues stayed with us after their parents reached out to us to look after them and protect them.” “We stayed 60 days after [Operation] Decisive Storm, mostly in Sanaa, discretely going to and from the college with help from several Yemeni academics who guided us to safety until the end of our exams,” he says.
Al-Mutairi says he and his colleagues eventually left for Taez, after Houthi rebels learned of their residence location.
“In Taez, we stayed with Dr. Mahmoud Al-Baadani, and then were able to reach the Saudi border with extensive care and daily support from Ambassador Al-Jaber.”
According to an official at the University of Science and Technology in Sanaa, the university took a decisive decision at the start of Decisive Storm to move up end-of-year exams due to the situation of foreign students, which in turn allowed many students to depart the country without compromising their bachelor’s degrees.
Source: arabnews
