[16/March/2010]

SANA'A, March 16 (Saba) - About 577 Arabs and foreigners were deported by Yemen in the last two months.

The deported had illegally stayed in the country.

According to the statistics of the Immigration and Passports Authority, they  included 540 foreigners and 37 Arabs.

Most of the deportees were Ethiopians, Bangladeshis, Indians and Iraqis.

Last year, Yemen deported 4132 Arabs and foreigners of those who were found violating stay rules.

The deported included 2281 foreigners and 1851 Arabs.

Africans topped the deportations, with 1950 migrants most from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Eritrea and Kenya said to have been sent back to their homelands.

Asians came second, with 254 most from India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, China, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka.

The deportations took place through January to October.

Europeans came in third, with 71 people including 29 Britons, 6 French, 5 Danish, 12 from Denmark, Norway and Holland, 6 from Russia and Ireland, and three from Moldavia, Sweden and Azerbaijan.

16 people including 14 U.S. and 2 Australians were returned to their countries also.

On the Arab deportations, Somalia came first, with 1355 people, Iraq second with 165, and Egypt and Sudan followed with 225 people from both states.

Syrians, Djiboutian, Saudis, Palestinians, Lebanese, Kuwaitis, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya came later.

All deportations were due to stay violations, an official at the authority said.

MB/FR
Saba