(CNN) "My son served in the army for four years. In Iraq. He served because we love our country. As we should. Now look at us?" Muna
Mansour is gesturing around her at the slatted cargo hold she and her
family -- all nine of them -- are trying to get comfortable in. They're
squeezed in with two other families. On the ground by my feet, Muna's
middle grandchild is sleeping, curled up beside an oil drum.
Muna is from Buffalo in upstate New York. Her family is among the dozens
of Americans caught in the crossfire of warring parties in Yemen. And
although many other countries evacuated their citizens, India most
notably ferrying out around 5,000, the United States has said it is too
dangerous for them to directly evacuate American nationals ."I was there when the Indians picked up 200 of their people from the port. It was embarrassing. We were just sitting there waiting for
someone to come and say 'OK where are the Americans, let's pick them
up,'" she says.
It was purely coincidence that led to Muna being on board this ship, a
wooden vessel chartered by CNN to reach the port city of Aden, in Yemen. Our ship was the first the port had seen in over a week. We agreed to
take back 60 refugees -- including 15 Americans -- who had gathered at
the port's gate when news of our arrival spread. But of course that's
nowhere near enough. So many more are desperate to leave.
This post was edited on 4/20 9:39 AM by bornaneer
Mansour is gesturing around her at the slatted cargo hold she and her
family -- all nine of them -- are trying to get comfortable in. They're
squeezed in with two other families. On the ground by my feet, Muna's
middle grandchild is sleeping, curled up beside an oil drum.
Muna is from Buffalo in upstate New York. Her family is among the dozens
of Americans caught in the crossfire of warring parties in Yemen. And
although many other countries evacuated their citizens, India most
notably ferrying out around 5,000, the United States has said it is too
dangerous for them to directly evacuate American nationals ."I was there when the Indians picked up 200 of their people from the port. It was embarrassing. We were just sitting there waiting for
someone to come and say 'OK where are the Americans, let's pick them
up,'" she says.
It was purely coincidence that led to Muna being on board this ship, a
wooden vessel chartered by CNN to reach the port city of Aden, in Yemen. Our ship was the first the port had seen in over a week. We agreed to
take back 60 refugees -- including 15 Americans -- who had gathered at
the port's gate when news of our arrival spread. But of course that's
nowhere near enough. So many more are desperate to leave.
This post was edited on 4/20 9:39 AM by bornaneer
