“We are providing information about opportunities for American citizens to leave Yemen,” Harf stated in a press briefing. “We are sending them messages, letting them know if there are certain boats or flights that they can possibly get on.”
Harf stressed it was “absolutely offensive” to suggest that the State Department was evaluating if stranded people are “worth saving.”
According to an emergency message posted on the US Embassy in Yemen website, there are no plans for a US government-coordinated evacuation of US citizens at present.
On April 9, 2015, three US human rights groups jointly filed a lawsuit against US Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter for leaving behind Americans in Yemen amid the ongoing conflict.
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee told Sputnik earlier that the unwillingness of the US government to evacuate its citizens from Yemen has fed the perception that the United States values Yemeni-American lives less than it does others.
On March 26, 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a military offensive against the Houthi militants, who control large parts of Yemen, including Sanaa.
