Australians are among hundreds of tourists scrambling to leave a remote Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean as a crisis on the mainland between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) causes travel chaos.
Socotra island, which sits at the heart of an archipelago with the same name more than 350 kilometres off the coast of Yemen, has been relatively untouched during the country's more than decade-long civil war.
But flights in and out of the Socotra's main airport were disrupted last week as Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemeni government forces, started launching attacks against fighters from the Emirati-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) on the mainland.
The island's deputy governor for culture and tourism told the AFP news agency that there were more than 400 tourists stranded as a result of the flight cancellations.
Access to the island for foreigners, famed for its breathtaking landscapes and unique plant-life, is limited. Flights departing twice a week from Abu Dhabi are the most popular way in.
The ABC spoke to one Australian tourist stranded on the island along with his partner.
"It's pretty tense," the tourist who asked not to be named said.
"We're at the main hotel in the capital city, and there are flights restarting from tomorrow but no-one knows who's going to be on the first flight.
"We think there are between four and seven hundred people on the island, but the first fight is only 150 people."
The first evacuation mission would take passengers to the Saudi city of Jeddah.
"There's all sorts of chaos, people yelling at their tour operators to demand to get on the first flight, and no-one really knows how to do the payment," the stranded Australian said.
"It's not a free evacuation flight, the Yemeni government's charging 700 US dollars each.
"Most people don't carry that in cash, so they're like frantically trying to get it from banks and stuff, and it's just a bit of a shit show."
He said he had heard there were a few other Australians also on Socotra. The main contact with the Australian government has been through its embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
"I don't know if there's much they can do — like we don't expect them to fly a helicopter and save us," the man said.
"We will get out eventually, it's just everyone's anxious to be on the first flight.
"It feels very safe."
The ABC has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for details on how many Australians are on the island, and what support is being offered to them.
Multiple media outlets have reported American, British, French and Polish nationals are among those stuck on Socotra due to the flight cancellations.
Island untouched by civil war
Socotra has been under the control of the separatist STC for a number of years, with investment pouring in from the UAE to upgrade facilities such as the airport.
Despite that influence, the island has been something of a safe-haven during the Yemeni civil war — although the Australian government's official travel advice for Yemen, including Socotra, is "do not travel".
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"There's ongoing armed conflict and a very high threat of kidnapping and terrorism," DFAT's Smartraveller website states.
"Military operations against Houthi targets are continuing in Yemen and the Red Sea area."
Socotra is closer to the African coast, and Somalia than it is to Yemen — and its position near the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which feeds into the Red Sea, has put the archipelago at the centre of a strategic power struggle in recent years.
Security experts have pointed to the UAE's construction of military positions on the islands, with some analysts suggesting such developments have also given Israel a foothold in the area.
The Australian man described Socotra as a "special place".
"While we're a little bit anxious to get out, really, we're fine — our thoughts are more with the local population, because the only source of jobs on the island is tourism.
"And with this major story of all these tourists being stranded and making international press, it will seriously impact the tourism industry here, potentially devastate the local economy.
"That's who we feel for more than, you know a bunch of European theorists who might be a few days later returning to work."
ABC/Reuters/AFP
