Seven Pakistani fishermen were reunited with their families in the early hours of Saturday morning in Islamabad after being stranded in Yemen for more than a decade. The fishermen were released from Sana’a Central Prison, where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) first visited them in April 2016, as part of its routine detention visits in Yemen. They had been jailed in Yemen for crossing international waters. The ICRC facilitated the fishermen’s return from Yemen on the request of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The process of bringing them back to the country was initiated by the embassy of Pakistan in Sana’a. After the embassy’s closure given the security situation in Yemen, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued making efforts for safe repatriation of the fishermen in coordination with the embassy of Yemen in Islamabad. Three of the fishermen hail from Karachi and four from Balochistan. Although, they will be assisted in travelling back to their respective homes by the ICRC, their families travelled to Islamabad to welcome the fishermen at the airport on their arrival from Yemen. We cannot find words to express our joy and emotions on this occasion. I feared for his life as we were hearing worrying news coming from Yemen, said Asghar Ali, the brother of one of the repatriated Pakistanis. Similar joyous remarks were uttered by Miran Baloch, after reuniting with his uncle. I thank God that my uncle has returned after so many years. This is time for celebration and put behind those years of agony. I will not let him go away again.