Saturday, November 11, 2017

Yemen - relieved but no respite

The United Nations has said that a total blockade of Yemen could cause a famine that could kill millions. In response, the al Wadea border crossing, linking Saudi Arabia with territory in eastern Yemen controlled by the Saudi-backed government, was reopened. The government-held southern port of Aden was also reopened but ports in Houthi-held areas are still shut.

Yemen's stocks of fuel and vaccines will run out in a month unless the Saudi-led coalition allows aid into the blockaded port of Hodeidah and the airport at San'aa, UNICEF's representative in the country said. Meritxell Relano said fuel prices had risen 60 percent and there were urgent concerns about a diphtheria outbreak, as well as food shortages because of the port closure. "The situation that was already catastrophic is just getting worse," she said. "The impact of this is unimaginable in terms of health and diseases."

"If the closure is not stopped in the coming days, we may see that the progress is stopped," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a briefing in Geneva. "We can see even more cases and more deaths as a result of not being able to get access to people." The closure of Hodeidah port prevented a ship setting sail from Djibouti with 250 tonnes of WHO medical supplies on Wednesday. Trauma kits in particular are running short. "If the hostilities continue and the ports remain closed, we will not be able to perform life-saving surgeries or provide basic healthcare," Chaib said.

Germany's Development Minister Gerd Mueller told Passauer Neue Presse newspaper. "The suffering of the people in Yemen is inconceivable and it threatens to become much worse. We must act now to prevent the death by starvation of millions of women, children and men."


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