As fighting worsens in Yemen, UN calls for safe corridors for aid and civilians

The United Nations refugee agency has called for the establishment of safe corridors in northern Yemen so civilians can flee heavy fighting between Government forces and rebels and humanitarian workers can reach the displaced to deliver much-needed aid.

UN aid agencies are stepping up their appeals for an end to the clashes amid reports that the fighting has intensified, particularly in and around the city of Sa’ada, the capital of the province of the same name next to Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told journalists today in Geneva that Sa’ada city has been practically cut off from the outside world for more than a week because of the fighting between Government forces and members of the Shiite rebel group known as al-Houthi.

Mr. Mahecic said reports indicated that both parties had rejected a ceasefire and were vowing to continue their hostilities in the region, which is remote and marked by rugged terrain.

As a result, “the residents, as well as those displaced in Sa’ada city, are unable to leave,” he said. “The state of emergency is still in force. The markets are closed in the city, resulting in an extreme shortage of food and other commodities, as well as drastic price increases. Many are living on assistance from friends and relatives who had been able to store food.”

He said António Guterres, the High Commissioner, is calling for the urgent opening of humanitarian corridors so civilians can leave the conflict zone and aid workers can have access to the displaced.

One camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sa’ada province, known as Al Anad, is off limits to aid workers while three other sites remain open but are becoming overcrowded as civilians try to flee the violence.

UNHCR and local authorities have registered about 700 families in the city for aid and plans to distribute relief supplies to some 370 families tomorrow, security permitting.

The effects of the fighting extend to neighbouring Amran and Hajjah provinces, where IDPs – mainly women and children, and carrying few personal possessions – have occupied schools, clinics, hangars and barns.

Inter-agency field assessment missions have been conducted in Amran province to determine how best to distribute aid to those in need. UNHCR has already given out tents, plastic sheets, kitchen sets, mattresses, blankets, jerry cans, soap and sanitary napkins to IDPs in Hajjah.

UN World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Emilia Casella said today that the agency had taken advantage of a brief lull in the fighting earlier this week to give a full month’s ration to about 2,500 people living in camps in Sa’ada city, and was also providing 75 tons of food aid to 7,500 IDPs in Yemen.

Last week Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced hope that the fighting would stop and appealed to both sides to facilitate humanitarian assistance to civilians.