Northern Yemen’s humanitarian situation unravelling, warns UN refugee agency

Continuing clashes between Government forces and rebels have trapped civilians inside a city in northern Yemeni city, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today, stressing that the humanitarian situation is deteriorating daily.

“We are gravely concerned about the fate and well-being of the civilian population” stranded in Sa’ada city, the capital of the governorate of the same name next to Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia, as fighting rages there between Government troops and the Shiite rebel group known as Al Houthi, UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva today.

Over 35,000 people have been driven out of their homes in and around the city, and the agency put the total number of people uprooted since an earlier wave of fighting broke out in 2004 at 150,000.

Those who managed to escape the besieged city and UNHCR staff on the ground have reported that frequent air strikes have sent people fleeing to other parts of Sa’ada to seek refuge and place burdens on neighbours, friends and relatives.

There is a 12-hour curfew in place limiting the movement of both the local population and internally displaced persons (IDPs), while food supplies are running low and black market prices have soared in many of the districts affected by fighting, Mr. Mahecic said.

“With worsening of the situation in the north, the opening of humanitarian corridors in northern Yemen that would allow civilians to leave the conflict zone and humanitarian workers to deliver much needed humanitarian aid to thousands of displaced people in this remote part of the country is a top priority for UNHCR,” he added.

Other districts in Sa’ada governorate have also been blockaded by the violence, liming the movement of people, goods and services. In the neighbouring Hajjah governorate, UNHCR and local authorities are organizing assistance, trucking in water and gathering garbage at camp sites for IDPs.

The agency urgently needs $5 million to respond to the emergency in northern Yemen, with the funds earmarked for providing protection and urgently-needed aid for 70,000 uprooted people over the next four months in Sa’ada and other affected governorates.

“UNHCR also appeals to the generosity of the international community and the Muslim world in particular, to alleviate the suffering of Yemenis displaced by the recent fighting especially during this holy month of Ramadan – a period of solidarity and sharing,” Mr. Mahecic said.

Tomorrow, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, will launch a flash appeal for Yemen aimed at helping 150,000 people, it was announced today.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) today also called for access to displaced people, with the number of people it was able to reach plummeting from 95,000 in July to just 10,000 last month.

Nearly all of the agency’s staff has been evacuated from Sa’ada, where nearly 100 tons of food supplies – enough to feed 60,000 people for one month – are in stock.

WFP estimates it needs almost $7 million to fund its operations in Sa’ada until the end of the year.

Echoing the calls by UNHCR and WFP for safe corridors to be opened up, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that lack of access is preventing people injured by fighting from receiving treatment.

The agency, which is working outside the conflict zone to treat those who fled fighting, also cautioned that the threat of measles, malaria and diarrhoeal diseases is high.