by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Yemenis inspect damage at the site of a reported air strike by the Saudi-led coalition, on the outskirts of the northwestern Huthi-held Saada province. (Photo credit: AFP)
Riyadh : The Saudi-led coalition has announced the launch of a Yemen Comprehensive Humanitarian Operation (YCHO) which aims to enhance the delivery of aid and commercial supplies, including critical fuel, medical supplies and food to the violence-battered country on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula that has been caught in a civil war with international ramifications since 2015.
The Coalition will substantially contribute to the 2018 United Nations Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan.
Countries within the Saudi-led Coalition are among the highest contributors of humanitarian and developmental aid to Yemen, a largely poor and tribal country of 28 million people who have been hit hard by the conflict, and the plan reiterates their commitment to bringing needed food, medicine, humanitarian assistance, and fuel supplies to the people of Yemen, said a Saudi Arabia government release.
Under the YCHO, the Saudi-led Coalition will contribute $1.5 billion in new donations to international organisations to ensure the success of the 2018 UN Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan. It constitutes:
Port Expansion: The Coalition will lead the expansion of additional Yemeni ports to ensure the effective flow of imports. This will include the installation of four additional cranes purchased by the Coalition in Mokha, in Aden, and in Mukalla as well as repairs and infrastructure projects in these ports.
Economic Recovery: Saudi Arabia directly deposited $2 billion in the Yemeni Central Bank to promote economic stabilization and improve the Yemeni people’s quality of life.
This is in addition to a $1 billion deposit that Saudi Arabia contributed in 2014.
Air Bridge: An air bridge from coalition countries to Ma’rib will enable up to six flights of C130s per day. The air bridge will then be available for use by humanitarian organisations to deliver critical humanitarian needs.
Hodeidah Cranes: The Coalition has allowed the instalment of the cranes in the port of Hodeidah.
Safe Passage Corridors: The Saudi-led Coalition is setting up 17 safe passage corridors originating from six points to ensure safe overland transportation of aid to NGOs operating in the interior of Yemen. The opening of Al Khadra and Al Tuwal border crossings between Saudi Arabia and Yemen will further allow the unabated flow of goods to key areas such as Sa’ada, Sana’a, Hajjah, and Amran, it said.
Sanaa Airport: Sanaa Airport will remain open for humanitarian flights.
The coalition will also contribute $30-40 million for expanding the long-term capacities of Yemeni ports to accommodate additional humanitarian shipments. It will also provide $20-30 million to facilitate land transportation of goods and improve road infrastructure. The Saudi-led Coalition’s efforts to open land, sea, and air lanes to Yemen will result in 1.4 million metric tons of imports, including of fuel and food, into Yemen each month, up from 1.1 million metric tons in 2017.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
United Nations : The UN has asked the Saudi-led coalition to keep the Red Sea ports of Hudaydah and Saleef open for humanitarian shipments.
UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, has welcomed the opening of Hudaydah and Saleef to commercial and humanitarian cargo. He called on the Saudi-led coalition to continue allowing vessels into the Red Sea ports, and for the Houthi rebels to desist from threatening this vital access route, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Friday, Xinhua reported.
McGoldrick also lauded the coalition’s approval to move four cranes to Hudaydah Port to enhance its capacity and allow for faster off-loading of vessels, said the spokesman.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 13 vessels have delivered food and much-needed fuel through Hudaydah and Saleef since December 20, 2017, when the Saudi-led coalition announced that it would keep the two ports open for a period of one month for both humanitarian and commercial cargo. More deliveries are in the pipeline, according to OCHA.
A total of 22 million people in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance. Over 70 per cent of them live in proximity to the Hudaydah and Saleef ports.
The Saudi-led coalition, which is fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen, sealed off land, sea and air access to Yemen in November 2017 after Houthi rebels launched a missile at the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The missile was intercepted.
The blockade was partially lifted later, but shipment of humanitarian supplies kept being affected.
Yemen has been in civil war since 2015, pitting Houthi forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and forces loyal to the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. In December 2017, conflict erupted between Houthi rebels and Saleh supporters, leading to the killing of Saleh.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Sanaa : Yemen’s Houthi rebels warned of cutting off the Red Sea shipping line if the Saudi-led coalition forces keep advancing towards the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the media reported on Wednesday.
“We will block the Red Sea international shipping line in the Red Sea if Saudi-led aggression coalition forces keep advancing towards Hodeidah,” Xinhua reported citing Saba news agency which quoted Houthi leader Saleh al-Sammad as saying.
The threat was made by al-Sammad, the chief of the Houthi governing body, known as the Supreme Political Council, during his meeting with the visiting UN deputy envoy Maeen Sharim in Houthi-held capital Sanaa.
The warning was a “deterrent step” that aimed to exert pressure on the Saudi-led coalition, as targeting the Red Sea shipping route could have international economic consequences, according to Saba.
Recently, the ground battles backed by the coalition air strikes have intensified around Hodeidah as the coalition forces are pushing towards the rebel-held port city to recapture it.
The US-backed coalition accuses Houthis of smuggling weapons through the Hodeidah port and collecting customs revenues from imported goods to finance the war, which the Houthis have denied.
Hodeidah port city, where 80 per cent of Yemen’s food imports arrive, is the only port kept by Houthi rebels after the Saudi-led coalition and the Yemeni government forces recaptured the southern port city of Aden along with other southern governorates in 2016.
Al-Sammad also told the visiting UN deputy envoy their willingness to enter into peace negotiations, but required the coalition to show goodwill by lifting the all-out blockade, including re-opening Sanaa Airport, and stopping air strikes and ground battles.
“Yemen is ready for peace talks if the Saudi aggression stopped,” Saba cited al-Sammad as saying during his conversation with Sharim.
The Yemeni war pits dominant Shiite Houthi rebels against the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is supported by the Saudi-led Arab coalition.
The war has so far killed more than 10,000 Yemenis, half of them civilians, and displaced over 3 million others, according to UN humanitarian agencies.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
United Nations : The United Nations has approved $50 million to meet the humanitarian needs in Yemen, said a UN spokesman on Friday.
The money is the largest ever allocation by the Central Emergency Response Fund, Xinhua quoted Farhan Haq as saying.
UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Mark Lowcock, who approved the allocation on Friday, said there must be reduction both in fighting on the ground and airstrikes, which have greatly intensified in recent weeks.
He also stressed the need to have all ports open without interruption so that humanitarian supplies can be shipped into Yemen.
Lowcock said he remained deeply concerned by the deterioration in the humanitarian situation in the country although there has been progress in the past month in opening Yemen’s critical Red Sea ports to commercial fuel and food shipments, as well as the resumption of humanitarian shipments and flights.
Lowcock stressed that the Yemeni people need an end to the conflict so that they can begin to rebuild their lives.
For this to happen, the parties to the conflict must cease hostilities and engage meaningfully with the United Nations to achieve a lasting political settlement.
The Saudi-led military coalition, which is launching airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, sealed off Yemen after Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile launched by Houthi rebels toward the Saudi capital city of Riyadh in early November.
The blockade was later partially lifted.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Copenhagen : The Norwegian government on Wednesday announced that it would no longer be selling arms to the UAE as they were possibly being used in the war in Yemen.
The UAE has been fighting in Yemen as part of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.
Norway’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that there was a growing risk linked to the UAE’s military participation in the war but insisted that there was no evidence that Norwegian weapons had been used in Yemen, meaning the suspension was a preventative measure, Efe news reported.
“The development of the armed conflict in Yemen in the autumn of 2017 has been serious and there is great concern about the humanitarian situation,” the statement said.
In 2016, Norway sold arms and ammunition to the UAE for 100 million kroner ($12.3 million).
Saudi Arabia, which is excluded from Norwegian weapons exports, leads a coalition alongside the UAE that has since 2015 led a bombing campaign against Houthi rebels and backed President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is exiled in Riyadh.
The World Health Organization, Unicef and the World Food Programme recently said that the conflict in Yemen had become a humanitarian crisis and around 75 percent of the population was in need of help.
—IANS
