The Siege on Yemen Is Increasing the Deaths of Patience and Civilians (Report)
YemenExtra
As years pass by in the war-torn country of Yemen, the amount of victims in Yemen is increasing due to the US-backed Saudi aggression and blockade on Yemen, which has been going on for nearly six years. For instance, a child dies every five minutes, which is equivalent to the death of 288 children every day as a result of the deterioration of the living and economic conditions and the decline of the role of health services in the country.
According to a number of statistics, more than 80,000 patients have died due to their inability to travel for treatment abroad. However, there are not any condemnations or actions taken by the world.
The official statistics issued by the Ministry of Health indicate that more than 450,000 patients urgently need to travel for treatment, of whom 25-30 cases die daily, while more than 65,000 patients with cancerous tumors are threatened with certain death, and more than 12,000 patients with kidney failure need require urgent kidney transplant abroad.
Death on the road
There are few patients that are able to bear the additional costs of transportation to Aden or Seiyun and from there they can travel outside the country. Nevertheless, one out of every ten travelers who have had to travel by land from Sana’a to Aden or Sayun has lost their lives on the way. There are many reasons why, such as road accidents or as a result of their failure to endure great hardship during the long hours of traveling and moving between cities.
This prompted the Ministry of Transport and the General Authority for Civil Aviation and Meteorology to organize many protests and raise appeals to the international community in order to take decisive actions toward the continued closure of Yemeni civilian airports due to the siege imposed on them, especially Sanaa International Airport. Therefore, the ministry along with the general authority have demanded the issuance of an immediate international decision by the Security Council regarding this matter.
More than 450,000 sick and wounded people are still unable to travel abroad due to the US-Saudi coalition of aggression, according to statistics reported by the Ministry of Health, in light of international collusion with the countries participating in the war on Yemen.
Lack of medicine and the health centers limited service
The repercussions of the US-Saudi blockade did not end here, as there are more than 120 classified drugs that are not available, and diabetics do not find their appropriate medicine, such as insulin drugs. Even kidney transplant patients do not find most of their own medicines, especially those required for their immunity, which they must use for their entire life.
What made matters even worse is that thousands of health facilities were closed, especially after the United Nations reduced 50% to 80% of the UN health programs in Yemen.
Hundreds of thousands of children die each year
The situation of childhood in Yemen does not differ from the rest of the society, as there are more than 100,000 children who die annually under the age of 28 days, due to the poor conditions in the country and the deterioration of health services.
UNICEF affirms that “12 million children need humanitarian aid, including 7 million suffering from malnutrition,” making 80% of children in Yemen living in a state of stunting and anemia.
These numbers constitute more than a third of the population, which raises fears that the extent of famine will not stop here, especially as the extent of famine is expanding every day while the war and siege continues.
“Yemen has become the largest humanitarian emergency in the world,” the Director of the World Food Program, Stephen Anderson, in Yemen, stated.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Dr. Youssef Al-Hadri, spoke about what mothers during pregnancy face as most of them do not get fed of will due to the hunger crisis, which then impacts their children.
” One million and two hundred thousand of Women at the childbearing age, or even during their pregnancy or after giving birth, are malnourished, which threatens the lives of children,” the spokesman of the Ministry of Health said.
In Al-Hadhiri’s opinion, “all the international aid provided to save the children of Yemen is not enough,” considering that the solution lies in “stopping the war and ending the siege.”
The destroying of Infrastructure
Analysts believe that one of the causes of the famine that the children of Yemen are suffering from is a result of the destruction caused by the Saudi aggressive coalition on the infrastructure of the agricultural sector, especially since approximately 75% of Yemen’s population live in the countryside and depend on agriculture.
The aggressors destroyed 331 agricultural establishments, and the blockade caused the suspension of import and export to the sector. Also, the high prices of oil and the lack of it, at some points, led to paralysis in the agricultural production process, which deprived millions of Yemenis of their only source of income.
In addition to the damage caused to the farmers in Yemen, the “coalition” prevented half a million Yemenis from engaging in fishing on the coasts of Yemen, which reach a distance of 2,500 kilometers and are adjacent to nine of the 22 Yemeni governorates in the republic; thus, stopping one of the most important sources of income that benefits from it millions of Yemeni families.
Extermination war
The International Council for Supporting a Fair Trial and Human Rights affirmed last November that the countries of the coalition of aggression did not provide any way to mass exterminate the Yemeni people. This explains how the kingdom gets protection and continues in committing more crimes without any issues.
On the other hand, the international community has not yet spoken about the actions of the aggressive Saudi coalition, for its blocking oil tankers and preventing their entry to the Yemeni people, which has caused of the suspension of some hospitals and various vital sectors.
The Council based its sayings on the statement of the Executive Director General of the Yemeni Oil Company, Ammar Al-Adrai, who confirmed that the losses resulted from the blockage of oil tankers that are being detained by the aggressors, have exceeded $ 150 million, while the losses of the oil company amounted to $ 2 billion in a preliminary study on the arbitrary measures against fuel ships since the start of the Saudi military aggression.
The Council affirmed that the aggression’s detention of ships is inconsistent with the ethics of war and represents a flagrant violation of international law and the Stockholm Agreement, which stipulated not to impede the entry of fuel ships.
The council called on the international community and the relevant bodies of the United Nations to take immediate measures in order to make the arrival of these ships into Yemen without any hindering.
The International Council also called on the United Nations to implement the Sweden agreement, as it has been two years since the agreement, to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people by disbursing salaries and facilitating the smooth entry of fuel, food, and medicine ships.
The Council concluded its statement by saying: The crime of the siege, and the wide violations being committed on the people of Yemen, are more dangerous than the crime of using chemical weapons and incendiary weapons. There are not any legal or humanitarian justification that allows the countries of the aggressive coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, to continue this siege for any reasons and circumstances, for the lives of civilians, are threatened.