UNHCR: More than a million Yemenis are at risk

Geneva-Sana

The UNHCR has warned that the lives of more than one million internally displaced people in Yemen are at risk, especially as access to humanitarian aid has become more difficult for them.

According to the United Nations News Center, UNHCR spokeswoman Shabiya Mantoo called in a press conference from Geneva for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen and said that further suffering can only be stopped through a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Manto added that the families coming from the Serwah area are among the most in need. In recent weeks, many residents fled from armed and intense clashes, which led to the closure of five shelter sites managed by UNHCR, noting that some families have been forced to flee five times so far since 2015.

UNHCR warned that any further escalation would lead to the emergence of more vulnerabilities among the population in Marib, especially the internally displaced.

According to UNHCR, the new displacements exacerbate the existing humanitarian needs, which greatly increases the need for shelter, basic household items, hygiene facilities, education and protection services, especially for children.

Health conditions such as acute diarrhoea, malaria and upper respiratory infections are common among the newly displaced and mass screening is urgently needed to provide health care and prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

According to joint data from UN agencies, about 40,000 people have been forced to flee inside Ma'rib since last September, and this represents nearly 70 percent of all displacement cases in this governorate located in the southeast of the country since the beginning of the year.

Marib is currently hosting half of the newly displaced, estimated at 120,000 people in 2021, who are scattered across the country.

It is noteworthy that the continuous Saudi aggression on Yemen since the twenty-sixth of March 2015 led to the sabotage of its infrastructure and health facilities, and the countries of aggression imposed a comprehensive siege on Yemen that led to the starvation of the Yemeni people and the spread of diseases, epidemics and disasters in Yemen.