Yemeni peoples – European Affairs Magazine

Decline of ancient trade route deepens Yemeni food crisis

27 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

After two years of civil war now even from the centuries-old Arabian route from the United Arab Emirates food supplies to Yemen are falling. In these two years the flow of food was restricted into the main Yemeni cargo ports of Hodeida and Salif, where the large grain silos are located, but small boats sailing from the UAE are moving vital supplies into the smaller ports to the south coast. The volume of food carried on this route represent a small fraction of the supply to Yemen, but has become important as fighting has raged, the economy has collapsed and Yemen has needed all the help it can get. Indeed the food crisis affects 17 million Yemeni people and is going to be even worst as only a few ships arrive each week into Hodeida and Salif port has cut food deliveries due to damage to infrastructures in the neighboring in recent weeks. In this situation the UAEbased dhow captains direct their trade to the south and the average journey takes about five to eight days with the boats capable of taking up to 2000 tons of rice, spices or cooking oil.

National organization for rights and freedoms condemns Saudi airstrike on Somali Refugees

19 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Concerning the attack to a boat carrying dozens of African migrants on Thursday night by the alliance of Saudi aggression off the Yemeni coast of Hodeida, the National Organization for Rights and Freedoms stressed that it was a disgrace to the United Nations Security Council. The organizational so declared in a statement that it was a war crime and the statement denounced the continuation of war crimes and violations against the Yemeni people, whose civilian’s boats and fishermen are targeted be side African refugees. In fine the statement called on the United Nations and its Security Council to stop the war, the bloody war crimes and the economic blockade against the Yemeni people.

UN Yemen envoy: violence escalates, the United Nations have urged a political solution and safety to Yemeni civilians

15 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

After talks in Paris with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, the UN envoy to Yemen Cheikh Ahmed told reporters that even if the solution is very close the parties don’t want to sit down at the table to discuss that. In deed they are refusing to discuss UN-brokered peace efforts and mean while in the country there is an escalation in violence, which is having a dramatic impact on civilians. This is the main reason that pushes the United Nations to urge a political solution and guarantee stability and safety to Yemeni civilians, which the UN classed as “severely food insecure” (7.3 millionYemenis). Moreover France Foreign Minister Ayrault said that “this is a conflict that is less talked about than others, but it can’t be forgotten because the humanitarian consequences on the ground are catastrophic”.

UNICEF: Yemeni children are on the brink of starvation, urged the necessity of vaccinations

9 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The UNICEF Resident Representative MaritxellRelano said in a press conference held at UNICEF’s headquarter that a large segment of Yemeni children are suffering famine due to malnutrition, which increases also the risk of infections and she added that many children were died in the past two years because of preventable diseases. Moreover due to the arm conflict the number of dead children is exceeding and the UNICEF Resident Representative urged the necessity of vaccinations, such as the one against polio that UNICEF and its partners are doing to children under the age of five, for children across Yemen to save their lives. In fine MeritxellRelano said that UNICEF exerted efforts to reach Mocha city via Hodeida province road or Aden province road.

UN document Human Rights: nearly 1,500 child soldiers in Yemen.

1 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

In a statement by the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Shamdasani, 1476 Yemeni children were reported to have been recruited by Yemen’s warrying parties in particular by Shiite Houthi rebels between March 2015 and January 2017. The number of children is probably higher because many parents are not willing to talk about the recruitment of their children for fear of reprisals. The spokesperson also reminded all parties to the conflict that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is strictly forbidden by international human rights law and international humanitarian law and added recruitment of children under 15 is a war crime.