Medical aid arrives, but agencies struggle to get access to Yemen conflict zones

As the US expedited arms deliveries to the Saudi-led coalition, the UN warned the situation in Yemen could become "catastrophic". Trond Jensen, head of the Yemen branch of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, called for "unfettered humanitarian access, so urgently needed supplies can be brought in".

The first plane carrying International Committee of the Red Cross medical personnel reached the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, where rebel tribesmen are battling forces loyal to Saudi-supported president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. An ICRC boat carrying six Médecins Sans Frontières surgical staff has arrived in Aden and 48 tonnes of medical supplies are poised to be delivered by air and sea once cleared.

The ICRC and other humanitarian organisations have called for a temporary ceasefire to permit the arrival of fresh medical teams and supplies, and for civilians to collect and bury their dead.

At least 14 of the country’s 22 provinces have been affected by civil conflict or air strikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition seeking to rout Houthi tribesmen who have swept southwards from the capital and seized a wide belt of territory and parts of the strategic port of Aden.

Spiralling casualties

Estimates of casualties vary widely. Yemen’s ministry of health reported the death toll has reached 1,042, while the number of wounded is estimated at over 3,700. These figures include fatalities from ground fighting in Aden that left 185 dead, 1,700 injured.

The World Health Organisation said at least 560 have been killed, 1,768 injured, and 100,000 displaced since the rebels launched their offensive on March 19th; and 293 killed since March 26th when Saudi Arabia intervened in the power struggle which also involves army units backing ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Islamic State.

The UN children's agency, Unicef, reported 74 children have been slain and 44 injured. Children are particularly vulnerable said Unicef's local representative, Julien Harneis. "They are being killed, maimed and forced to flee their homes, their health [is] threatened, and their education interrupted." Warring groups are recruiting children under 18 years.

Food shortage

The conflict is deepening the risks for children in one of the region’s poorest countries where they suffer from food insecurity and widespread malnutrition. Water supplies in southern Yemen and the port of Aden have been disrupted, and sewage is flowing in the streets in some areas.

ICRC spokeswoman Marie Claire Feghali said the situation in the port of Aden where the Houthis are advancing on pro-Hadi forces is "catastrophic to say the least. The war . . . is on every street, in every corner. Many are unable to escape." Conditions are "very difficult", she added, "as naval, air and ground routes [have been] cut off".

Hospitals are unable to cope with casualties, ambulances are attacked and hijacked, and bodies remain in the streets. Three Yemeni Red Crescent Society volunteers were shot dead, one wounded.

MSF, which has 140 local and eight foreign staff in Aden, said the situation is “worsening by the day”. An MSF shipment of 1.7 tonnes of emergency medical aid arrived in Aden yesterday.

"The humanitarian crisis in Yemen has reached a level where it affects millions of people, not only internally displaced people, refugees and migrants, but also ordinary Yemeni families in all areas," warned a gathering in Cairo of UN agencies, the Arab League, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Participants urged relief organisations to respond quickly and donors to provide funding.