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19 March 2024

'Yemen health situation is priority'

Yemen health situation priority for Operation Restoring Hope. (Wam)

Published
By Wam

The Command of the Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen has noted with deep regret certain reports that appeared in the media, quoting some relief and human rights, and non-governmental organisations (such as Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International) that reduced the Coalition's efforts and the positive role it played to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid and facilitate the trade of goods and oil derivatives to the Yemeni people.

The Command of the Coalition has noted certain fallacies in the statements made by some organisations about the health situation in Yemen.

According to a statement released by the Saudi Press Agency, (SPA), based on the Command of the Coalition’s recognition of the human suffering of the people of Yemen since the coup against the legitimate government, and its commitment to Security Council Resolution No. 2216 and other relevant international resolutions, we would like to clarify the following:

- That the alliance does not impose a blockade or an economic boycott on Yemeni territory at all and all it does is to implement its duties towards the application of the provisions of United Nations resolutions aimed to prevent arms and ammunition smuggling.

- The health situation in Yemen is a priority for the ‘Restoring Hope’ Operation and the Command of the alliance has spared no effort to improve access to healthcare. The last of these efforts is an air drop of more than 40 tonnes of medical supplies for the city of Taiz and transporting it to hospitals by all available means, including using animals for the purpose.

- Coalition forces, in cooperation with United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) in Djibouti, dedicated every effort to facilitate humanitarian aid traffic procedures and ensure that commercial goods and oil derivatives reach all sections of the Yemeni people without discrimination. The number of permits granted to all ports reached 4,079.

- The Coalition forces give immediate and periodic permits for all relief and humanitarian ships and in a record time without inspecting all Yemeni ports where the coalition forces to facilitate the passage for relief ships, without delay.

Regarding commercial ships, the UNVIM, in cooperation with the Coalition forces and the legitimate government, issues permits to them and all Yemen ports without discrimination. The number of permits issued was 1,462 including Hodeidah Port, which is controlled by the coup militias.

The Command of the Coalition stresses that the humanitarian disaster suffered by the people of Yemen is not because the entry of food, oil derivatives or trade goods in Yemen is being refused entry, but is primarily because of the forces of coup which took over and have been occupying the attention of Yemen's authorities and resulting in mismanagement of ports and airports, notably the Hodeidah Port which is known as the biggest port used for smuggling, where the coup militias try to create a black market for petroleum products and relief and trade materials to finance their coup and raise the profile of its leaders and use it as a political bargaining chip by imposing a siege and systematic starvation policy on provinces and cities, just as what happened in Taiz.

Accordingly, the Command of the Coalition calls for relief and international bodies operating in Yemen to shoulder their responsibilities towards the urgent humanitarian needs of the Yemeni people and abide by international humanitarian standards and take the necessary measures to ensure that the aid reaches all areas of Yemen, in a neutral and fair manner and equally for all sections of the people of Yemen.

The Command gave an urgent call to lift the siege on areas besieged by the coup forces and the removal of checkpoints that prevent aid from reaching the regions under the authority of the legitimate government and intensify field visits, according to the provisions of international humanitarian law and relevant international norms.

The Command of the Coalition calls upon all organisations to seek truth and accuracy in data and statements of their officials and to continue to coordinate their movements inside Yemen in coordination with the legitimate government of Yemen and the coalition forces to ensure the security and safety of their employees.