Two-thirds of Yemenis have no food, warns Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that two-thirds of Yemenis do not have food, and almost as many have no access to health care.

In a series of statements on Twitter, the ICRC added that 58 per cent of Yemenis have no access to clean water, and 11 per cent suffer from acute malnutrition.

The aid organization pointed out the enormity of the situation in Yemen by noting that 30.5 million people live in the war-torn country.

Earlier on Saturday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Yemen warned that, “Without urgent funding, life-saving aid to millions of people in Yemen will stop in the next few weeks, putting them at risk of starvation.”

Even before the outbreak of war, Yemen was the poorest country in the Middle East. Government salaries, which supported as many as one third of the population, have not been consistently paid since 2015. Meanwhile, the salaries of non-governmental workers in Yemen were effectively halved as the currency plunged. Millions of families all across Yemen are now relying on humanitarian organisations such as Mercy Corps and Unicef for life-saving help.

The war in Yemen began in 2014 when the corrupt, but legitimate, government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi was attacked by Iranian–supported Houthi rebels. The internationally recognized government quickly collapsed, and the rebels took the capital. Since then, they have been fighting a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which wants to restore the Hadi government.

The conflict has left 13 million Yemeni civilians without food. U.N. officials say the situation in Yemen is now the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. It is also one of the largest man-made famines in history.

Both sides in the war are to blame. The Houthi rebels have been accused of unlawfully taking food and reselling it to pay for the war. They often attack supply lines. And Saudi Arabia’s campaign of air strikes has made it nearly impossible for Yemen to produce food. The strikes have also made it very difficult to distribute food aid. The international rights group Human Rights Watch says the Saudi air strikes are “illegal.”

Stay tuned to Baaghi TV for latest news and updates.