Journalists Not Allowed in Yemen as It Faces the World’s Worst Humanitarian Catastrophe

YemenExtra

M.A.

The Saudi-led coalition prevented on Tuesday a United Nations plane from transporting relief workers to the Yemeni capital Sana’a due to the presence of three international journalists on board.

Reuters quoted the aviation sources as saying that the flight was prevented from taking off from Djibouti to Sana’a because of the presence of three journalists from the “BBC” on board.

According to the agency, a UN spokesman confirmed the report.

“It is unfortunate and to some extent explained why Yemen, which faces one of the world’s greatest humanitarian crises, has not received enough attention in the international media,” said Ahmed bin al-Aswad, spokesman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen.

“The lack of coverage also hampers humanitarian efforts to draw the attention of the international community and donors to the humanitarian catastrophe facing the country,” Ben Aswad added.

The US-backed Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly blocked reporters and journalists working in international media from entering Yemen for fear of exposing its war crimes against 30,000 killed and wounded civilians, statistics are reported by the Legal Centre for Rights and Development.