ICRC Warns of Disaster in Yemen

YemenExtra

SH.A.

This is what the slow death of society looks like: A list of things that have collapsed in Yemen: The food chain. The health care system. The education system. The sewer and water system. A list of things expanding in Yemen: Disease. Malnutrition. The deaths of civilians.

Three years after the start of the war, life for residents is indescribably miserable due to the way the war is being fought in.

“The desperate needs of families would shrink – and so would disease, malnutrition and civilian deaths – if the mere basics of international humanitarian law were observed,” said Robert Mardini, ICRC’s regional director for the Near and Middle East.

“Yemeni society is succumbing to a slow death through mass hunger and little medicine. It is impossible to express the gravity of the situation.”

The ICRC has been repeating the same message for three years: Do not target civilians. Do not target hospitals. Do not target ambulances. Do not target humanitarian workers. Allow an increased flow of commercial imports and humanitarian goods into and across the country.

Those same messages need to be repeated today and, ultimately, they need to be adhered to. There is a significant gap between the words we hear in response to these requests and the reality we see on the ground.

The committee added, “What is also worrisome is the spread of epidemics and diseases, including an increase in malnutrition, which has led to a three-year increase in the mortality rate in recent years.