UNHCR TEAMS IN NORTHERN YEMEN CALL FOR HELP

A shaky ceasefire is holding for now in North Yemen. Yet, the real crisis is lack of funding for food, tents, blankets and kitchen sets, all desperately needed by people who have been without support in one of the world’s neglected emergencies.

Last fall, sporadic clashes between Al Houti forces and government troops escalated into fullscale war. As bombs rained down on Sa’ada City and surrounding villages, thousands of terrified residents clamoured to escape. Most fled south to shelter with relatives and friends while others made their way to the makeshift Al Mazrak camp for internally displaced people (IDPs).

UNHCR sent an Emergency Response Team to assist the growing flood of homeless families. Yet threats of violence have kept aid workers from reaching many who urgently need it. A quarter of a million refugees have been registered by UNHCR, and only about 30,000 are accommodated in the camps.

UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic reports that UNHCR is working hard to expand and build new camps. He says despite overcrowding in camps, life is even more desperate for all those sheltering with host families or in makeshift tents. “The people are in urgent need of relief – food, water, sanitation and if they don’t have this, their lives are in danger.” Aid workers have been unable to get close to Sa’ada city because of unexploded mines and threats of violence. They fear many people are still trapped there, needing food and assistance.

Yemen is the poorest Arab nation. It is arid and plagued by severe drought. The humanitarian crisis and the hardships faced by the displaced add to the great risk of instability.

Meanwhile, UNHCR’s entire relief operation in Yemen has been threatened by an acute funding shortfall. We are desperately seeking donations to provide displaced Yemeni families with tents, plastic sheeting and basic relief items like blankets and hygiene kits.

Fleeing from a war zone, these very vulnerable people need protection services too. Women, children and the elderly comprise the vast majority of those displaced and the bombing of Sa’ada has left many injured and deeply traumatized.

A six-year-old girl named Elham is among those being referred by UNHCR for urgent psychosocial support. “She cannot hear you,” her father tells concerned aid workers. “She lost her hearing during the bombing in Sa’ada. She lost her memory and her ability to talk. She is my only daughter... she is the most dear to me. I hope she will play and laugh like a child again."

Forcibly displaced people in Al Mazrak camp, Northern Yemen. Thousands of Yemenis are in dire need of
humanitarian assistance. UNHCR is struggling to provide them with the very basics of survival.