... Huthis verbergen Coronafälle – Konflikt, Kämpfe im Südjemen dauern an – und mehr
May 15, 2020: UN Briefing on the humanitarian situation in Yemen – Within a Houthi prison – Coronavirus cases surge in Yemen; Undercounting of cases, Houthis conceal cases – In Southern Yemen, conflict and clashes are continuing – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-651b-yemen-war-mosaic-651b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavitrus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp12b Sudan
cp13 Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Older introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H)
Assistant-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ad Interim, Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham, Briefing to the Security Council on the Humanitarian Situation in Yemen, 14 May 2020
Sixty-two of these cases – more than 85 per cent – were reported in just the last ten days.
Humanitarian agencies have every reason to believe that community transmission is taking place across the country. Official reports are lagging behind actual infections, just as they have in many other places.
And as in the rest of the world, millions of people in Yemen are deeply frightened at the prospect of an unknown disease ravaging their country.
This is the backdrop against which I will update you today on the five overall priorities for the wider humanitarian response: 1) protection of civilians; 2) humanitarian access and delivery; 3) funding; 4) the economy and 5) progress towards peace.
Let’s start with protection of civilians.
We welcome the Coalition’s decision to extend its unilateral ceasefire through the holy month of Ramadan. Like the Special Envoy, we hope this will soon translate into a mutual agreement to end all fighting on the ground.
Recent clashes in Hudaydah, Marib, as Martin mentioned, Al Jawf, Al Bayda, Abyan, Socotra and elsewhere show we are not there yet. Civilian casualties rose again in April, with 177 civilians killed or injured across the country.
In the first quarter of 2020, six attacks on health facilities were reported – a threefold increase from the previous quarter. At least one such attack was reported in April, despite the pandemic.
International humanitarian law requires all parties to take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects throughout military operations. COVID-19 makes it all the more critical to respect and protect medical facilities in line with international law.
For refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, stigma is already a grave concern. Reports are growing of refugees and migrants forcibly deported or detained due to COVID-19 fears.
Incitement against these people – many of whom already endured horrific trauma on their journey to Yemen – is rising.
Mr. President, the second issue is humanitarian access, which is also required by international humanitarian law. We are working with all stakeholders to take appropriate precautions against COVID-19 while maintaining life-saving assistance.
But there are several causes for concern. Regular staff rotations are impossible, as aid workers lack predictable access to flights into or out of the country. Nor do we know whether medical evacuations, if required, would be quickly approved. These issues are essential to fulfilling our duty of care to staff.
We have also noted a disturbing increase, mainly in the north, of harassment and incitement against the United Nations. This needlessly makes our work more dangerous and sometimes forces partners to pause activities at the time when they are needed the most.
We are asking the Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah authorities to work with us on these points as a matter of urgency, including renewed commitments to aid workers’ safety and security.
Government processes are too cumbersome and at times interfere with independence of aid.
Dozens of NGO projects have gone months waiting for approvals in the south, effectively blocking $100 million in donor funding. Visa delays for international staff also remain a concern.
In the north, access challenges are even more severe. As we noted last month, the authorities have recently made several important improvements, and we appreciate this progress.
But more is still needed. The most urgent priority is to approve 93 pending NGO projects, many of which have been waiting for months and together represent $180 million in donor investments. We also need more effective procedures for future projects and an end to arbitrary movement delays, detentions, harassment and interference in aid operations.
Over the last several days, we have had the opportunity to remind senior Ansar Allah officials of all the steps required to put in place the same minimum humanitarian conditions expected everywhere else in the world. We will continue to work with them to achieve the quick results we need to create a more enabling environment for humanitarian action.
But Mr. President, we desperately need money to pay for these programmes. This brings me to my third point: funding for the aid operation.
The World Health Organization recently wrote to the Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah authorities in Sana’a to inform them that WHO must progressively reduce their activities due to lack of funding. The COVID-19 Rapid Response Teams that I just mentioned will shut down next month. Therapeutic feeding centres, which treat the most severely malnourished children, will close by August.
Amidst a pandemic, this is shocking.
We are urgently appealing to donors to release funds now to sustain principled aid operations.
Aid agencies estimate they will need up to $2 billion to cover essential activities from June through December.
These requirements reflect a tightly prioritized response strategy that will be published later this month.
Mr. President, the fourth issue is the economy.
Yemen imports almost everything. For the last several months, commercial food imports through Hudaydah and Saleef have been falling. In April, they totalled just 195,000 metric tons – one of the lowest figures to date. Fuel imports rose considerably in the same period, likely due to lower oil prices.
Imports must be paid for in hard currency. A weak Yemeni rial – about 600 rial to the US dollar in the north and 690 in the south – means fewer people can afford the basic goods they need to survive. The current exchange rate is three times higher than before the crisis and is severely limiting the Government’s ability to finance imports or pay for public services.
COVID-19 is poised to make these dynamics even worse. Remittances from abroad – the largest source of foreign exchange in Yemen – are falling, though it is difficult to quantify by how much. Yemenis who still have jobs at home often depend on day labour. These workers need daily wages to feed their families, and many will be ill equipped to restrict movements or comply with similar COVID regulations.
We need bold action to stabilize the economy and soften the blow of measures that may be necessary to protect public health.
(** B P)
Collect your stuff and go… You are free!
After 4 years of detention, deprivation, and torture in “Al-Saleh City” detention center
Collect your stuff and go… You are free!
These are the full-of-freedom words said by the confident detention guard and chief investigator to the civil detainee, Abdel-Hamid Muhammad Jaafar Al-Janadi (50 years old), at Al-Saleh City prison, after a 4-year period of deprivation and physical and psychological torture against him.
Abdel-Hamid was detained from his own home on the evening of August 24, 2016, after 10 military pickup cars full of Ansar Allah (Houthi) group soldiers “Houthis” had surrounded his house in Al-Janad village, Taiziyah district in Taiz Governorate, and shot him in the left thigh, in full view of his family and children. He was forcibly taken to Al-Saleh City, located in Mafraq Mawiyah, north of Taiz, which used by Ansar Allah group to detain dozens of people.
On December 19, 2019, Abdel-Hamid was released, based on a prisoner exchange deal that took place between “Ansar Allah” group on one hand and government forces on the other hand, despite he denied any involvement in any war or armed actions.
Describing his years of detention to Mwatana for Human Rights, Abdel-Hamid says, “In the beginning, I was held alone in a narrow and dark room so-called (Aden Chamber) as it is too hot and carbon-coated. It is full of insects and dirtiness.”
Under this harsh circumstance, his detention lasted for six months, without receiving any sympathy except from the wound in his leg, which began to rot. He says, “You can imagine the length of nights, feelings of suffocation, helplessness and waiting for death.”
According to Abdel-Hamid, there was no latrine in the room, so he resorted to the trick of minimizing his food and drink to one loaf and yoghurt twice a day so that he would not defecate in the same place where he slept.
Abdel-Hamid said that he was psychologically and physically tortured periodically. He was denied of having medications and sedatives, as he confronted that with screaming in pain in the face of his jailers, seeking help to get a sedative that might relieve his pain, but without any response from them.
On the investigation, Abdel-Hamid says that he was interrogated from the night of his arrival at the Al-Saleh Detention center. He was charged with several charges, most notably the identification of location coordinates for the Coalition’s Air-forces, communication with the leaders of Islah Party, and writing against Ansar Allah group on the social media. He also says that the interrogation sessions continued for long hours, during which he was physically tortured with sticks and electricity shocks until he lost consciousness. His jailers used his wounds and the metal nails attached to his leg to torture him with electricity.
https://mwatana.org/en/collect-your-stuff-and-go/
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
(* A H)
Yemen reports 21 new coronavirus cases including three deaths
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government reported on Friday 21 new coronavirus cases, including three deaths, the coronavirus committee said on Twitter.
The committee added that 13 of the new cases were in Aden, and eight in Hadramout, including the three deaths.
The Aden-based government committee said the tally for confirmed coronavirus cases in areas under its control now stands at 106, including 15 deaths.
(** B H P)
Weakened by war and floods, Yemen fights twin health threat
Yet, as customers do their shopping in Mukalla, there is no sign of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Nobody keeps their distance and there isn’t a mask in sight. Food sellers handle raw meat, swat at flies and exchange cash without wearing gloves.
Crippled by civil war, severe food shortages and now a wave of diseases linked to recent heavy rains, Yemen’s shattered healthcare system is being pushed to the brink of collapse by these pressures and the novel coronavirus, health experts warn.
Yemen has announced 72 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 13 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
But health experts believe the real number of cases is far higher, given the lack of tracking and testing capabilities in the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula.
Sources told Reuters this week that there has been apparent under-counting in both the north and south of the country.
“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Abdulla Bin Ghouth, professor of community medicine and epidemiology at Hadhramout University’s College of Medicine.
Finding out the true numbers affected requires medical know-how and resources beyond the reach of Yemen’s health system, which depends heavily on international organisations for funding, equipment and staff, he said.
“The capacity of the Yemeni health system ... to carry out active surveillance is so weak,” he said, predicting the country would soon see a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases.
“There has been a surge in the number of fever deaths since the rains,” Farooq Q. Naji, director of the epidemics unit at the government-run al-Jumhuriyah hospital in Aden, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
In the past month alone, his hospital has received hundreds of patients with dengue and viral fevers, resulting in dozens of deaths. Before the rains came, he was seeing about three cases a day, he said.
“On the streets, there are still rain swamps mixed with garbage, making them breeding grounds for mosquitoes,” he added.
Doctors say the spike in dengue cases is disrupting efforts aimed at fighting the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“We have been forced to send home some patients who show signs of recovery as we are running out of beds,” said Abha Abdullah Baowaidan, director of Mukalla Maternity and Childhood Hospital.
It has received more than 6,000 cases of fever in its emergency room in the past two months, the doctor noted.
The country’s hospitals are also suffering from a shortage of testing kits and other equipment, making it difficult - if not impossible - to know whether a patient is infected with COVID-19 or something else, say health professionals.
Naji at al-Jumhuriyah hospital recalled a case in April when a patient came in with severe respiratory symptoms.
The rapid response team that had been dispatched to test the patient for the new coronavirus was out of swabs and had to travel to another province to find some.
By the time they returned three hours later, the patient had died and at least two hospital workers had been infected with the virus, Naji said.
As war, intense rains and widespread disease have increased the burden on Yemen’s critically under-funded health system, the coronavirus pandemic now threatens to push it over the edge.
“The war and climate change have created a humanitarian crisis,” said Bin Ghouth, the epidemiologist – by Saeed Al-Batati
(** B H P)
COVID-19 may be 'catastrophic' for Yemen: WHO official
Health system in Yemen unable to fully prepare for pandemic after 5 years of war, says WHO Yemen representative
If allowed to spread within the war-torn country, the novel coronavirus threatens to become a "catastrophic" disaster in Yemen, according to an official with the World Health Organization (WHO).
"The health system here is already fragile. Should the virus become fully transmissible in Yemen, it will be catastrophic in the country," Altaf Musani, the WHO Representative and mission chief in Yemen, told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview on the latest developments about the virus's spread in the Middle Eastern country.
Noting that though the country's health system was starting efforts to prepare for a response to the pandemic, Musani warned that it would never be fully prepared as it had experienced conflict within its borders for the past five years.
"This health system will never be fully prepared, because we've had five years of war, and that conflict, that vulnerability, and that fragility has really weakened the health system to deal with routine health matters such as cholera, dengue and malaria."
Musani said he was "deeply worried" should the country find itself facing coronavirus cases, since the health system would "not be able to manage" the outbreak.
Musani underlined that the WHO was dealing with both of two different authorities in the country, adding that they were providing capacity to both.
"We have a situation where we deal with two different authorities, the internationally recognized government and Aden as well as the de facto authorities in Sanaa. We have provided capacity to both these entities to make sure that they can test for the virus, trace for the virus, of course isolate and treat," he said.
Musani said that testing was available in the city of of Sana'a under the Houthis' control, while in the south, testing was carried out in Aden, Al-Mukalla and Taiz. He said WHO was making efforts to support the country's health authorities to launch an additional lab in the southern city of Seiyun, and "hoping to have testing capability" in the coastal province of Al-Hudaydah.
"So that would make six central public health laboratories nationwide that would be capacitated to have the necessary means to run the PCR [Polymerase Chain Reaction] samples," he said, adding that those six would be further expanded based on the availability of tests.
Testing for COVID-19 requires rapid response teams, Musani said, noting that such teams had been deployed at "almost every district" of Yemen due to a cholera outbreak two years ago.
"These rapid response teams have been further trained and will continue to scale up. They can do the screening at the points of entry, they can do investigation of rumors, and then, the third, and the most important thing they do is they take samples of suspect cases."
He explained that after a sample, or swab, is taken from the interior of a patient's nose or the back of their throat, it is transported to one of the six labs across the country. Test results are reported to the country's Ministry of Public Health, which then reports the figures to WHO as members states are legally required to report any public health emergency of international concern to the organization.
WHO, in turn, provides the "public health advice," as well as some material operational support, he said.
"We help them with PPE [personal protective equipment], we help them with tests, we help them with swabs, we help them with PCR machines. And then of course, we provide some financial support based on what donors have provided us from COVID-19 response."
"Based on models that have been developed worldwide and for Yemen, the number of tests that would be required are millions, we don't have those tests. The amount of PPE [personal protective equipment] that would be required is millions. We don't have that kind of PPE, and the type and number of hospitals that may have admissions are in the hundreds of thousands," he explained.
Musani emphasized that so far 10% of hospitals worldwide have been dedicated to combating the coronavirus pandemic.
"We are deeply worried that the amount of PPE, testing kits, labs, healthcare workforce are grossly insufficient in Yemen to manage the outbreak at peak."
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/health/covid-19-may-be-catastrophic-for-yemen-who-official/1839372
(** B H P)
Exclusive: As COVID-19 cases in Yemen surge, some sources see undercounting
Yemen has more suspected coronavirus cases and deaths than the authorities have so far reported, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the United Nations warned the virus is spreading in the war-ravaged country.
The Saudi-backed government based in the south and the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement headquartered in the north have so far publicly announced a total of 67 cases with 11 deaths. Only two of those infections and one of the deaths was reported by the Houthi authorities, both in the capital Sanaa.
The sources said there was apparent undercounting in both the north and south of the country.
The four sources, who have access to information from hospitals but who declined to be named, said Houthi health authorities had not shared additional test results with the World Health Organization (WHO) for at least 50 further patients with COVID-19 symptoms they were aware of at Kuwait hospital in Sanaa. Two of the sources said 20 other patients they had seen with similar symptoms died in that hospital.
The two other sources said they were aware of at least 30 suspected coronavirus cases admitted to another Sanaa facility, Sheikh Zayed hospital, and said test results for those cases had also not been shared.
Reuters did not see medical records from the hospitals and could not independently confirm the numbers provided by the sources. The hospitals could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Houthi authorities do not share the results of the tests with doctors and with the WHO when the results are positive,” one of the sources told Reuters.
Asked by Reuters whether it was concerned about a coronavirus outbreak going unreported in Houthi-held areas, the WHO said its role was to “actively advise, influence and inform” discussions on case declaration and reporting, which it said it had been doing for weeks.
It said it saw Yemen as “one country, one people” and cautioned against speculation related to “the number of probable cases not being reported”.
“Given the testing capacity in country, which is very limited, tests are being done on persons who meet the criteria or case definition and exposure history. We would not, and frankly no country would, be able to test everyone who was sick or experiencing symptoms,” it said in a statement.
It said it was “operating under the assumption that full blown transmission is now occurring” across Yemen and that it was ramping up “community engagement and awareness activities.”
DEATHS IN ADEN
The internationally-recognised government based in the southern port of Aden has accused the Houthis of covering up an outbreak in Sanaa, a charge the group denies. In a tweet on May 7, Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said there appeared to be a “serious epidemiological coronavirus situation” in Houthi-controlled areas and urged the authorities not to “conceal facts”.
However, the two sources said authorities in areas under the Saudi-backed government’s control have also not fully disclosed the extent of the pandemic. At least 13 confirmed COVID-19 patients have died at Al Amal hospital in Aden, they said. The hospital could not immediately be reached for comment.
“In Aden, we also have dozens of people dying at home but nobody tested them to know why they died. Some hospitals refused to take in patients showing coronavirus symptoms because they are not equipped to handle those cases. We cannot really blame them,” one of the sources said, without naming the hospitals.
An Aden-based government official, who declined to be named, said the authorities were declaring COVID-19 cases but admitted inadequate testing, a rise in other diseases due to recent flooding and administrative issues after a leading separatist group declared emergency rule were challenges.
CRITICAL CASES
On May 2, the public prosecutor’s office in Aden issued a statement, seen by Reuters, saying it was investigating media reports about the refusal by some private and public hospitals and health centres, which it did not identify, as well as doctors “to admit some emergency medical cases or provide medical attention to critical cases”.
The WHO said in its statement on Sunday that it had been advising local authorities throughout Yemen to report cases in order to secure resources and equipment already in short supply globally, but that the decision to do so rests with a country’s leaders under international health regulations.
As of May 9, Yemen had reported 803 COVID-19 test results, according to WHO data. At that time, the WHO said Yemen had 38 COVID-19 isolation units - 18 of them operational, four labs with testing capacity, 520 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 154 ICU ventilators – by Aziz El-Yaakoubi
(** A H P)
Exclusive: Houthis conceal 100 coronavirus cases through threats and intimidation
Doctors have been detained, threatened and had their phones confiscated as part of Houthi measures to conceal the COVID-19 outbreak in Sana’a
Houthi authorities have concealed approximately 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Yemen’s capital Sana’a, according to seven sources including multiple doctors, a coronavirus testing technician, a medical professional and an international aid worker.
The unreported infections, which dwarf the two cases publicly revealed in Sana'a, were suppressed through intimidation by Houthi authorities, according to the sources, all of whom spoke to Almasdar Online on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.
The Houthis detained at least two doctors for a day, two of the sources said, and released the doctors only after they pledged not to disclose any information regarding the concealed coronavirus cases.
All seven sources recounted incidents in which Houthis confiscated doctors’ phones and threatened them to not reveal certain cases.
Almasdar Online viewed official data and internal reports from at least two hospitals in Sana’a that confirmed the deaths of 17 people who had tested positive for coronavirus. Those deaths were on top of the approximately 100 concealed infections, which include about 60 men and about 40 women and children.
Many more people may have died of the virus without being tested, the sources added.
Health organizations contacted by Almasdar Online in Sana’a declined to provide accounts contradicting the Houthi authorities and said they support the official tallies.
Four of the Sana’a-based doctors who spoke to Almasdar Online said that the Houthis’ heavy-handed approach toward suspected coronavirus cases has discouraged many people with COVID-19 symptoms from seeking help.
The Houthi measures in Sana’a have included forced isolation and relocation of entire families if one member is thought to be infected. A lack of transparency surrounding these actions, such as the duration and conditions of isolation, have contributed to the fears among residents. Combined with the stigma of being labelled carriers of COVID-19, many residents are hesitant to seek medical testing or help.
The World Health Organization (WHO) temporarily paused activities in Houthi-controlled areas starting May 9. The move was aimed at pressuring Houthis to be more transparent about suspected coronavirus cases, three anonymous sources told Reuters.
The only two COVID-19 cases publicly announced by the Houthis were identified as people coming from outside rebel-controlled areas, in which more than 70 percent of Yemen's population lives.
"We feel a lot of pressure, the Houthis are pressuring us, threatening us and not providing the most basic protection requirements for health workers," said one doctor from Sana'a. "The way the authorities deal with the disease and the lack of transparency is irrational."
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/782
and
(A H P)
Film: Video of alleged COVID19 patient taken by ambulance in Sanaa.
This Yemeni citizen falls to the ground because of the epidemic # Corona in # occupied Sana'a in light of an international silence and is kept secret
https://twitter.com/JMajd30/status/1260628808941649920
and
(** A H P)
Ibb: Houthis cover up COVID-19 cases through threats, nighttime burials
The concealment of coronavirus infections follows a similar approach in Sana’a, where Houthi authorities have revealed two out of approximately 100 confirmed COVID-19 cases
Houthi authorities in Yemen’s central governorate of Ibb have quietly buried the bodies of confirmed and suspected coronavirus victims and threatened health workers against disclosing information about other COVID-19 cases, according to eyewitnesses and medical workers.
The quarantine center at Ibb’s Jeblah hospital receives a number of suspected COVID-19 cases from various districts of the governorate on a daily basis, said the medical workers, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. Doctors and staff at the hospital’s quarantine center have faced threats of imprisonment and other penalties by Houthis if any of the information is released to the public, the sources said.
Test results have confirmed COVID-19 infections in the governorate and the deaths of some of those patients have been recorded, the medical workers said, but Houthi officials there have not revealed any of these developments publicly.
The concealment of coronavirus infections in Ibb follows a similar approach to the COVID-19 crisis undertaken in the capital Sana’a, where Houthi authorities have announced only two out of approximately 100 confirmed cases, multiple doctors and medical wokers familiar with the cover-up told Almasdar Online.
Jeblah hospital's quarantine center awaits the results of several coronavirus tests sent to a processing lab in Sana'a. A document from the Sana'a-based National Center for Health Laboratories showed that at least one patient at Jeblah hospital had tested positive for COVID-19 on May 5. However, the Houthis did not include that case in their official tally of two confirmed coronavirus infections in Houthi-controlled territory.
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses told Almasdar Online that at 2 a.m. on Wednesday Houthis buried seven bodies from Jeblah hospital, where the medical workers said the deceased were being treated for suspected COVID-19 infections. The sources said burying the bodies in the middle of the night was unusual and was not related to the Ramadan schedule.
Later Wednesday, a local Houthi-appointed official warned of the threat of coronavirus in Ibb.
"The coming days will be painful and bitter, beware of leaving your homes except for the utmost necessity and with extreme caution that prevents mixing," Ibb’s deputy Gov. Abdulhameed Al-Shaheri said on his Facebook page.
Earlier in the week, Houthi authorities in Ibb city announced a curfew starting May 14 in a number of neighborhoods. Eyewitnesses told Almasdar Online that the curfew has been largely ignored, with residents going about their daily routines in the streets and markets.
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/790
(* B H)
Film: Yemen bracing for coronavirus outbreak
In Yemen, scores of Covid-19 cases have been recorded across the country. But the UN warns that the virus is spreading largely undetected in a country in the grip of a civil war.
The BBC gained access to hospitals in the rebel Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, where medics are bracing for an outbreak with very few resources.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-52671049/yemen-bracing-for-coronavirus-outbreak
(* B H)
Film: COVID-19 threatens to worsen Yemen devastation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEpg892cMdg
(* B H)
Film: Deaths surge in Yemen, but little testing underway
Aid groups say there’s been a surge in the number of people dying with Covid-19 symptoms in Yemen. With virtually no testing, and accusations of a cover-up, it’s hard to determine how badly the pandemic has affected the war-torn country. But As Liz Maddock reports, even a small outbreak could prove devastating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxilXQCW474
(* B H)
Yemen's COVID-19 Fight: 'We've Only Just Begun'
"We break our fast each evening in the mosques," Al-Khawlani said. "Or sometimes groups of 15 or 20 people meet in the streets to eat."
Yemen has closed airports and schools and restricted some travel by land, but people in Sanaa were still shopping, riding in crowded buses and gathering for religious services as COVID-19 cases spiked to 85 on May 14, more than doubling their number of cases in just five days.
The World Health Organization says a mass outbreak in Yemen would be an unmitigated disaster amid war, famine and floods already plaguing the country.
The WHO also assumes there are many more cases than they know of in Sanaa, said Altaf Musani, the organization's Yemen representative, in an email to VOA on Wednesday. Roughly half the population of Yemen is at risk for starvation or diseases like cholera and 80 percent of the people rely on humanitarian aid. A widespread outbreak in Yemen would be a "potential catastrophe," he said.
"At present we do not even have enough gloves, masks or other personal protective equipment for all doctors and nurses," explained Musani. "No one is safe until everyone is safe — Yemen was one of the last country's to declare — we've only just begun."
Like other countries, Yemen's economy has declined rapidly in recent months. But unlike other countries, Yemen started off with very little to lose. At least three out of four people in Yemen live under the poverty line and the United Nations Development Fund says Yemen may become the poorest country in the world by 2022.
Other locals say they are increasingly afraid of the virus, saying the psychological stress is already hard to bear
Hospitals in Yemen need ventilators, monitors, beds, ambulances, protective clothing, X-rays, medicine, lab materials and scanners, according to Riyadh Al-Jaridi, the Health Director of Hadramout province, where Yemen recorded its first COVID-19 case last month.
Individual preventative measures, like sanitizing items and wearing masks and gloves, are widely known, but most people cannot afford them, Al-Jaridi said. Even extra cleaning is difficult, with more than half the country lacking enough clean water for drinking or bathing.
Workers cannot afford to stay home, and many people simply do not care about social distancing, Al-Jaridi added.
"Yemenis have gone through so many tragedies," he explained. "The wars and poverty have made people indifferent to threats."
https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/yemens-covid-19-fight-weve-only-just-begun
(* B H)
WHO Shortfalls Risk Yemen COVID-19 Response
The World Health Organization will start shutting down some of its programs in Yemen due to funding shortages, just as the coronavirus is starting to spread in the war-torn country.
“Amidst a pandemic, this is shocking,” U.N. acting deputy humanitarian chief Ramesh Rajasingham said Thursday. “Preventing disease and feeding sick childr
The World Health Organization will start shutting down some of its programs in Yemen due to funding shortages, just as the coronavirus is starting to spread in the war-torn country.
“Amidst a pandemic, this is shocking,” U.N. acting deputy humanitarian chief Ramesh Rajasingham said Thursday. “Preventing disease and feeding sick children are the kinds of programs that everyone agrees should be protected at all costs.”
He said 31 of 41 major U.N. programs would start closing down in the next few weeks if funding does not quickly arrive.
“That means many more people are likely to die,” he told a virtual meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
Despite shortfalls, the U.N. has done what it can to prepare the country for COVID-19. Rajasingham said 38 hospitals are being prepared to handle virus cases. Health workers are being trained and essential supplies delivered — including ventilators, tests and personal protective equipment. But recently established Rapid Response Teams for the virus will have to shut down next month.
More than five years of conflict between the Saudi-backed government and Iranian-supported Houthi rebels have deepened Yemen’s poverty, devastated its infrastructure and caused widespread hunger and suffering.
Humanitarians and diplomats agree that the best way to contain the virus is to stop the fighting.
https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/who-shortfalls-risk-yemen-covid-19-response
(* A H)
Yemen reports first coronavirus cases in southern province
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government on Thursday reported the first cases of novel coronavirus in the southern province of Al Dhalea, underlining fears that the infection had found a foothold in the war-torn country.
The government’s coronavirus committee said on Twitter seven more cases has been confirmed in the port city of Aden where it is based and that Al Dhalea had recorded its first three infections, bringing the total in areas under its control to 85 cases with 12 deaths.
(A H P)
85 people leave quarantine centers in Saada
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096873.htm
(A H P)
Zivilschutzbehörde führt Sprühkampagnen in der Hauptstadt [Sanaa] und in der Stadt Saada durch
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096895.htm
(A H P)
Technische Komitee der Hauptstadt [Sanaa] informiert die Märkte und Einkaufszentren über die vorübergehende Schließung
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096893.htm
(A H P)
Ibb launches Corona prevention measures through partial curfew
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096891.htm
(A H P)
Yemen closes Wadeah crossing point after 300 people fled quarantine
The Yemeni internationally-recognized government on Thursday said it had closed the eastern al-Wadeah border passage with Saudi Arabia to curb traveler traffic as part of anti-COVID-19 precautions.
The crossing point has been closed after previously-stranded Yemenis were allowed in according to the President exceptional instructions, the supreme emergency committee (SEC) tweeted.
The closure decision exempts commercial and relief transport traffic and special cases on whom the Yemeni consulate in Jeddah coordinates with Saudi authorities, SEC added.
The closure comes two days after 300 arrivals fled quarantine based in al-Apr in the Yemeni eastern governorate of Hadhramout
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17184.html
(* A H)
Save the Children: Kliniken in Jemen schliessen in Corona-Krise
Save The Children warnt vor einer dramatischen Entwicklung der Gesundheitssituation in Jemen. Laut der Hilfsorganisation hätten mehrere Spitäler geschlossen.
Die Hilfsorganisation Save the Children warnt vor einer dramatischen Entwicklung der Gesundheitssituation in der südjemenitischen Hafenstadt Aden. Mehrere Spitäler in der Stadt hätten geschlossen. Medizinisches Personal weigere sich aufgrund fehlender Schutzausrüstung weiter zu arbeiten, teilte die Hilfsorganisation am Donnerstag mit.
In der vergangenen Woche seien mindestens 385 Menschen in der Stadt gestorben, die an typischen Symptomen von Covid-19 gelitten hätten. Im gesamten Jemen sind nach Zahlen der Johns Hopkins Universität bislang nur zwölf Tote durch das Coronavirus gemeldet. Nur 85 Personen sind laut der Universität infiziert.
Die Corona-Todeszahlen erhöhten laut der Hilfsorganisation die Befürchtungen, dass die Verbreitung im Bürgerkriegsland deutlich höher sei als offiziell bestätigt. Auch der UN-Sondergesandte der Vereinten Nationen, Martin Griffiths, sprach am Donnerstag von einer besorgniserregenden Situation.
«Aden ist ein Beispiel für den Horror, der den Jemen erwartet», sagte Griffiths in einer Unterrichtung des UN-Sicherheitsrates.
https://www.nau.ch/news/ausland/save-the-children-kliniken-in-jemen-schliessen-in-corona-krise-65708143 = https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/112901/Save-the-Children-Kliniken-im-Sueden-Jemens-schliessen-in-Coronakrise
(* A H)
Im Jemen nehmen die Todesfälle mit Coronavirus-ähnlichen Symptomen zu, wenn Krankenhäuser geschlossen werden
Am Mittwoch betrug die Zahl der bestätigten Fälle von Covid-19, der durch das Coronavirus verursachten Krankheit, in Aden 41, mit fünf Todesfällen nach offiziellen Angaben. Bundesweit gibt es laut Weltgesundheitsorganisation 72 bestätigte Fälle mit 13 Todesfällen.
Die starke Diskrepanz bei den Zahlen ist zumindest teilweise darauf zurückzuführen, dass im Jemen, dem ärmsten Land der arabischen Welt, keine Tests auf das Virus durchgeführt wurden. Bisher wurden nur 803 Tests durchgeführt, und die Testkits gehen bereits zur Neige, sagte Erin Taylor, eine Sprecherin von Save the Children.
In den nördlichen Gebieten des Landes, die von Houthi-Rebellen kontrolliert werden, wurden nur wenige Fälle gemeldet, aber aufgrund fehlender Tests wird vermutet, dass die Zahl der dort infizierten Personen höher ist, sagte Taylor.
In Aden haben Gesundheitspersonal aufgrund fehlender Schutzausrüstung Angst, in Krankenhäuser zu gehen, und können die erforderlichen Überweisungen oder Testpatienten mit Coronavirus-Symptomen nicht durchführen. In der vergangenen Woche sind Hunderte von Patienten gestorben, nachdem sie Symptome wie Atembeschwerden und Fieber gezeigt hatten. Mehrere Krankenhäuser haben Fensterläden geschlossen.
“Covid-19 drängt dieses Land noch weiter in den Abgrund”, sagte Xavier Joubert, Jemen-Länderdirektor für Save the Children
und auch https://www.de24.news/2020/05/coronavirus-anstieg-der-todesfaelle-im-suedlichen-jemen.html
(* A H)
Yemen: Deaths due to Covid-like symptoms surge in Aden as hospitals close
Officials in Aden have reported at least 385[1] people have died over the last week with Coronavirus-like symptoms. That’s over 50 deaths a day, a fivefold increase from the 10 deaths a day reported before the 7th May.[2]
Several hospitals in Aden have closed down, and health staff are refusing to go to work for lack of proper protective equipment, as the Coronavirus spreads in Yemen, Save the Children warns.
From this week, the two main public hospitals are open but only providing emergency services, treating patients with fever but not those showing respiratory symptoms.
Patients admission is suspended, even for paediatric services, and only urgent gynaecological and obstetric services such as deliveries are still operating.
Most private hospitals in Aden have also closed or are only treating chronic cases with no respiratory symptoms or fever.
Already, people have reportedly died because they could not get the treatment they needed.
Mohammed Alshamaa, Save the Children’s Director of Programmes in Yemen, says:
“Our teams on the ground are seeing how people are being sent away from hospitals, breathing heavily or even collapsing. People are dying because they can’t get treatment that would normally save their lives. There are patients who go from hospital to hospital and yet cannot get admitted. We're hearing of families who have lost two or three loved ones in the past few weeks.
These are all signs of a pandemic getting a grip on the country. The treatment centres we support are doing everything they can to get ready for what is to come, but we need protective equipment, beds, ventilators.”
Aden is currently facing the threat of conflict and lethal diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya and COVID-19.
https://www.savethechildren.net/news/yemen-deaths-due-covid-symptoms-surge-aden-hospitals-close
(A H)
15 new Covid-19 cases were reported in #Yemen on Thursday, bringing total of confirmed cases since 10th April to 85, including 12 deaths and one recovery; and not including 2 cases, one death, in Houthi-run Sanaa. The new cases were registered in Dhale, Aden, Hadramout and Lahj.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1260955244177039361
(A H)
Yemen reports first coronavirus cases in Al Dhalea province
(* A H P)
Yemen: Epidemics kill over 600 people in Aden
Yemen in trouble with epidemics, including pneumonic plague, chikungunya virus, along with COVID-19 pandemic
Over 600 people, including six government officials, have died in Yemen's temporary capital, Aden, due to epidemics, according to a government official.
On May 1-13, due to epidemics, including pneumonic plague and chikungunya virus, a total of 623 people, six of them government officials, died, said the official who did not want his name revealed due to security concerns.
The Yemeni government on Monday declared the temporary capital Aden a "disaster zone" due to the spread of the novel coronavirus and other epidemics, according to local media.
and
(* A H P)
Aden logs more than 600 deaths of largely unknown causes in two weeks
The head of the government department tasked with issuing burial permits in Yemen’s interim capital of Aden has revealed statistics showing that 623 people have died in the port city since the beginning of May.
In his daily briefing, Maj. Gen. Sanad Jamil, head of Aden’s Civil Status Department, said that 70 burial permits were issued on May 13 alone. Five of those permits were requested by medical centers. The remaining 65 burial requests came from police departments that had collected dead bodies throughout Aden.
Prior to May 1, the number of burial permits issued per day in the city was between 9 and 12, Jamil told Almasdar Online in a statement. Since then, the daily average has approached 50.
The exact causes of death in the vast majority of cases over the past two weeks are not known, but they coincide with the outbreak of coronavirus and other diseases including cholera and dengue fever that have spread in Aden devastating floods hit the port city.
https://al-masdaronline.net/local/791
(* A H P)
Covid-19 is killing #Aden in south Yemen and the authorities are attributing 623 deaths since 1st May to other diseases. Why would dengue fever, Chikungunya and pulmonary plague spread now as coronavirus is striking the entire world?!
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1260686754308395009
#Aden, Yemen's interim capital, is turning into a large cemetery. Companies are now digging graves everywhere as diseases are claiming dozens of lives everyday (photo)
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1260729870491025409
Film: May 13, more than 150 new graves were excavated in Aden -the funeral city- amid the increasing number of deaths from various diseases, including suspected cases of Covid-19.
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/1260715816615579650 = https://twitter.com/faizahsulimani/status/1260701578618646528
I honestly feel sick from scrolling through my Facebook, almost all the people I know in #Aden are posting pictures of the loved ones they lost or loved ones of their friends and relatives. I know we are all trying to help in whichever way possible, but I can’t stop my tears
https://twitter.com/mabaabbad/status/1260652875127992321
(* A H)
Diseases kill 70 people in Aden on Wednesday
The head of Aden’s personal status department, Major General Sanad Jamil said in a statement to the press that the total number of deaths from COVID-19 and other diseases has reached 70 people in Aden on Wednesday.
Jamil said that 65 deaths were reported by police stations of Aden's districts, one death at Covid-19 quarantine centre and four persons passed away at private hospitals.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22035
(* A H)
Film: Chikungunya virus invades Aden In the recent time in the province of Aden, chikungunya virus or what people call in Yemen "Almkarfis", which is a very serious disease and no less serious than coronavirus disease, which has swept the world, where chikungunya virus has infected many residents of the city of Aden and took the lives of a number of citizens in the last few weeks, Chikungunya is a viral virus transmitted to humans by a mosquito insect, causing fever and severe pain in the joints and muscles and completely paralyzing the body, as well as headaches, vomiting and rashes, according to the WHO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pNutcSm4pI
(A H P)
Film: As part of the efforts to prevent corona virus ... implementing a spray and sterilization campaign for the field hospital in Al-Khokha, Hodeidah
The spraying team of the field hospital in Al-Khokha, Hodeidah Governorate, implemented a spray and sterilization spraying campaign for the hospital and ambulances and their mechanisms. Hospital sources said that the spray campaign included emergency departments, restrooms, clinics, hospital administration offices and ambulances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yqDt0aG0lw
(* B H)
CoP open dialogue: Covid-19 and the SDGs: Impact and Opportunities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO-j8bQJ1Vc&
(* B H)
Fear of virus grows in Yemen's squalid camps
In a desolate camp for Yemenis displaced by war, Nasima Ahmed wonders how she and her four children can possibly protect themselves as the novel coronavirus stalks the country.
"We are not ready for the coronavirus because we have nothing," Ahmed told AFP at her tent, which is practically empty except for two ragged foam mattresses.
"We need to be able to store food in case a quarantine is imposed," she said. "I am afraid. I am scared for my children since this virus may lead to our deaths."
Squalid camps for internally displaced people like the one where Ahmed lives in Khokha, outside the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, are ideal breeding grounds for disease, with little chance of proper sanitation or social distancing.
Since the first COVID-19 cases were reported in Yemen last month, anxiety has grown among those living in tents -- fashioned from canvas, branches and scraps of plastic -- who are among the worst-off in the Arab world's poorest nation.
Caroline Seguin from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned the coronavirus could spread "very quickly" in overcrowded cities and camps.
"People there often live with many family members in a small space, and camps mostly lack adequate hygiene measures, making it difficult for them to isolate themselves or to wash their hands," said Seguin, MSF's head of programmes in Yemen, Iraq and Jordan.
"Displaced people are also often poor, making it impossible for them just to stay at home while the virus is circulating -- they need to go out to earn or collect the basic necessities of life."
As children played in the dust outside the rows of makeshift tents at the camp in Khokha, Salah Darwish, one of the displaced, said he was fearful for the young and the elderly.
"The virus will spread like wildfire -- we are afraid and anxious," he said.
https://www.france24.com/en/20200514-fear-of-virus-grows-in-yemen-s-squalid-camps = https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-8318041/Fear-virus-grows-Yemens-squalid-camps.html
(A H)
Five new COVID-19 cases reported in Yemen, Marib registers 1st infected case
The Supreme Committee for Emergency in Yemen announced the registration of five news cases of the novel coronavirus (Vovid-19), today, Wednesday.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17164.html
(A H)
Yemen reports first coronavirus case in Marib province
(* A H)
Coronavirus updates from around Yemen on Wednesday include quarantine escapees in Taiz and Hadhramout, curfews in Al-Mahra, a spike in unattributable deaths in Aden and Houthi suppression of confirmed cases in Sana’a.
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/784
(* A H)
Time bomb: More than 300 Yemenis flee "Al-Tariq" quarantine in "Al-Abr"
Salman al-Sharif, a Yemeni human rights activist and expatriate activist, revealed, Tuesday evening, that 300 people have fled quarantine in the Al-Abr area of Hadramawt governorate, eastern Yemen.
In a live broadcast on his Facebook page, Al-Sharif said that 300 people who are not among the government statements were removed from the depository escort accompanied by a protection battalion with the aim of delivering them to the Al-Tariq complex in the area of Al-Abr, the supposed area of the quarantine, but the battalion leadership informed the arrivals that they must reserve quarantine at their expense Profile.
"The people objected to the issue of seizure at their expense, so they crossed the cross road in protest against this from nine in the morning on Tuesday until five in the evening, demanding their passports and their cars cards held by the command of the Protection Battalion, so the battalion would only return it to them and leave immediately, heading to the governorates of Shabwa, Marib, and Al-Jawf. "
Al-Sharif, who calls what happened catastrophic to the Yemeni people, as the 300 people did not undergo any medical tests, he wondered why the legitimate Yemeni government did not provide quarantines despite receiving $ 25 million in assistance in preparing quarries for returnees from the Kingdom with all its requirements.
Al-Sharif indicated that there is a quarantine in the port of Al-Wadeah, and that there are many stranded Yemenis who were allowed by the government to return to Yemen.
For his part, an eyewitness told "Debriefer", that 300 passengers arrived at Al-Wadeah port at dawn, on Tuesday, and the protection battalion took their passports and their car cards, and then accompanied them to the Al-Abr area in order to enter them in a quarantine.
The eyewitness stated that the 300 travelers were surprised by the protection battalion, informing them that they had to rent the complex, then left, leaving them alone and without their official papers.
"The travelers had to cut through Al-Abr, in order to retrieve their official papers, and they have already recovered it," he added.
The government had recently allowed the opening of Al-Wadeah port for Yemenis stranded in Saudi Arabia, justifying it for humanitarian reasons, and assuring that they would undergo medical tests and would be quarantined as a precautionary measure, fearing of spreading the Coronavirus.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17149.html
(A H)
Coronavirus infected Person escapes from health center with armed men' help in Taiz
A Yemeni medical source revealed that one of those infected with the Coronavirus had managed to escape from the SHF Center in the city of Taiz, in southwestern Yemen, on Tuesday, with helb of armed men from outside the hospital.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17150.html
In #Taiz, in southwest Yemen, a person infected with Covid-19 has escaped from a quarantine centre and is now threatening to kill anyone who may seek to bring him back to quarantine. Meanwhile, PCR solutions to test persons infected with Covid-19 have run out in the city.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1260341258771410944
(* A H)
Yemen reports coronavirus cases in three more southern provinces
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government reported the first outbreak of the new coronavirus in three more southern provinces, taking the total number of cases in areas under its control to 65, including 10 deaths.
The Aden-based government’s coronavirus committee said nine new COVID-19 cases had been confirmed, including for the first time in the provinces of Abyan, Al Mahra and Shabwa. In the last case, the person infected had died.
Four more infections were also reported in Aden, the government’s interim seat, taking the total there to 39.
(B H)
The sharp rise in cases indicates that the virus has been circulating undetected for weeks, increasing the likelihood of a surge in cases.
https://twitter.com/OCHAYemen/status/1259911997652639744
(A H)
It's official: #CoronaVirus now formally exists from #Yemen's far west to its far east. Tonight the Office of Health & Population in #Mahra Governorate (bordering #Oman) confirmed its 1st official case of #COVIDー19
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1260268036013150211
(* B H)
Epidemics take their toll on Aden
Outbreaks of several epidemics have taken their heavy toll on lives of people in Aden amid deteriorating health service and growing number of deaths.
Heavy rains that hit Aden mid last month led to the reemergence of several infections including cholera, dengue fever, malaria and chikungunya.
The city witnessed these epidemics during the past five years, but, the city experiences for the first time, the spread of Coronavirus which overwhelms the capacity of the local health system.
Hospitals of the city shut down following fears of catching the coronavirus by health workers when receiving cases.
The action left thousands of people vulnerable to deaths from other preventable diseases since access to health care has been denied over the spread of the COVID-19.
Dozens of deaths are being reported every day in the city amid collapsing public service.
Rainwater that pooled on streets and wastewater that overflew down roads remain unresolved since mid-last month amid growing conflict between the government and the separation rebels on management of the city.
“Health facilities do not function anymore amid shortage of medical supply. They closed following the spread of corona,” said Hani Ibrahim, a resident of Al-Tawahi district in Aden.
He said that spreads of other epidemics such as malaria and dengue fever has brought additional burden on the health system and hindered adequate response to the health issues.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-39642
(* A H)
76 people died in Yemen's #Aden on Tuesday, highest death number in past six days, Civil Status Office said, adding the majority of deaths, 61, were from unknown causes. 350 people have died in past six days in the city which has been declared"infested" with 39 Covid-19 cases.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1260306946609090561
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/22029
(A H)
Photos: 21 ppl were buried in #Aden today. A man lost two daughters, another lost a father & uncle. Horrible. Painful. Basic services like electricity, water &sanitation r absent in many areas due2 floodings of last month! Warring parties keep fighting regardless!
https://twitter.com/HanaalShowafi/status/1260181430853939203
(A H P)
Turkey has offered to send urgent aid to help face Covid-19 in #Yemen but Yemen Gov't is "reportedly" unable to accept aid or allow Turkish planes to land in south. Saudi Arabia & UAE don't like Erdogan. UN should investigate and take action. No one should politicise a pandemic!
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1260173698327351296
(A H)
Oxfam Expresses Concern Over Yemen Virus
Aid agencies are warning that coronavirus could be spreading at a higher-than believed rate in areas of war-torn Yemen, already devastated by famine and fighting.
Aid agencies are warning that coronavirus could be spreading at a higher-than believed rate in areas of war-torn Yemen, already devastated by famine and fighting.
Samah Hadid, director of advocacy media and communications, Oxfam Yemen, said on Friday that the current scenario in the country was "quite dire," despite the total government tallies of fewer than 100 cases throughout the country.
(* B H P)
'People are very afraid': Yemen faces spectre of coronavirus amid aid cuts
Renewed fighting and deepening humanitarian crisis means Covid-19 could prove a fatal blow
In the southern city of Aden, which Yemen’s national coronavirus committee has declared is “infested” with the disease, unofficial reports say at least one doctor has died and three more are ill. Some private hospitals have closed their doors to patients, afraid their staff will become infected.
Since April the rainy season has also brought widespread flooding and a rise in cholera cases – 110,000 so far. The recent implosion of Lebanon’s financial sector, where Yemeni banks have long kept dollar reserves, has also severely affected the flow of vital imports.
“A time like this is not the right time [for the international community] to cut aid programmes and funding,” said a Yemeni aid worker who asked not to be identified to keep their organisation’s work safe. “If they’re trying to pressure the Houthis, it won’t work. They have already shown they’re not going anywhere. Ordinary people are the ones suffering.”
[Overview article]
(* B H P)
Yemen’s storm of afflictions
Coronavirus is one more disease on the list of ailments plaguing Yemen
In Aden and Taiz, continuous skirmishes between the government and the Southern Transitional Council have led to the death and suffering of many residents.
Nonetheless, Taiz is more prepared to fight coronavirus than Aden. Taiz governor Nabil Shamsan formed an emergency committee against the pandemic, with the head of the committee, Ahmed Mansour, announcing the registration of four coronavirus cases on 10 May. Shamsan ordered the infected patients be taken to the Republic Hospital in Taiz, prepared as an isolation hospital. However, before being taken to the hospital, one case died. Mansour said 11 people came in contact with the case that was self-isolating at home, and no recoveries were announced.
Taiz residents have been complaining about the horrific spread of mosquitoes in the city. A local source told Al-Ahram Weekly that mosquitoes spread most in October and November, but because garbage collectors were not paid, trash accumulated in the streets. “However, an international organisation paid the garbage collectors’ dues to save Taiz from the garbage piles,” the source said.
Sanaa sources reported coronavirus is spreading in Sanaa with the Houthis keeping the matter under wraps. “The private sector has been launching awareness campaigns against the virus and there are screens in pharmacies, malls and supermarkets on which are displayed protective measures against the pandemic. Nonetheless, the city is crowded, with people going out to the markets,” one source said.
The Houthis have dedicated Kuwait University Hospital in Sanaa to patients of coronavirus. Another source from Sanaa reported a lack of transparency regarding the number of patients in the hospital. The source said the Houthis refused to hand relatives of coronavirus victims the bodies of the deceased, with guards beating them with weapons to drive them away from the hospital door.
In Aden, where Yemenis have seen floods and rainstorms, rats and mosquitoes compound the environmental problems in the city, a local source said, adding that medical staffs from the Republican Hospital in Aden left their positions at the hospital fearing infection.
Crater Sky, a Yemeni news website, reported that chaos and horror spread among staff in the hospital after they were told Pakistani sailors were in the hospital on suspicion of coronavirus infection. The medical staff feared they would become infected, amid the lack of personal protective equipment in the hospital.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health and Population Nasser Baoum said Yemen has been adopting preventive measures against the pandemic, asking the public to be cautious.
The Russian news agency Sputnik reported a young Yemeni man, a confirmed coronavirus case, escaped from Hadramout’s Ibn Sina Hospital following his return from abroad.
Crater Sky also reported that in Aden 17 bodies were buried on 30 April, 12 bodies on 2 May and four bodies on 3 May, without residents knowing the cause of death, leading them to suspect chikungunya disease, spreading through mosquitos. A local source described the disease as “making the patient unable to move, as if paralysed. The cure is a shot worth $200.”
He added: “All of Aden’s hospitals are closed and death is everywhere with the absence of the government and the negligence of the Southern Transitional Council.
(* B H)
Confirmed Covid-19 cases increase fivefold in Yemen in a week, UN
The UN said on Monday the confirmed Covid-19 cases in Yemen have increased fivefold in a week, raising alarm the virus is spreading undetected.
Five new cases, including one death, were reported in the city of Seyoun in southeastern province of Hadramout on Monday, a day after 17 cases were confirmed in Hadramout, Aden, Taiz and Lahj. And a case was reported in the capital Sanaa, which is run by the Houthi Group.
"Between 10 April, when the first case was announced, and 9 May 2020, there were 35 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Yemen, 7 related deaths and 1 reported recovery," UNOHA said in a statement.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17134.html
(B H)
Yemen: UN and humanitarian partners respond to COVID-19
The UN and humanitarian partners in Yemen are responding to COVID-19 by focusing on case management, risk communications, community engagement, and protecting the wider public health system.
Together, they have reached more than 20 million people with COVID-related awareness materials through TV channels and radio stations.
More than 7.5 million people have been reached via social media platforms, and more than half a million people have been reached through house-to-house visits.
Some 125.4 metric tons of supplies are already in the country, while 4,836 metric tons are in the pipeline. These include 1,000 intensive care unit beds, 417 ventilators, 52,400 tests and 755,000 pieces of personal protective equipment.
More supplies are urgently needed to scale up the response.
https://www.unocha.org/story/yemen-un-and-humanitarian-partners-respond-covid-19
(A H P)
Yemen ends school year early due to coronavirus outbreak
The Yemeni [Hadi] government yesterday decided to end the school year for the primary stage “prematurely” due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, SABA news agency reported.
The agency said the decision was made during a meeting between the Supreme National Emergency Committee for COVID-19 with the Saudi-backed Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200512-yemen-ends-school-year-early-due-to-coronavirus-outbreak/
(* B H)
UNICEF Yemen Country Office Humanitarian Situation Report (Reporting Period: 1 - 31 March 2020)
31,913 Acute Watery Disease(AWD)/Cholera suspected cases with 6 associated deaths (0.02 case fatality rate) were reported in March. UNICEF treated 7,342 suspected cases through support to 245 Oral Rehydration Centres (ORCs) and 65 Diarrhoea Treatment Centres (DTCs) in 18 governorates.
(* A H P)
Der Jemen erklärt Aden zu einer „befallenen“ Stadt als Coronavirus…
Die jemenitischen Behörden erklärten Aden, den vorläufigen Sitz der von Saudi-Arabien unterstützten Regierung, am Montag zu einer „befallenen“ Stadt, nachdem die Zahl der Coronavirus-Fälle dort gestiegen war und es anderswo im Süden zu Zusammenstößen zwischen Separatisten und Regierungstruppen gekommen war.
Die Testmöglichkeiten sind unzureichend, aber die WHO hat die lokalen Behörden auch aufgefordert, bestätigte Fälle transparent zu melden.
Das Coronavirus-Komitee der in Aden ansässigen Regierung meldete am Montag fünf neue Fälle mit einem Todesfall in der Provinz Hadhramout. Damit stieg die Gesamtzahl in Gebieten unter der Kontrolle der von Saudi-Arabien unterstützten Regierung auf 56 mit neun Todesfällen.
Es hatte am späten Sonntag 17 neue COVID-19-Fälle angekündigt, 10 davon in Aden, wo die Gesamtzahl bisher bei 35 Infektionen mit vier Todesfällen liegt.
https://twittersmash.com/news/der-jemen-erklart-aden-zu-einer-befallenen-stadt-als-coronavirus/
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
(A K pH)
Burning House with US-Saudi Bombing in Hodeidah
Almasirah Net correspondent stated that the house, in Al-Dhabyani neighborhood, was completely burned as a result of targeting the neighborhood with different arms.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12910
(A K pS)
Film: Citizens, two members of one family were wounded by Houthi militia in the Hay al-Khokha line
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ__zlu6AVc
(A K pS)
Hodeidah: Houthis target people's houses in Hays
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22039
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update For Thursday, May 14th, 2020
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12908
(A K pH)
71 Verstöße der Aggressionstruppen in Hodeidah in den letzten 24 Stunden
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096878.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression forces carry out 71 breaches over 24 hours
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096870.htm
(A K pH)
Verstöße der Aggression gehen weiter
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096841.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression forces continue committing violations in Hodeidah
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096835.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression forces continue committing violations in Hodeidah
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096835.htm
(A K pS)
Film: A forty-year-old man was seriously wounded in the explosion of a Houthi explosive device in Al-Jah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gAGu2VciFQ
(A K pH)
61 Verstöße der Aggressionstruppen in der Hodeidah Provinz
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096772.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression forces commit 61 breaches in Hodeidah in 24 hours
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096795.htm
(A K pH)
92 Verstöße der Aggressionstruppen in Hodeidah
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096723.htm
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096736.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression coalition commits 92 violations in Hodeidah
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096721.htm
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update For Monday, May 11th, 2020
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12859
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON MAY 14, 2020 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-may-14-2020-map-update/
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON MAY 13, 2020 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-may-13-2020-map-update/
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON MAY 12, 2020 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-may-12-2020-map-update/
(A K P)
14 prisoners of [Sanaa gov.] army, popular committees freed
The chairman of the committee Abdul Qadir Al-Murtadha said to Saba that the 14 prisoners who were freed in prisoners swap came in local mediators.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096836.htm
(* B P)
[Sanaa gov.] Ministry of Oil Appeals to UN to Protect ’Safer’ Tanker
The Ministry of Oil and Minerals appealed to the United Nations, represented by its office in Yemen, to play its role in protecting the Safer floating storage in the Red Sea from any targeting by the coalition of aggression .
The Ministry, in a statement, Tuesday evening, expressed its concern about the disaster and damage that might be exposed to the environment, marine life and coral reefs as a result of any diversion or targeting of the tanker, whose risks will not be only on Yemen but also to all countries bordering the Red Sea from Bab al-Mandab to the Suez Canal .
The statement pointed out that the Ministry of Oil and Minerals sent many letters, issued the data and demanded evaluation and maintenance on the tanker Safer.
It pointed out that the ministry continues to reiterate its appeals to the United Nations and international organizations to allow the sale of crude oil in the tanker Safer, benefiting from its revenue in establishing oil tanks as the ship has become decrepit and maintenance work is suspended due to the aggression, adding that if an oil spill occurs, it will lead to an environmental disaster in the Red Sea.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12885
(* B K P)
Why are Saudi and the UAE competing in southern Yemen?
Instead of taking the fight to the Houthi rebels in the north, the two regional allies are undermining each other in the south.
Southern Yemen has turned into a battleground for competing interests of two regional allies, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The UAE is fully backing a separatist group named the South Transitional Council (STC),
Experts see this latest round of fighting as "yet another blow to the Riyadh Agreement, just days after the Saudi ceasefire".
What does STC want?
The STC seeks secession from Yemen to form a separate state which existed between 1967 and 1990 under the influence of the former Soviet Union. Led by Yemeni General Aidarous al Zubaidi, former governor of Aden, the UAE has been backing it since 2017. The clash between STC and internationally-recognised Hadi government started when two sides began debating the inclusion of Yemen’s Sunni party (Al Islah) in Hadi’s government.
According to Gamal Gasim, a Yemen analyst and professor of political science at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, the UAE wants to slice Yemen into two parts: one governed by the STC and the other by Hadi government.
After achieving the division, Gasim told Al Jazeera, the UAE wants to "destroy the Al Islah party".
Al Islah is one of the largest political factions in Yemen with links to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Gulf monarchies have always stood against the Muslim Brotherhood for its anti-monarchist and pro-democratic views. Al Islah is currently fighting against the Houthis in the north.
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-are-saudi-and-the-uae-competing-in-southern-yemen-36281
(B K P)
Der verpfuschte saudische Krieg
Trotz der über fünf Jahre andauernden militärischen Intervention im Jemen konnte die Koalition unter der Führung Saudi-Arabiens das Bürgerkriegsland nicht vor dem Zerfall retten.
https://de.qantara.de/inhalt/jemenkonflikt-der-verpfuschte-saudische-krieg
Mein Kommentar: Ein Überblicksartikel, der eigentlich nichts bringt. Abstrus schon die Unterschlagzeile, die saudische Intervention könnte irgendetwas mit der „Rettung“ des Jemen zu tun gehabt haben.
(* B H K)
Vergessene Leiden
Das Leid der Zivilbevölkerung im Jemen wächst und wächst
Am 26. März 2015, so beschreibt es die jemenitische Journalistin Bushra al-Maktari, war der Krieg mit einem Mal da. Seither ist er tagtägliche Realität für die Menschen im Jemen
Was folgte, war eine neue Form von Normalität, die nur durch Gleichmut zu ertragen ist. „Du kannst dir nicht vorstellen, welche Kraft die Gleichmut nach einer Katastrophe geben kann“, berichtet eine der von Bushra al-Maktari interviewten Frauen; sie war kurz zuvor Zeugin davon geworden, wie ihre Schwester in einem Supermarkt von einer Granate getötet wurde. „Aber damit einher geht auch eine gewisse Sprachlosigkeit.“
Das Buch (ab 2. Juni erhältlich) ist der Versuch, dieser Sprachlosigkeit entgegenzutreten. Bushra al-Maktari hat ihr Land durchreist und die Protokolle von 400 Frauen und Männern gesammelt, deren Leben vom Krieg zerstört wurden – auch wenn sie selbst noch am Leben sind. Die Berichte – 43 davon sind in dem Band abgedruckt – beschönigen nichts. In drastischen Worten wird beschrieben, was eine Kriegsmaschinerie, die im sechsten Kriegsjahr nur noch punktuell die Wahrnehmungsschwelle westlicher Medien zu erreichen vermag, unter der Zivilbevölkerung im Jemen anrichtet (die Organisatoren und Profiteure des Krieges, auch darauf wird hingewiesen, haben ihre Domizile längst ins Ausland verlegt). Es ist der Versuch, in Worte zu fassen, wie Streubomben töten und wie es sich anfühlt, wenn die eigenen Kinder, Geschwister oder Eltern direkt vor einem von Granaten zerrissen, Maschinengewehren zerfetzt oder herabfallenden Trümmern erschlagen oder verschüttet werden.
(B K P)
Will a Coronavirus-Related Cease Fire Pause the Yemeni Civil War?
The worsening COVID-19 pandemic in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen is driving both countries to want to preserve their military resources. For Saudi Arabia, de-escalating operations in the war-torn country would also allow it to focus on other burning fires at home, including its shaky Vision 2030 economic trajectory and the recent breakdown of OPEC+ cooperation. Saudi Arabia also no doubt wants to ward off intensifying international scrutiny over the Yemeni conflict’s humanitarian toll.
A sustained cease-fire, however, will ultimately rely on the buy-in of Houthi rebels, who have continued to display their military might in the face of a gradually reduced coalition effort in Yemen.
The success of the newly inked cease-fire will thus depend largely on the actions of Houthi rebels in the coming days. The Houthis are positioned to demand political concessions in the next round of negotiations.
(B K P)
War thrust back Yemen development 21 years: UNDP
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) says a Saudi-led military campaign underway against Yemen has pushed back the country’s development more than two decades, and is now complicating the war-torn nation’s efforts to rein in the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
https://en.abna24.com/news//war-thrust-back-yemen-development-21-years-undp_1036249.html
My comment: They already had stated this before, but the statement refers to the war in general and not to the Saudi coalition’s intervention in special.
(* B K P)
(from 2016): Genocide in Yemen – Is the West Complicit?
This essay examines the current situation in Yemen and the possible genocide taking place there. Genocide used in the context of this essay is defined as: The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. The main research question is two part. First, is there a genocide in Yemen? Secondly, if so, is the West complicit? Evidence is presented of probable genocidal war crimes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and indications that certain Western powers may be culpable. Also, this paper will look at a new cold war between Saudi Arabia and Iran and how the conflict in Yemen is a proxy war. Finally, I will address the research questions and offer conclusions, analysis, and how a new approach to international relations by the powers involved in Yemen could help reach an end to hostilities.
https://www.academia.edu/35677375/Genocide_in_Yemen_Is_the_West_Complicit
(* B K P)
(from 2017): THE ONGOING MILITARY CONFLICTS IN SYRIA AND YEMEN: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, THEIR CONSEQUENCES, AND SCENARIOS
The main aim of the article is to analyse in detail roles played by various regional and nonregional state actors in two of the ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts, namely in Syria and in Yemen, in the period between March 2015 and May 2017. The year 2015 was very significant. That year the Russian military intervention in Syria began, the conflict in Yemen broke out and was internationalized simultaneously. This state-oriented study has two levels of analysis, namely regional and global. Although the global dimension can be observed and analysed in both selected conflicts, its seems to be much more noticeable and significant in case of the Syrian war especially due to the direct Russian engagement as well as the American response to it. A very limited institutionalization of international relations in the Middle East region seriously undermines opportunities for a peaceful conflict resolution in the region and therefore requires participation and engagement of non-regional actors especially of global powers which can exert either direct or indirect pressure on various regional actors. As far as sources are concerned, the study is based on selected documents, monographs, academic articles, reports, and analyses.
My comment: Too much of Iran, not enough of the “West”.
(* B K P)
(from 2017): Beyond Money and Diplomacy: Regional Policies of Saudi Arabia and UAE after the Arab Spring
The post-Arab Spring context created a window of opportunity for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to reposition themselves in the region as countries capable of using not only money and diplomacy, but also military means in pursuing their regional policies. Their military interventions in Bahrain in 2011 and Yemen in 2015 uncover different aspects of the militarisation of their foreign policies. The permanence of the militarisation of their policies is, however, challenged by the type of interventionist state unfolding from these muscular policies, their domestic and regional legitimacy and the institutionalisation of this foreign policy pattern.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H)
48,000 Yemeni women could die giving birth as UN starts shutting down maternity services due to funding gap
The United Nations agency that runs maternity wards and maternal health services across war-torn Yemen says the program is nearly out of money. The agency notified authorities this week that it will no longer be able to support 140 of its 180 facilities in the country.
It's a new, imminent threat to medical care for women in a country ravaged by years of war and disease. The U.N. says tens of thousands of expectant mothers will be at risk of dying during childbirth if funding isn't secured.
UNFPA, the U.N.'s sexual and reproductive health agency, provides basic reproductive healthcare to hundreds of thousands of Yemeni women. The agency says that without its services, 320,000 pregnant women will be cut off from care and 48,000 could die from complications during delivery. The situation is only expected to worsen with the spread of the coronavirus.
"By cutting support to UNFPA, you've basically cut the umbilical cord of the reproductive health system in the country," Nestor Owomuhangi, representative for UNFPA in Yemen, told CBS News.
"It's grave," he said. "It was bad before corona. We have weekly meetings, and… you can see an aura of hopelessness, given the corona that's knocking on our doors."
People in Yemen already have very limited access to healthcare, with only about half of the health facilities functioning across the country. Of those, only 20% offer maternal and child health services - many of which are supported by UNFPA. If it is unable to raise more funds by July, it will be forced to close up to 90% of its services in Yemen.
"They have no health system, and there is no political organization to support them. So how hopeful are we? We only know that the hopes of the population are on us," Owomuhangi said.
UNFPA operates a wide range of sexual and reproductive services in many countries, but in Yemen it focuses primarily on life-saving interventions during childbirth.
"It's already the minimum service," Arthur Erken, UNFPA's director of strategic partnerships and communications, told CBS News. "These health facilities that lack staff, that lack supplies, that have been bombed or been severely damaged by the war, are already in a difficult state - these 140 need to stay open. Otherwise the consequences will be directly – the health and death will be directly a result of closing (them). Of course, if you have no money, that's pretty much end-of-story," he said.
Even before the coronavirus started spreading across the world, the agency didn't have enough funding to make it to the end of this year.
"Women are pregnant. They were pregnant before the crisis. They're pregnant now. How do you deal with that?" said Erken. He said the crisis can only be addressed by the international community collectively, and he urged nations to step up through the U.N., "to make sure that being pregnant is not a death sentence in the coronavirus crisis."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-news-un-maternity-wards-in-yemen-are-out-of-money/
(B H)
Yemen: Education Cluster Monthly Analytical Dashboard (January - March 2020)
Yemen: Education Cluster GAP Analysis (as of March 2020)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-education-cluster-gap-analysis-march-2020
Yemen: Education Cluster Gap Analysis (January - April 2020)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-education-cluster-gap-analysis-january-april-2020
(A H P)
Al-Sabeen hospital in Capital Sanaa appeals to UN to continue supporting humanitarian field
The hospital stated in its appeal, Saba got a copy of it, that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA ) stopped providing aid, which would hinder the provision of reproductive health services and obstetric care in the hospital.
The statement pointed to the delay by the UNICEF in providing cash assistance to the hospital's medical staff, which numbers are more than 350 staff.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096837.htm
(B H)
Film: Kinderschutz im Jemen / Save the Children
Shaif arbeitet für Save the Children im Jemen. Dort ist er jeden Tag vielen Gefahren ausgesetzt, denn im Jemen herrscht seit 2015 Krieg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mmD43SKOQ
(B H)
UNICEF Yemen Country Office Humanitarian Situation Report (Reporting Period: 1 - 31 March 2020)
UNICEF appealed for $535 million as part of the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC), which is aligned to the 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP). In March 2020, UNICEF received $3.7 million in generous contributions towards the HAC from Japan and the UNICEF National Committees of the United States, Germany, Denmark, and Finland.
The COVID-19 suppression measures imposed by the authorities in Yemen have a significant impact on UNICEF programme and operations. Schools and child friendly spaces have been closed. Attendance, admissions, and referrals in health nutrition programmes have decreased. Challenges appear in the replenishing of supplies, as movement is restricted. Additionally, all social, public events, including workshops, trainings, and events, have been suspended. The COVID-19 suppression measures have slowed down the implementation of all UNICEF programmes. The restrictions in movement that were imposed by the authorities since mid-March have affected the procurement and distribution of supplies.
The monitoring of ongoing activities by both UNICEF and Third-Party Monitors is also on hold in several locations.
(* B H)
Lebensmittelpreise steigen massiv
In den von Bürgerkriegen schon schwer getroffenen Ländern Syrien und dem Jemen steigen die Lebensmittelpreise massiv.
Im Jemen sei der Preis für die Versorgung einer Familie innerhalb eines Monats um 19 Prozent gestiegen. Die Preise steigen demnach, weil Ernte und Belieferung von Märkten und Geschäften durch Konflikte und Gewalt, aber auch durch die Ausgehbeschränkungen zur Eindämmung der Corona-Krise deutlich schwerer.
https://www.greenpeace-magazin.de/ticker/un-buergerkriegslaendern-steigen-lebensmittelpreise-massiv = https://der-farang.com/de/pages/un-in-buergerkriegslaendern-steigen-lebensmittelpreise-massiv
(* B H)
Geld für Jemen-Hilfe fehlt
Den Vereinten Nationen fehlt Geld für die notleidende Bevölkerung im Jemen.
Bisher sei erst ein Prozent der für dieses Jahr benötigten Mittel eingegangen, teilte das Büro zur Koordinierung humanitärer Hilfe in Genf mit. Insgesamt hat die UNO einen Bedarf von 3,4 Milliarden US-Dollar veranschlagt. Damit sollen Lebensmittel, Wasser, Medizin und Unterkünfte finanziert werden. Im Jemen sind rund 80 Prozent der schätzungsweise 28 Millionen Menschen auf Unterstützung angewiesen.
https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/uno-geld-fuer-jemen-hilfe-fehlt.1939.de.html?drn:news_id=1129939
und auch https://www.evangelisch.de/inhalte/170015/12-05-2020/un-erhielten-erst-ein-prozent-von-gebern-fuer-jemen-hilfe-2020 = https://chrismon.evangelisch.de/nachrichten/49733/un-erhielten-erst-ein-prozent-von-gebern-fuer-jemen-hilfe-2020
(B H)
WFP: Yemen Monthly Overview April 2020
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-monthly-overview-april-2020
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(* B H)
IOM Yemen | Displacement in Marib | 06 May 2020
SITUATION OVERVIEW
Since 21 January this year, IOM estimates over 9,500 households (HHs) have fled conflict-affected areas in Sana’a, Marib and Al Jawf governorates, as a result of heightened insecurity. Internally displaced people (IDPs) have mainly moved into Marib city, Marib Al Wadi, Medghal and Sirwah districts in Marib governorate. IOM and partners have provided safe shelters, essential aid items, emergency health care, clean water, safe sanitation and food to 54,418 new arrivals, since the start of the displacement crisis.
On 15 April, heavy rains and flooding damaged over 3,500 IDP shelters across 16 sites in Marib city, Sirwah, Alwadi and Medghal districts. IOM is carrying out flood risk reduction activities across vulnerable sites and providing critical shelter and non-food item (NFI) support to households whose shelter was either totally or partially destroyed by flooding.
IOM is committed to delivering assistance in Marib, particularly in light of the COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-displacement-marib-06-may-2020-enar
(B H)
IOM Yemen | Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) - Reporting Period: 03 - 09 May 2020
From 01 January 2020- 9 May 2020, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 13,150 Households or 78,900 Individuals have experienced displacement, at least once.
Between the 3rd May 2020 and 9th of May 2020, the highest number of displacements were seen in:
(B H)
UNICEF Yemen Country Office Humanitarian Situation Report (Reporting Period: 1 - 31 March 2020)
Between 1-18 March, over 1,750 families were displaced from Al Jawf and Marib. UNICEF provided Rapid Response Mechanism kits to 70,263 people and multi-purpose cash assistance to 50,918 people to meet their most critical immediate needs during the displacement.
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp1a
(** A H P)
Exclusive: Houthis conceal 100 coronavirus cases through threats and intimidation
[extract in cp1a]
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/782
(A P)
Al-Bukhiti: US Seeking to Expand Its Military Presence in Abyan
Vice President of the Yemeni Shura Council, Mohammad Al-Bukhiti, affirmed that the US is seeking to expand its military presence in Abyan governorate.
“At a time when fighting between Yemenis has been escalating in the south, US silently violates Yemen's sovereignty and is launching a military strike in Shakra city, Abyan governorate, under the title "Fighting Terrorism" in order to ensure the expansion of its military presence in the future," Al-Bukiti wrote in a post published on his Twitter page on Wednesday.
Al-Bukhiti explained that Al-Qaeda is a US-made. The US then fight it and mesmerize people to foster violence and counter-violence."
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12912
(A E P)
Technical teams continue to maintain national electricity network in capital Sanaa
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096890.htm
(A P)
16 der Betrogenen in Sanaa freigelassen
16 der Betrogenen, die von der Armee und den Volkskomitees wegen ihrer verdächtigen Aktivitäten im Zusammenhang mit der Aggression festgenommen wurden, heute in Sanaa freigelassen.
Während der Freilassung in Anwesenheit einer Reihe von Militärführern erklärte der stellvertretende Direktor der Abteilung für militärische Geheimdienste, Brigadier Hussein Hashem, dass die freigelassenen Personen in den Erklärungen zum Gefangenenaustausch registriert und auf der Grundlage von Geheimdienstinformationen für die Durchführung verdächtiger Aktivitäten, die der Aggression dienen, inhaftiert wurden.
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096848.htm
(* A P)
Houthis extort again businessmen in Ibb
The Houthis continue creating new justification for their extortion and intimidation against the businessmen.
This time in Ibb, the Houthis officials threaten arrest of businessmen who fail to pay exorbitant amounts of money to their authority under the name of Zakat.
Businessmen quoted by the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat daily Newspaper, said that the Houthis increased this year the Zakat 1,000 percent more than the previous year.
The action drove some businessmen to shut down their businesses amid intimidation and arrest and closures campaign started one week ago against staffers and owners of commercia shops.
Local sources said that 24 senior businessmen of Ibb were arrested throughout the past week.
The sources said that arrests of the businessmen were ordered by the Houthis official, Majed Al-Tina, director of Zakat Authority office in Ibb.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-39665
(A P)
Electricity announces return of government electricity to areas, neighborhoods in Sanaa
The Ministry of Electricity and Energy announced the restoration of government electricity to a number of areas and neighborhoods in the capital Sanaa, from the Heziaz power plant.
A source in the Ministry of Electricity's operations room told Saba that the return of government electricity to all homes in the capital's secretariat in a safe and regular manner comes in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Political Council, and in light of the state's keenness to alleviate the suffering of citizens.
He pointed out that the Ministry and the Electricity Corporation have prepared a plan to restore electricity to the areas and neighborhoods of the capital by lifting loads at the Heziaz power plant.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096802.htm
(A P)
Bukhiti: Hadi’s Legitimacy Nothing but Title for Conflicting Militias
The deputy Shura Council in the Salvation Government considered that the legitimacy of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen's resigned president, is nothing more than the title of conflicting militias and war brokers controlled by foreign countries.
“Hadi’s legitimacy is nothing but a title for conflicting militias among themselves and war brokers controlled by foreign countries,” Mohammed Al-Bukhiti wrote in a post published on his Twitter page on Tuesday. “Whatever we disagree, Ansarullah is the only hard core which national forces can rally around so that Yemen can regain its sovereignty, independence, geographical and demographic depth, and its civilizational role.”
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12874
(A P)
Yemeni official: Ansarullah is the only solid nucleus for Yemen
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti condemns Hadi administration as puppets under foreign control
A senior leader in Ansarullah’s Political Bureau, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti has launched a verbal attack against the Hadi puppet government.
“Hadi’s legitimacy is nothing more than a title for rival militias and war brokers, controlled by foreign countries,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said on Twitter account.
“No matter how different we may be, Ansarullah is the only solid nucleus around which national forces can rally so that Yemen can regain its sovereignty, independence over its geographical demographics, and its civilized role.”
https://www.uprising.today/yemeni-official-ansarullah-is-the-only-solid-nucleus-for-yemen/
(A P)
Electricity Ministry closes 12 power stations violating in Sanaa
Ministry of Electricity in coordination with the Interior Ministry closed on Tuesday 12 power stations violating in the capital Sanaa.
An official in the Ministry of Electricity's Operations Room said that closure of a number of a number of power stations came due to violations of the tariff and subscription price set by the ministry with private sector.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096705.htm
(A H P)
WHO lifts restrictions on staff activity in Houthi-held areas in Yemen
The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday lifted restrictions imposed on the activities of its staff in areas controlled by the Houthis in north and central Yemen.
“WHO hasn’t locked down or suspended its operations in northern areas of Yemen; it temporarily paused its staff movements due to perceived risks that could have impacted them,” the WHO office in Yemen explained on Twitter, adding that “the restriction on staff movement has been lifted and they’ll report to work effective immediately.”
referring to https://twitter.com/WHOYemen/status/1259813558675783680
(* A P)
150 NGOs call for the overturn of Yemeni journalists' death sentences
Organisations that support human rights, press freedom and journalists are calling on United Nations mechanisms and member states to help save the lives of four Yemeni journalists who were sentenced to deathin April 2020 in the capital Sana’a on charges of “spying” and “spreading false news.” Of the six other journalists in the same case whom the judge ordered to be freed, after five years in detention, only one has been released so far. The de facto authorities in Sana’a, the Houthis, must immediately overturn the death sentences and free the other nine journalists who have been convicted in violation of their right to freedom of expression.
https://www.skeyesmedia.org/en/News/News/12-05-2020/8545
(A P)
Mohammed al-Houthi: Saudi Arabia should end war in Yemen to save its own economy
Saudi austerity measures are useless as long as they continue the war on Yemen, al-Houthi says
Al-Houthi described the measures as “not going to save the faltering Saudi economy, due to the collapse of oil prices in the world market and the halt of revenues for the Umrah and Hajj [Islamic pilgrimages] seasons due to the corona epidemic.”
“The Saudi measures that were taken to raise tax income, suspend projects, reduce budgets and cancel high allowance, only amount to less than 25% of the total operating expenses per year of the aggression against Yemen,” al-Houthi wrote.
“It is more beneficial – instead of imposing austerity measures on the citizens – to stop the expenses of the war on Yemen, which will be capable of making up for the deficit.”
Regarding the Saudi declared ceasefire, Mohammed al-Houthi confirmed it to be a false one.
(* B P)
Who are the four Yemeni journalists under Houthi death sentence?
As four Yemeni journalists continue to wonder when or whether the Houthi authorities will execute the death sentences they received in April on spying charges, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for international pressure to make the Houthis understand that they will suffer international opprobrium if they do not overturn the sentences.
Before being abducted by the Houthis in 2015, the four journalists played leading roles in a Sanaa-based network of media outlets and Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp pages linked to Al-Islah, the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and ruling party in regions controlled by Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
After their abduction in 2015, the four journalists were secretly moved from one prison to another in Sanaa and were subjected to violent interrogations. Torture and repeated blows left all of them with severe physical and psychological aftereffects, according to the Association of Abductees’ Mothers. Amran has a slipped disc. Humaid has suffered loss of vision and has constant migraines. Walidi has chronic digestive problems.
“Efforts are urgently needed to end their nightmarish plight and return to humanitarian principles in a country where journalists have already paid a heavy price in the war
https://rsf.org/en/news/who-are-four-yemeni-journalists-under-houthi-death-sentence
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp6 – cp18
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-651b-yemen-war-mosaic-651b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-650-yemen-war-mosaic-650
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-650 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-650:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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