... Das Schicksal der Hadi-Regierung – Einfluss der US-Waffenlobby – Coronavirus verbreitet sich weiter, offizielle Zahlen viel zu niedrig, Furcht vor Katastrophe – und mehr
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-655b-yemen-war-mosaic-655b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
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
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12b Sudan
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Mercenaries / Söldner
cp13c Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13d Wirtschaft / Economy
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:
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(*** B H)
Millions of Lives Must Be Saved in Yemen
In this piece, we feature women, men, girls and boys whom we have met over the last five years of reporting on the crisis. Despite being faced with the hardest conditions and challenges, they show their incredible strength and resilience day after day.
Doctors, nurses and health-care workers
Only half of Yemen’s health facilities are functioning. Many that function already lack basic equipment like masks, let alone oxygen and other essential supplies. Many medical staff do not know when or if they will be paid. They tend to the sick without the protection needed to ensure their own safety.
Ibtissam and 3 million displaced
Ibtissam, a 15-year-old orphan girl, and her seven siblings live in a ragged tent in an informal settlement for displaced people in Khamir, about 100 km north of the capital, Sana'a. Her parents died in 2015, leaving eight children behind. When conflict worsened in Sa’ada, Ibtissam and her siblings were evacuated by an uncle and trucked for three days before arriving at the Khamir settlement. They were left to fend for themselves.
Sofia, refugee and mother of six
Sofia, 30, is a Somali mother of six. She holds her newborn twin boys in the maternity ward at Al Sadaqah hospital in Aden. Sofia has lived in Yemen for 15 years. She has given birth to nine children but lost three in childbirth.
Batool Ali was a 6-year-old girl who weighed only 7.5 kg. The village where she and her family lived was heavily targeted when the conflict first escalated in March 2015. The families in that region dug holes outside where they would shelter from air strikes at night. Batool’s mother says her daughter's health deteriorated greatly during that time. Batool’s parents first brought her to Al-Jomhouri hospital in Sa’ada city when they heard that the hospital would cover all treatment costs with UNICEF support.
Batool was discharged from the hospital after 22 days. However, months later her health deteriorated. Her mother brought her back to the hospital but was told the funding had stopped. As Batool’s parents couldn’t afford treatment, they brought her home. A few weeks later, the hospital received funding from a philanthropist and asked Batool’s family to bring her back.
At the time the photograph was taken, Batool was receiving treatment. Tragically, she passed away a few days later.
Fawaz is barely recognizable in the below photos - a plump, smiley child. Doctors saved his life. Fawaz made it, against all odds, but at two years old he still cannot walk. And he is not home yet - his family still lives in the abandoned school in Aden, where conditions are harsh. Fawaz’s father earns about $6 per day, which is not enough to provide either basic food for his family or rented accommodation.
Adnan, age unknown
Adnan, a shepherd boy, stands at the top of a valley 30 km south of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a. When asked about his age, he replied that he did not know. Adnan used to go to school but stopped after the roads were closed because of the fighting. He now herds goats instead.
Adnan is one of the 2 million children in Yemen today who do not receive a formal education.
The fishermen
Fishermen drag freshly-caught swordfish ashore at the Siera fish market in Aden. The fishermen sail some 30 miles into the Red Sea in wooden boats, usually with a crew of three. They catch these large swordfish on hand lines and often need all three crew members to pull them in as they fight the line.
Al Okab school
Al Okab school in Sa'ada city was destroyed during the conflict in mid-2015. Students now attend lessons in UNICEF tents nearby.
Daily resilience(photos)
https://unocha.exposure.co/millions-of-lives-must-be-saved-in-yemen
(** B H)
A matter of life and death for Yemen’s women and girls as funding dries up
In mid-May, just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Yemen, funding for UNFPA’s life-saving reproductive health services dried up. UNFPA has been forced to suspend the provision of reproductive health care in 140 out of 180 health facilities. Now only 40 health facilities across the country are providing these services.
There have already been tragic consequences.
Mariam, a war widow with four daughters, had been receiving antenatal care at the UNFPA-supported BaniShamakh health centre – the only health centre in the district. But when she arrived with heavy bleeding last week, she found that maternal services had ceased and the doctor had departed. Mariam subsequently died of haemorrhage.
In another incident, a woman named Zainab died of post-partum bleeding after delivering a daughter, Safiya. The hospital where she planned to deliver had lost its gynaecologist due to the funding shortage, leaving Zainab to give birth at home, without help when complications arose.
Current and former health facility staff say they are heartbroken.
“The most painful part is that now we are powerless and we cannot do anything about it,” said Adel Shuja’a, a nurse at the BaniShamakh centre. He says all the maternal care – from iron and folic acid supplements to management of obstetric emergencies – has stopped. “We are in this poor community that is exhausted from war. The suffering of poor families has increased, and we may lose many of our mothers and children.”
“What stuck with me most was a man whose eyes filled with tears when he learned that free services were not available,” said a nurse from Al Hudaydah, who broke the news to several pregnant women that no midwives were available. “He returned to his home with his pregnant wife… I felt so helpless that day.”
Millions at risk
UNFPA is the sole provider of life-saving reproductive health medicines and supplies in Yemen, which has seen its health system all but collapse under five grinding years of conflict.
Last year, UNFPA reached more than 3.5 million women and girls with reproductive health and protection services, providing support to 260 health facilities and 3,800 reproductive health workers. But as funding has run out, these programmes have been scaled back or shut down.
At the beginning of 2020, UNFPA appealed for $100.5 million for its humanitarian response in Yemen; to date, only 41 percent of that has been mobilized. An additional $24 million is needed for the COVID-19 response.
If no funding materializes by July, UNFPA will be forced to close up to 90 per cent of its life-saving reproductive services across the country.
The funding had been a game-changer, said one midwife from Al Shahel Rural Hospital. “We were able to have reproductive health medicines, a midwife and a female doctor. The health facility never had a midwife or a female doctor before. It was a big turning point for our village,” she described. “We were serving more than 23,000 people, but unfortunately the support has now stopped.”
The hospital had received up to 120 cases per day, she said. “But now, after suspending the services, we are unable to provide the most basic treatment.”
The long-term costs could be staggering: It is estimated that 2 million women and girls of childbearing age could be at risk due to the loss of reproductive health services. Some 48,000 women could die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
Health care winding down as pandemic ramps up
Reproductive health services are winding down just as Yemen begins to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are now in a life-or-death situation. Women and girls will die if we do not provide critical reproductive health services. We can only do so if funding becomes available,” said Nestor Owomuhangi, UNFPA’s acting representative in Yemen.
A virtual pledging conference, co-hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Nations, is taking place on 2 June.
https://www.unfpa.org/news/matter-life-and-death-yemens-women-and-girls-funding-dries = https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1065122
(** B H P)
COVID-19 Tunnel Vision in Arabia: Yemen’s Regional Crisis in the Midst of a Global Pandemic
Amidst this media noise and humanitarian reaction, what kind of relative impact will COVID-19 actually have in Yemen? Data from China, replicated by patterns emerging in other countries across the world demonstrate that coronavirus mortality rates are highest among those aged 65 and older. Children and adolescents have largely been spared the impact from the virus. Yemen has one of the youngest populations in the world with 60 percent of the country under 25 and only 4 percent of the population older than 65. According to WHO data from 2018, Yemen has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world at an average of 65.3 compared with an average life expectancy of over 78.5 in the United States. In Yemen, you are far more likely to die from a heart attack, a traffic accident, or an act of violence than COVID-19.
To date there are 1.2 million reported cases of cholera, which broke out in the early days of the conflict, along with tens of thousands sick with dengue fever, HIV, and diphtheria, highlighting the potential dangers of shifting medical resources away from treating existing local pandemics and reallocating them to a virus of unknown consequence for Yemen. Recent cases of major flooding in urban areas have increased the likelihood of yet another outbreak of cholera and other water-borne pathogens. Even after the flood waters have receded, increased mosquito populations will likely serve as an additional vector for disease transmission, such as malaria, before COVID-19 even makes a significant statistical impact
The answer for Yemen is not merely an increase in aid.
Humanitarian assistance in Yemen lacks a clear exit strategy as the donor countries and medical aid organizations have not adequately implemented safeguards against the dependency of local and national government. Most of the funds arriving in Yemen come with strings attached and must be distributed according to the donor’s priorities and politics, such as the increasing sums of aid being allotted for COVID-19 treatment. Foreign-dominated models of distribution have caused an overall medical brain drain in Yemen, a country that already had one of the worst doctor-patient ratios in the world. Those medical professionals who could afford to have already left the country, while those remaining behind have gravitated towards the better-funded international projects, leaving basic general healthcare dangerously understaffed. Donors in Yemen need to find ways not only to solve the human resource crisis in the medical field, but also decrease dependency on foreign healthcare workers. Basic healthcare training in cooperation with local governing authorities and hospitals has been hampered by the political sensitivities of the conflict in Yemen and the general difficulty of operating in an active war zone.
The majority of all funds donated for health efforts in Yemen never actually reach the clinics and hospitals on the other end of the line. Money is often siphoned off in the form of payments to ghost employees, inflated prices for local transport and storage, the theft of medications resold on the black market, and the sale of other counterfeit and dangerous drugs. Increasing sums of humanitarian aid has led to profiteering as control over the financial sector and local security has enabled the Houthi networks to influence aid distribution. The use of formal financial networks for foreign aid distribution has also benefited the entrenched commercial and political elites, as Yemeni riyals are not accessible outside Houthi-controlled banks in Sana’a. In order to pay local Yemeni staff working with foreign donors and to procure goods and supplies in northern Yemen, Western donors need to utilize financial institutions based in Sana’a which are vulnerable to Houthi extortion and open corruption.
While the only effective long-term solution to many of these health crises is to end the state of war in Yemen, humanitarian aid organizations need to abide by the principal of “do no harm”. A total or partial lockdowns and international obsession over the perceived impacts of COVID-19 could have an irreparable impact of a generation of Yemenis who might, as a result, be deprived of medical attention for oral rehydration therapy to treat Cholera. They may have to forgo regular preventative care and will have interrupted timelines for childhood vaccines. In reality, “COVID Tunnel Vision” might cause far more harm to Yemenis than the virus itself, especially since 96 percent of Yemen’s population is under the age of 65 and facing far lower rates of mortality – by Asher Orkaby
(** B P)
Saudi Arabia’s puppet Yemen government is hanging by a thread
Hadi vowed to maintain the country’s unity against all attempts to divide it.
“We are making every effort to restore the state and end the coup and rebellion in the north and south of the country,” he said in reference to the Houthi-led National Salvation Government (NSG) in the state capital Sanaa and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) currently in control of the de facto capital Aden.
However, Hadi’s internationally-recognised government, as I have previously argued, lacks legitimacy, and clearly serves as a puppet of Saudi Arabia which is determined, but failing, to maintain the status-quo of its poorer neighbour. Yemen has been reduced to the status of a subservient client state, as it was under Hadi’s predecessor, the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The problem for Hadi and his Saudi backers is that the war in Yemen, which has been raging for over five years, has yielded minimal results in terms of toppling the NSG in Sanaa
It is easy to be misled into thinking that the Saudi-backed forces control most of Yemen, especially when one considers the vast arid terrain which forms much pro-Hadi territory. The reality is that they control the less-densely populated, albeit larger, territories in the country, some of which have Al-Qaeda and Daesh elements within them. Moreover, there has been an increase in open clashes between the militias supported by coalition partners Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the south, which has diverted attention and resources from the overall objective of reinstalling the Hadi government.
Crucially, the Saudis are running out of patience and money in hosting the Yemeni government in exile. Many of its officials, including Hadi, stay in apartments or hotels in Riyadh and Jeddah, at the expense of the Saudi government. Early indications that they have overstayed their welcome were seen in February when it was suggested by one Saudi newspaper that Riyadh needs to replace Hadi and his officials because they have become a “burden” and are conspiring against allies from the confines of luxury hotels.
Saudi Arabia’s growing budget deficit, and reduced revenue due to the dramatic fall in oil prices, as well as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy, may now be prompting Riyadh to take action. A document circulated recently on social media allegedly served notice on Hadi’s administration that the Saudi authorities are no longer able to support its stay in the Kingdom financially; living expenses are apparently being covered until the end of this month, after which the Yemeni officials will need to cover their own costs.
The uncharismatic Yemeni President was undoubtedly hand-picked as vice president by his wily predecessor Saleh, because he did not pose a threat to his position. Similarly, he is simply a figurehead of the Saudi-based Yemeni government; he is also ailing.
The fate of the Yemeni government in exile will face further uncertainty if he should die, as his own vice president is the notorious Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, who has well-established ties to Al-Qaeda. He will have an even harder time trying to unite the fractured country
The Saudis may also even find themselves no longer willing to provide support for the Islah militia which is an important group of pro-Hadi fighters in Yemen
Governing Yemen from five star luxury in Riyadh was never practical to begin with, and has become even more challenging due to Covid-19. The so-called legitimate government is unable to offer protection to its own citizens against the viru
It is unclear how long the Saudis can continue to wage war in Yemen and prop up the puppet administration led by Hadi, especially when he is supposedly holding the legitimacy of the Yemeni government intact – by Omar Ahmed
(** B K P)
Einfluss der Rüstungslobby auf die US-Politik: Beispiel Jemen
Die Arme des militärisch-industriellen Komplexes greifen bis ins Weisse Haus. Die New York Times zeigt den Einfluss konkret auf.
«Warum US-Bomben die Zivilbevölkerung in Jemen töten», titelte die New York Times am 19. Mai ihre Recherche und gibt gleich die Antwort: «Für Trump sollen Waffengeschäfte Arbeitsplätze schaffen – egal wer sie benutzt und wie sie benutzt werden.» Das sei schon unter Präsident Barack Obama so gewesen, aber Präsident Donald Trump treibe diese Politik auf die Spitze.
US-Administrationen würden es in Kauf nehmen, dass der Krieg der von den USA massiv unterstützten saudische Koalition in Jemen zur grössten humanitären Katastrophe geführt hat. Freuen können sich die an der Waffenherstellung beteiligten Grosskonzerne, die an den Multimilliardengeschäften gut verdienen, allen voran Raytheon, Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, United Technologies oder General Dynamcis.
Als sich im Juni 2017 ein einflussreicher Republikanischer Senator gegen weitere Waffenverkäufe stellte, hätte das Töten gestoppt werden können.
Nicht aber unter Präsident Trump. Da es um Milliardengeschäfte ging, machte es der Berater von Waffenkonzernen, Peter Navarro, zu seiner Aufgabe, die Opposition auszubremsen. Navarro beriet sich mit amerikanischen Waffenherstellern, bevor er in einem Memo Jared Kushner und andere einflussreiche Leute im Weissen Haus dazu aufrief, zu intervenieren. Der Titel des Memos: „Trumps Waffengeschäfte im Mittleren Osten extrem gefährdet, Arbeitsplatzverluste drohen.“ Innerhalb weniger Wochen liefen die Waffenlieferungen an Saudi-Arabien wieder an.
In dieser Intervention, die bislang unbeachtet blieb, sieht die New York Times den fundamentalen Wandel in der amerikanischen Aussenpolitik unter Donald Trump: Wirtschaftliche Interessen haben vor allem anderen Vorrang. Waffengeschäfte sollen Gewinn bringen und Arbeitsplätze schaffen, egal wofür, und egal wo das Kriegsmaterial eingesetzt wird. „Dieses Weisse Haus ist gegenüber Lobbyisten der Verteidigungsindustrie weit zugänglicher als jedes andere, an das ich mich erinnern kann“, sagte Loren B. Thompson gegenüber der New York Times. Der erfahrene Analyst ist ebenfalls Berater grosser Waffenhersteller.
«Nur den Aktionären verpflichtet»
Amerikanische Waffenhersteller, die an die Saudis verkaufen, stellen sich auf den Standpunkt, sie seien ihren Aktionären verpflichtet und täten nichts Falsches. Verkäufe an ausländische Militärs müssten schliesslich vom Aussendepartement genehmigt werden. Dessen Regeln würden sie einhalten. Dokumente zeigen, dass Waffenverkäufe ins Ausland unter Trump massiv gestiegen sind.
Als sich die Lage in Jemen auch nach vielen Kriegsjahren verschlechterte, wartete ein Waffenkonzern nicht mehr auf die offiziellen Genehmigungen und Regelungen. Raytheon bemühte sich vielmehr mit allen Mitteln, hohe Beamte zu beeinflussen, nachdem einige Abgeordnete im Kongress versuchten, die Verkäufe an Saudi-Arabien aus humanitären Gründen zu verbieten. Dabei nutzte Raytheon jedes Schlupfloch. Der Konzern engagierte ehemalige Offizielle des Aussenministeriums, die sich nicht als Lobbyisten registrieren mussten, um ihre früheren Kollegen dazu zu bewegen, die Verkäufe zu genehmigen. Obwohl das Unternehmen schon tief in Washington eingebettet war – sein Chef-Lobbyist Mark Esper wurde Verteidigungsminister unter Trump – suchte Raytheon noch engeren Kontakt. Der Konzern engagierte den einflussreichen Berater Peter Navarro, der sich im Weissen Haus erfolgreich für ihre Belange einsetzte.
Navarro ist einer von Trumps Vertrauten
Trump hatte die Wahl nicht zuletzt gewonnen, weil er versprach, die amerikanische Industrie stark zu machen. Doch das war nicht so einfach. Peter Navarro, der Trumps Wahlkampagne begleitete, glaubte, die Lösung gefunden zu haben. Er überzeugte Trumps Übergangsteam, die Nationale Sicherheit ins Spiel zu bringen und die Verteidigungsindustrie zu fördern, auch mit Zöllen. So könnten Arbeitsplätze geschaffen und das Handelsdefizit verringert werden. Im Dezember ernannte Trump Navarro zum Chef des neu geschaffenen „National Trade Council“. Obwohl dieses Gremium vor allem auf dem Papier bestand, gewann Navarro grossen Einfluss, und die Waffenindustrie horchte auf. Kurz nach Trumps Amtseinführung im Januar 2017 gingen Raytheon und andere Waffenhersteller bei Navarro ein und aus – von Christa Dettwiller
https://www.infosperber.ch/Wirtschaft/Einfluss-der-Rustungslobby-auf-die-US-Politik-Beispiel-Jemen
My remark: In English, read the original NYT version at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/arms-deals-raytheon-yemen.html
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H)
Bürgerkrieg und jetzt Corona: Jemen: Die Krise in der Krise
Es steht nicht gut um den Jemen: Das krisengebeutelte Land ist arm, hat ein kollabiertes Gesundheitssystem und fürchtet Covid-19. Ein Blick auf die humanitäre und politische Lage.
Es ist die größte humanitäre Krise weltweit, erklärt die christliche Hilfsorganisation Medair. Seit 2017 ist die Organisation im Land, baut Gesundheitszentren auf, kümmert sich um die Trinkwasser-Versorgung sowie sanitäre Anlagen.
"Es gibt doppelt so viele Bedürftige wie in Syrien, und die Weltbevölkerung nimmt kaum Notiz. Man merkt, dass auf dem Jemen kein Fokus der Weltgemeinschaft liegt", sagt Steffen Horstmeier, Geschäftsführer Internationale Programme bei Medair. Es fehle an allem - und das bereits seit Jahren. Die Auswirkungen auf die Gesundheit der Jemeniten sei enorm. Die Hilfsorganisation fand heraus, dass zwei Drittel der Bevölkerung neben humanitärer auch psychosoziale Unterstützung benötigen.
Die Corona-Pandemie verschärft die prekäre Situation. "Wir werden eine Krise in der Krise erleben", ist sich Horstmeier sicher. Die Corona-Pandemie verschärft die prekäre Situation. "Wir werden eine Krise in der Krise erleben", ist sich Horstmeier sicher.
Medair habe schon früh begonnen, mit den Menschen zu sprechen und über die Krankheit und ihre Gefahren aufzuklären. Vor allem die Hygienemaßnahmen sind Kern- und Knackpunkt zugleich: "Mehr als 17 Millionen Jemeniten haben keinen Zugang zu gutem Wasser, und diesen Menschen muss man dann erklären, wie sie sich effektiv die Hände waschen sollen - auch noch mit Seife. Das ist extrem schwierig." Distanzregeln sind kaum einzuhalten: Im Durchschnittshaushalt leben generationsübergreifend sieben Personen.
Politisch wird Covid-19 heruntergespielt, denn wie ernst die Huthis das Virus nehmen, ist unklar. "Die Huthis möchten nicht, dass publik wird, wie viele Fälle es im Norden oder in Sanaa bereits gibt", weiß Politologin Transfeld. Einerseits wolle man damit zeigen, man sei besser aufgestellt als die andere Seite, andererseits wolle man so verhindern, dass sich die Weltgemeinschaft einmischt.
Die Ärzte in Aden beispielsweise schicken Covid-19-Patienten nach Hause - egal in welchem Zustand. "Ich gehe davon aus, dass wir im Jemen einen dramatischen Anstieg der Todeszahlen sehen werden", so Transfeld.
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/coronavirus-jemen-buergerkrieg-huthi-100.html
(B H)
COVID-19 im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen (Fotos)
https://www.gmx.net/magazine/unicef/covid-19-buergerkriegsland-jemen-34742022
(** B H P)
Coronavirus Slams Broken, Embattled Yemen
Lacking equipment, expertise and authority, a divided, war-torn country bobbles a response to a surging pandemic.
The coronavirus appears to have slammed into Yemen, a country already staggering from five years of war, competing power centers, a health care system in ruins, widespread hunger and outbreaks of cholera and other infectious diseases.
But the denial of the outbreak in the Houthi-controlled north, the absence of clear authority in the divided south and the drying-up of aid everywhere have hobbled any hope of limiting the virus’s spread, leaving health care workers and hospitals ill-equipped to cope with it and the public confused and suspicious of efforts to combat it.
The pandemic has generated rumors that patients were being euthanized at hospitals, causing many Yemenis to shy away from treatment. Yet when they can no longer avoid the hospital, they are regularly turned away for lack of beds, protective equipment and medical supplies.
The authorities in many places are too weak to prevent large crowds from gathering at prayers, funerals and marketplaces, or residents from traveling within the country.
The confusion and doubt are compounded by the secrecy surrounding the outbreak — officially, the country has only 282 confirmed cases and 61 deaths.
“In Yemen, we think there’s no coronavirus because we don’t trust our own health system,” said Salah Mohammed, a school security guard in the southern port city of Aden. “They talk about a curfew to prevent the spread of the disease. Great. But why do they allow people to move freely around the country if there’s a curfew?”
With little testing available and the government and hospitals in disarray, it is difficult to measure the virus’s true spread in Yemen. What numbers are known, however, are grim.
The reason for the secrecy is unclear. But one result is that the virus is likely to spread further, analysts said.
“The Houthis aren’t just shooting themselves in the foot,” said Osamah al-Rawhani, the executive director of the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, a Beirut-based think tank focused on Yemen. “They’re shooting people. The people who are in power haven’t recognized or revealed the right information to the public. And secrecy makes people do the wrong things because they’ve gotten the wrong message.”
The spike in deaths suggests that the official virus death toll is a vast undercount.
Yemen’s health care system, already overrun with outbreaks of cholera and other serious diseases, is gasping. Most doctors and nurses have not been paid in years, leading many to leave the public health system. Those who stayed are now being asked to treat coronavirus patients without protective gear.
Azzubair, an emergency room doctor at a hospital in Dhamar Province, south of Sana, said he and his colleagues had been given only cheap, flimsy masks and gowns despite treating an average of six suspected Covid patients a day.
“We can’t help but deal with possible Covid-19 cases on a daily basis,” said Azzubair
One persistent rumor darting around Yemen is that people who go to the hospital receive lethal injections to put them out of their misery. In Houthi territory, armed personnel have fired into the air to keep people away as medical teams take people suspected of being infected into quarantine, residents said.
In Aden, a city of half a million, the recent power transfer has left no authority capable of mounting an organized public-health campaign – by Vivian Yee
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/world/middleeast/virus-yemen.html
(** B H)
Yemen Officially Has One of the Middle East's Lowest COVID-19 Counts. In Reality, the Virus Is Spreading Unseen and Unchecked
When international aid agency Doctors Without Borders took over management of the COVID-19 treatment center at a hospital in the Yemeni city of Aden on May 7, one of the immediate challenges was convincing cleaners, porters, and even some of the hospital’s doctors that the novel coronavirus existed, and could make them sick.
“After years of war, after years of having no proper services, people in general don’t trust what the media says, and they don’t trust the authorities,” the center’s deputy project co-ordinator Mohammed Abdulrahim told TIME by phone from Aden on May 24. “At the beginning, we had medical staff getting sick. They had direct contact with patients without taking precautions like putting on masks—they just treated it like a normal disease.”
Staff misperceptions of COVID-19 were just one of the obstacles Abdulrahim and his team faced. Before Doctors Without Borders (MSF) took over the al-Amal facility’s management there was no dedicated ambulance for coronavirus patients, and a political dispute meant Yemen’s government had stopped paying staff salaries, leading to a wave of resignations. Three weeks into its tenure, dire shortages of PPE and oxygen remain, and dozens of MSF staff are off sick in Aden.
The frontline medics at al-Amal are just a handful of the people struggling to prop up a healthcare system devastated by more than five years of war.
Now, the coronavirus is here and spreading silently through the country. Although testing is almost non-existent, doctors at the only dedicated COVID-19 treatment center in Yemen’s south say they are struggling to cope with a 40% mortality rate and a growing caseload of patients. “The team is under permanent stress with staff missing or not trained enough,” Marc Schakal, MSF’s deputy operations manager for Yemen tells TIME by phone from Dubai. “There are very difficult clinical decisions to take for the doctors to make: We are obliged to set admission criteria based on age and chances of survival at the end.”
As harrowing as conditions are inside the treatment center, MSF doctors believe they are seeing “just the tip of the iceberg,” Shakal says, “We are really worried about much older people who are not able to reach the center, and who are dying in the community.”
Yemen’s official coronavirus caseload, among the lowest in the Middle East, is almost certainly misleading. As of May 28, the World Health Organization hadrecorded only 253 confirmed cases and 50 deaths among a population of 28 million.
The country has a miniscule casecount only because of the near-total absence of testing. So far, authorities have performed fewer than 1,000 COVID-19 tests, or 31 per 1 million citizens. That’s a lower per capita figure than in northeast Syria, Chad, or Idlib.
The observations of doctors at al-Amal’s COVID treatment center cast further doubt on official figures. Between April 30 and May 24, the center admitted 228 patients suffering from coronavirus-like symptoms. Of those patients, 99 have died, or more than 40%. With the center permanently full, MSF is now expanding capacity to a total of 80 beds, up from 50 when it took over on May 7.
Facilities like this are desperately needed in a country with a barely functioning healthcare system.
According to a May 18 UNOCHA situation report, Yemen currently has fewer than 150 ventilators, about 500 ICU beds, and only five labs capable of conducting COVID-19 tests.
In Aden “some hospitals have closed because they’re worried about contamination, or because of lack of essential supplies that could protect the health of workers,” says MSF’s Schakal. Others have reportedly turned away patients who have sought help for breathing difficulties.
Although the MSF center still lacks sufficient staff numbers and PPE, oxygen is its most urgent need. E
Al-Amal’s alarming death rate is in part due to patients arriving at a very late stage in COVID-19’s progression, MSF’s doctors say. But what is especially striking is that most of the dead are between 40 and 60 years old—considerably younger than the majority of those who have succumbed to the disease in European hospitals. While it’s possible that environmental stressors make Yemen’s population more vulnerable to COVID-19, doctors suspect the high death rate means many more people in Aden—particularly the elderly—are dying at home without seeking treatment.
It’s a hypothesis reflected in the city’s burial rates. On May 14, Save the Children reported that 380 people in the city had died of “coronavirus-like symptoms” in a single week. On the same date, the official fatality rate for the whole of Yemen was just 13. By late May, government burial statistics revealed that as many as 80 people were dying every day in Aden, compared to a pre-outbreak normal of 10.
“We don’t have visibility on the epidemiological curve, so we don’t really know when it stops,” Schakal tells TIME. “We don’t know if we are on the way up, at the top, or on the way down.”
Yemenis’ resistance to social distancing is not only down to public skepticism over information authorities have put out, says Abdulrahim. Even if people believe official messaging, most of Aden’s population relies on daily work to feed their families. “Either people stay at home, where the electricity cuts out and they die because they’re starving, or they die because of corona,” he tells TIME. “Both ways, they are dead. So, they stop thinking and they just continue their life.” – by Joseph Hincks
https://time.com/5843732/yemen-covid19-invisible-crisis/
(** B H)
Corona and Strange Fevers … Dozens of Victims in Sana'a as in Aden
Veteran Yemeni journalist Abdul Rahman Bajash was able to describe what is happening in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and other Yemeni provinces recently, in a deep sentence: "The Yemeni Facebook has turned into a mere graveyard gate … as soon as you start browsing and you meet a fu neral." A shorthand for a terrible reality that the Yemenis have been tragically experiencing for more than a month..
Anxiety dominates Yemeni publications on social networking sites, and some try to appear coherent and positive, calling on people to cling to life and victory over death, even if Corona is the one carrying it.
In a country that suffers from the collapse of the health and economic sector and most of the infrastructure destroyed by the war that entered its sixth year without an indication of any peace looming over a powder-filled sky, blood and political intransigence, it is not strange that people are falling dead by many diseases and epidemics that originally did not exist except in Yemen and recently joined the deadly Corona epidemic.
Fevers and corona afflicted people in several Yemeni governorates such as Sana'a, Aden, Ibb, Taiz, and Al-Hodeidah, and caused them to panic because of the similarity of their symptoms to the virus that forced the world to declare a state of emergency a few months ago and a Yemeni health official did not come out to tell people what exactly is happening.
And spread in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and a number of governorates, strange fevers, similar in symptoms with the emerging corona virus, and a number of social media activists complained of having strange fevers that continued with them for half a month.
A resident of the city of Sanaa told "Debriefer" that he suffered from a fever accompanied by severe pain in his joints and a cold for nearly half a month, with a complete loss of "smell and taste", which continued even after his recovery.
Another said that he felt a high fever 10 days ago, which lasted for three consecutive days, after which he developed a cold, and despite his use of cold medications and painkillers, his improved health only lasted a few hours, and he relapsed again.
Fevers look similar in Sana'a and Aden, but they killed hundreds in the governorate in southern Yemen, as they are subject to a conflict between the legitimate government and the Emirati-backed transitional conflict, which cares little about its health status or poor public services and its lack of electricity and water.
Here, Sanaa has become like Aden in terms of recording large numbers of deaths. While the health authorities in Sanaa have reservations about commenting on the causes of these deaths, social media websites are filled with dozens of condolences daily.
It is stupid behavior from authorities that are discreet in the age of social media.
List of deaths of senior figures
Yesterday, Monday, Yemeni activists circulated a list of leading personal and social figures who died and their family and friends exchanged condolences without revealing the main cause of their death
Among those who died yesterday, Abdel Wahed Hazza Al-Odaini, a senior employee of the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had complained about the disease that forced him to enter the hospital on May 19, and there he entered into severe suffering that did not last 5 days, where he died in shock, especially to his colleagues in the diplomatic corps. Yemeni
The list of the dead, which was circulated widely on Monday, was for businessmen, military, legal, literary, and even doctors, most of whom were elderly people between the ages of 50 and 70 years.
The increasing cases of death, whether due to corona or fevers, were not restricted to Aden and Sanaa, as governorates such as “Ibb and Taiz” witness a similar and very dangerous situation.
Journalist Abdel-Qawi Shaalan wrote on his Facebook page: “In Taiz, fevers throughout the year, especially with the fluctuations of seasons and rain, but fevers in Taiz this year 2020 are accompanied by a state of fear and fear that fever and headaches are symptoms or precursors to Corona , putting patients and their families in a state of anxiety. "
Journalist Majid Yassin described what is happening in the central governorate of Ibb as frightening, calling on people to fear for themselves and stay at homes.
Human rights activists in Sanaa are speaking about mysterious funerals whose residents are forced to bury their dead secretly and in the presence of people no more than three, while dozens of dead are buried in places not designated for burial.
The authorities don't care about what is going on
The "Debriefer" agency asked one of the doctors in Sanaa about the true diagnosis of the recently spread diets. He said that "all viruses that infect the respiratory system share symptoms among themselves, and the final diagnosis is difficult unless the DNA or one of its toxic exercises is known to it."
He stressed that with regard to the loss of the sense of smell and the taste that many complain of, "it is not necessarily caused by the Corona virus, because any viral, bacterial, or even allergic disease or nasal polyps may cause a loss of smell and taste."
The Yemeni doctor suggested that one of the reasons for the spread of fever is "the continuous wave of rain that the country witnessed during the past two months. It has also caused the spread of spinal fever, but the authorities do not care."
There are those who say that the pathological symptoms that appeared to most Yemenis since the beginning of this May confirm that Corona has indeed afflicted Yemeni society, but with varying proportions and effects.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17400.html
(** B H)
Yemen was facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Then the coronavirus hit
Perhaps no country is more vulnerable to COVID-19’s depredations than Yemen. Even before the virus’ arrival, the country was grappling with “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world,
And now, after staging massive aid operations in Yemen over the past few years, the United Nations is running out of cash as donations from member countries—busy battling COVID-19 on their own turf—dry up. “Tragically, we do not have enough money to continue” the relief work, the heads of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and other U.N. agencies write in an urgent call to donors issued today. “COVID-19 could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” says Abdulwahed Al-Serouri, technical adviser to the Yemen Field Epidemiology Training Program run by the health ministry in Aden.
The rival health ministries in Aden and Sana’a “each accuse the other of lying about the extent of COVID-19 in the areas they control,” says Hakeem Al-Jawfy, a critical care and respiratory specialist at Al Thawra Modern General Hospital. Altaf Musani, an epidemiologist who heads WHO’s office in Yemen, says one problem is that official tallies only reflect severely ill patients in COVID-19 isolation wards. People with mild or moderate symptoms—not to mention asymptomatic individuals—are simply not getting tested.
The fuse for a calamity has been lit. “We have at least nine clusters showing active transmission in the south,” Musani says. Earlier this week, during a monthlong ceasefire in much of the country, revelers celebrating Eid, the festival marking the end of Ramadan, thronged markets. “Many people are going about their lives unconcerned and unaware of danger,” says Abdul Rahman Al-Azraqi, a physician and former hospital manager in Taiz.
Based on modeling by a group at Imperial College in London, WHO is bracing for the novel coronavirus to infect about half of Yemen’s population and kill an estimated 30,000 to 40,000. But the toll be much higher if the United Nations can’t replenish its coffers.
Yemen is facing the crisis after a conflict-driven brain drain hollowed out its ranks of doctors and scientists.
Deprived of government subsidies, hospitals have sought to prop themselves up by charging more, which put medical care out of reach for poorer patients. Before 2011, people had to pay at most 10% of the cost of procedures, Al-Jawfy says. “Now they pay 100%.” Humanitarian groups have provided basic medicines such as adrenalin, and some protective equipment, Al-Jawfy adds. But his hospital’s MRI machine hasn’t worked in 4 years, he says. He contends that Saudi customs officials seized a shipment of spare parts on the grounds they could be used in missiles. “Most of our ventilators are out of order. No spare parts,” he adds. Only 157 of Yemen’s 500-odd ventilators are working, Laerke says.
One asset in the battle against COVID-19 is a legacy of Yemen’s attempts to quell its cholera outbreak, the largest ever recorded. To run down leads and rumors of suspected cholera cases, the United Nations trained rapid-response teams in all of Yemen’s 333 districts. These health care workers, Musani says, are “playing a pivotal role” against COVID-19.
This small army on the front lines of Yemen’s existential crisis has its work cut out for them. “Tackling COVID in Yemen,” Lashuel says, “is almost mission impossible.” – by Richard Stone
(* B H)
Coronavirus Stalks The Country With The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis
In the Yemeni city of Aden, doctors and nurses of Al-Wali Hospital and their families have become patients. With the 75 beds in this private hospital now full, members of the public are being turned away.
"Right now, we can't accept anyone else," said Amr Al-Turkey, a critical care physician in the hospital who is recovering from COVID-19.
Across the city, medical staff and their relatives are falling ill with COVID-19, doctors and aid workers have told NPR. As the coronavirus spreads, there are soaring numbers of infected patients, while the health care facilities lack everything from protective gear for staff to beds for the ill to specialist expertise.
MSF runs the only facility dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients. It's based in Aden but cares for the sick from all across southern Yemen. From the end of April until now, just over 200 patients have been admitted, and of those close to 100 have died.
The aid group said the number of deaths in Aden from the coronavirus is likely much higher.
Thierry Durand, MSF's coordinator of operations in southern Yemen, said the organization's staff there is sometimes left feeling "powerless." Speaking to NPR shortly after leaving Aden as part of his work rotation, he described medical teams working day and night even as patients, colleagues and loved ones died before them.
"The only way to help people pass the peak of this disease is with oxygen therapy, with or without mechanical ventilation," Durand said. But not enough is available. "So we are seeing people dying quickly – in a matter of a few hours."
The staff is also directly affected. Between the COVID-19 clinic and another hospital in the city where staff work, Durand said 40 of MSF's health care workers are sick – some from diseases such as dengue but many from the coronavirus.
Their relatives are falling sick, too. "One of our doctors brought his mother into the clinic during the night. In the morning, she was dead," Durand said. "And he is now sick."
Last week MSF called on the United Nations and donor states to do more to help.
(* B H)
COVID-19 Spreading ‘Fast and Wide’ Across Yemen
Local health officials also are reporting dozens of unidentified deaths per day.
“The pandemic is widely spreading, adding to other diseases like cholera, dengue fever and chikungunya,” said Adam al-Jaidi, a doctor working with the World Health Organization (WHO) on the front lines of the coronavirus response in the southwestern province of Taiz.
Al-Jaidi said local officials were not taking preventative measures seriously and warring parties were continuing to fight, further complicating the situation.
WHO has refitted about 38 health care facilities to accommodate COVID-19 patients, but only about half of those are fully functional. It also is setting up isolation units for positive patients, bringing in thousands of diagnostic testing kits and trying to keep medical centers equipped with a reliable supply of oxygen.
“In Taiz, for example, there is not a single isolation unit,” al-Jaidi said. “There are maximum 16 functioning ventilators serving a city populated by 3 million people.”
“That hugely underestimates the actual spread and impact of this disease,” Mike Ryan, WHO executive director of health emergencies, told reporters Thursday.
He warned that if COVID-19 takes hold in the fragile country, its impact is likely to be “catastrophic.”
Yemen is ripe for widespread transmission. Many families live in crowded conditions, unable to socially distance and without access to clean water for handwashing, which is important to help prevent transmission of the virus. The head of UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, said Thursday that because of budget shortfalls, her agency was even running out of soap.
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/covid-19-spreading-fast-and-wide-across-yemen
(* B H)
War-torn Yemen is facing ‘an abyss’
YEMEN is being pushed “further into the abyss” as cases of Covid-19 spread rapidly there amid the continuing conflict, charities have said.
They warn that the virus is spreading fast, and, owing to lack of protective equipment for medics, hospitals in some parts of the country are closing for all but emergency treatment, leaving people to die at home.
Save the Children has said that only two hospitals in Aden remain open for emergencies — which do not include those with Covid-19 symptoms. Health services in the country are on the brink of collapse after five years of war. There are 142 ventilators for the whole of Yemen.
“The warring parties have hopelessly failed to implement a lasting ceasefire, and that is directly leading to a spike in deaths, both from Covid-19 and other diseases — for which they should be held accountable. The violence needs to stop so the Yemeni people, health workers, and aid organisations can focus on curbing the virus.”
The World Health Organization said that it was being forced to shut some of its aid programmes in Yemen, owing to lack of funding, including closing feeding centres for the most severely malnourished children.
The UN’s deputy emergency relief co-ordinator, Ramesh Rajasingham, said: “Amidst a pandemic, this is shocking.”
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2020/29-may/news/world/war-torn-yemen-is-facing-an-abyss
(* B H)
Fears of “highly catastrophic” COVID-19 spread in Yemen
The COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen will be “highly catastrophic” unless the authorities change course to apply mitigation measures in a country that is already highly fragile after more than 5 years of conflict, Altaf Musani, WHO's representative in Yemen, told The Lancet.
“Based on recently applied models for the context in Yemen, we are estimating in a worse-case scenario with no mitigation measures 28 million people infected, at least 65 000 deaths, and around 494 000 hospitalisations”, said Musani in a telephone interview from Sanaa. “It is a deeply alarming situation, highly catastrophic if people do not make serious behavioural changes [and] if we do not make some course corrections.”
Yemeni authorities, particularly in the north, have been loath to admit the full scale of the outbreak, said a health worker who did not want to be named because of fear of reprisal. Aid agencies have reported harassment and detention of staff as well as delays in obtaining permits. “The authorities are trying to hide but every day there are more dead bodies and it is out of control”, said the health worker.
Only half of the country's health facilities were operational before the COVID-19 outbreak.
WHO and other UN agencies have appealed for more COVID-19 funding, including medical support and equipment estimated to cost US$179 million.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31235-6/fulltext
(* B H)
Film: Yemen e virus, una catastrofe annunciata - Live con Medici senza frontiere
L'incubo di una guerra ininterrotta che ha prodotto la crisi umanitaria più drammatica e un popolo ora alle prese anche con il diffondersi della pandemia. Ne parliamo con il dottor Roberto Scaini di Medici senza frontiere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9XlqWp6Hcg
(* B H P)
On the eve of the international pledging conference, COVID-19 is spreading in Yemen
“With the resources we have, we’re doing what we can,” said Ms. Grande.
“14,000 volunteers are fanning out across the country informing communities about the virus, how it is transmitted and what they can to do to protect themselves. We’re scouring markets around the world to procure the supplies Yemen needs. More than 4,520 metric tons of medical equipment, testing kits and medicine has already arrived in country; 4,500 metric tons are on the way. Supplies are coming by sea, land and air.”
Partners are helping to build, upgrade, equip and train staff in 59 intensive care units across Yemen. An advance team has arrived in country ahead of possibly deploying two high capacity mobile field hospitals. Partners are starting to pay allowances for nurses and doctors and intend to expand this to 9,000 frontline COVID-19 workers as soon as funding is received.
“We have to do more and we can do more,” said Ms. Grande. “If we receive funding.”
(A H)
Corona virus sweeps the regions of Abyan and people call for help
The source added that last Tuesday, 9 deaths were recorded in the city of Jaar, as well as in the Darajaj region 8 cases were recorded among them a woman from Halma.
Al-Musaimir region also recorded three deaths with fever spread within five days.
The source revealed, “The health situation has become difficult in the absence of the governmental role in the health aspect of the governorate and the disappearance of the role of the local authority in Abyan to confront this deadly virus.
https://en.smanews.org/corona-virus-sweeps-the-regions-of-abyan-and-people-call-for-help
(A H P)
[Separatist] Higher Health Committee of Southern Self-Administration issues important statement regarding return of those stuck abroad
The Higher Health Committee of the Southern Self-Administration issued on Thursday an important statement regarding the returnees stuck in some countries abroad, in which it said that according to the request of the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Emergency Committee to confront the Corona virus and his contact with the head of the Southern Self-Administration, the Health Committee believes that the return of the stuck is considered an important humanitarian aspect, given the difficult financial conditions that they suffer in these countries, but the Committee stresses on the need to adhere to the health requirements necessary to ensure that the disease does not spread widely in our country in a way that is difficult to control.
The Health Committee called for giving sufficient time to arrange and organize the process of receiving arrivals and to ensure that the required conditions are met.
(* A H P)
Yemen confirms 27 new COVID-19 cases, 310 in total
Yemen's [Hadi gov.] health ministry on Saturday confirmed 27 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total tally of infections to 310 in the country's provinces controlled by the government.
According to a brief statement released by the country's supreme national emergency committee, "during the past 24 hours, the health teams officially registered 27 new COVID-19 cases in a number of provinces controlled by the government."
Meanwhile, the death toll from the deadly respiratory disease climbed to 77 after 12 new deaths were recorded in the areas controlled by the Yemeni government.
The pro-government health authorities said also that the number of recoveries has increased to 13 since the outbreak of coronavirus on April 10.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/31/c_139101488.htm
(* A H)
Yemen faces catastrophe as COVID-19 infects one, kills 8
Yemen on Friday recorded 8 deaths and one infection of COVID-19, the world's highest mortality rate of the virus in one day compared to infected cases.
Five new cases including 4 deaths were recorded, the Yemeni official government-run supreme emergency committee (SEC) tweeted, in addition to other 4 deaths announced earlier on the same day.
The southern governorate of Shabwa saw 3 deaths, northern Marib 3, eastern Hadhramout and southern Abyan saw one death each, and the southern governorate of Dhalea recorded one confirmed case of the virus, SEC added.
In government-held areas, COVID-19 infections have topped 283, including 65 deaths and 11 recoveries, while Houthi-held areas have seen blackout imposed by the health ministry in terms of real figures.
The Yemeni interim capital of Aden has recorded the world's highest rate of COVID-19-associated deaths, the UN Secretary-General said Thursday.
The mortality rate caused by the novel virus has reached 17%, Antonio Guterres added, describing the situation as "very tragic".
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17469.html
(A H)
UNRC in Yemen transports its driver aboard following he with Covid-19 infected
The director of the Al-Mayadeen TV in Sana'a, Ahmed Abdulrahman, revealed Saturday evening, the arrival of a UN plane to the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, to transport the driver of the UN Resident Coordinator in Yemen after he was infected with the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19).
Abdulrahman said on his Facebook page: "A UN plane arrived yesterday, Friday, at Sanaa airport, from Addis Ababa, to transport the driver of the Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande, who was infected with Covid-19."
"This happens as hundreds of Yemenis die every day in various governorates as a result of this epidemic.", he added.
What was published by the director of the Al-Mayadeen TV in Sana'a raised a situation of dissatisfaction among many social media activists in Yemen, considering this to be a provocation to Yemenis who have been trading international organizations for their human suffering for the past 6 years.
Some activists went on to accuse the driver of Lise Grande that he came to Yemen on a specific mission "spreading the Coronavirus", while others said that transporting the driver with a special UN plane outside Yemen was accompanied by responsible behavior by the Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17466.html
Photos: https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/1266822590020100102
My comment: These UN „Medical evacuation charter flights” had been a UN propaganda show only. Twice a small plane for 7 people each, while thousands were in urgent need, and after this, no more flights.
(A H P)
Houthi health minister promises imminent discovery of COVID-19 cure
The Minister of Health in the Houthi government, Taha Al-Mutawakkel, announced to a room full of health professionals and government officials on Saturday that “promising” research and development in Yemen will soon result in a vaccine for COVID-19.
Al-Mutawakkel and a number of Houthi ministers held a meeting on Saturday with staff from hospitals and public and private health centers in the capital Sana’a, according to the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.
At the meeting, Al-Mutawakkel reportedly claimed that the de-facto authorities were close to discovering the cure for the pandemic, saying “God willing and with the capabilities of our doctors, pharmacists, and laboratory colleagues we are conducting extensive research and the corona drug will come from Yemen.”
“There is extensive and promising research and studies in all that the word ‘promising’ means,” the health minister said, adding "the treatment will come from Yemen.”
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/858
My comment: This man has lost all credibility on COVID-19. He reminds me of Donald Trump.
(A H)
COVID-19 hit 2½ year old child in Hadramout
http://en.adenpress.news/news/23175
(B H)
Film: Women producing masks, in Hadi gov.-held West coast region
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59I7DfU2AnI
(B H)
Film (in Arabic, by Houthi Almasirah TV): The disastrous health situation has worsened in # Aden and the occupied areas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIJIuz91mRQ
(B H)
Some hospitals in north and south Yemen are refusing to treat patients, families have posted on social media.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1266906871690035203
(A H P)
Yemeni [Hadi] gov. t calls on UN to pressure Houthis to form joint COVID-19-Confort committee
The Yemeni internationally recognized government has asked the United Nations to pressure the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) to accept the formation of a joint committee to tackle the Corona epidemic urgently and without conditions.
And the Yemeni government announced in a statement, published by the Aden-based Yemeni news agency "Saba", late Friday, its support for the statements issued by the permanent committee of the international agencies issued last Tuesday, which warned of the seriousness of the health and humanitarian situation in the country, and called for Extensive international support for Yemen
The Yemeni government renewed its condemnation of the Houthis and "their continued pursuit of the practices of the Iranian regime by falsifying facts and shirking responsibilities and hiding the real numbers and statistics of the spread of the Corona pandemic in the areas under their control."
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17464.html
(A H)
UNICEF Airlifts Essential Supplies to Respond to COVID-19 in Yemen as Cases Increase
In response to the increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 in Yemen, a UNICEF chartered plane on Saturday, 30 May landed at Sana’a airport with lifesaving supplies to help curb the spread of the disease in the conflict-hit country.
The supplies are a range of medical assistance, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) items such as aprons, boots, face masks and gloves for frontline health workers
“These supplies will allow our courageous partners the health workers, who are working around the clock, to safely and more effectively address the spread of COVID-19,” said Sara Beysolow Nyanti, UNICEF Representative in Yemen. “Despite the uncertainty that the pandemic has brought, UNICEF is staying and delivering to reach children and families in need across the country. A robust and sustainable supply chain will allow us to continue doing our share.”
(B H)
Film (Arabic): Fears of the rising number of Coronavirus cases in Taiz
A number of citizens in Taiz province in southwestern Yemen expressed fears about the high number of people infected with Coronavirus in the province due to the inability of residents to buy preventive supplies and the indifference of many to health measures, which could portend a humanitarian disaster in Yemen's most densely populated province.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-7fvXjaqLE
(A H P)
Yemeni city under 24-hour lockdown as residents ignore health warnings
Local authorities in Yemen’s southeastern province of Hadramout have put the city of Tarim under 24-hour lockdown for 14 days to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) as residents had widely broken social distancing rules, local government officials said.
Tarim has a population of more than 100,000 and is described as the religious capital of Yemen as it is the country’s main center for Sufism. On Tuesday, thousands of mourners thronged the city’s streets to attend the funeral of a popular Sufi scholar
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1681826/middle-east
(* A H P)
[Hadi gov.] Health Ministry Undersecretary Abdulraqeeb Al-Haidari published the list of 19 deceased doctors on his Facebook page
Yemen has lost at least 19 doctors* thought to have contracted the novel coronavirus in various governorates throughout the country, according to data published by an official from the internationally recognized government’s Ministry of Health.
On Thursday, Health Ministry Undersecretary Abdulraqeeb Al-Haidari published the list on his Facebook page. Al-Haidari called on his followers to add the names of other doctors thought to have died from COVID-19, suggesting that the list is a personal data collection effort. I
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/850
(* A H P)
"PCR-test" besieges expatriates wishing to return to Yemen, Saudis offer it free
Thousands of Yemeni expatriates in Saudi Arabia who wish to return to their countries through the land “depository” link between the Kingdom and Yemen suffer from the consequences of the measures set by the internationally recognized government emergency committee.
A private source revealed to "Debriefer" that black hands are trying to exploit the desire of thousands of expatriates to return to their countries under the name of financial fees to examine the "PCR-test", which the emergency committee stipulated for those who wish to return through the Al-Wadeah port.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Committee, D. Salem Ahmed Al-Khanbashi, the Director General of the Land Al-Wadeah Port instructed to allow entry to the stranded Yemenis through the Al-Wadeah Port, provided that those arriving through the port have health certificates to test the PCR at their personal expense proving that they are free of Coronavirus from one of the accredited laboratories in the Kingdom.
Debriefer News Agency has learned that the representative of the General Consulate of Yemen in Jeddah coordinated with a medical laboratory in the city of “Sharurah” to perform PCR tests for 1,300 Saudi riyals, in a suspicious deal equal to twice the normal value of the examination in medical laboratories throughout the kingdom.
The Saudi Ministry of Public Health has made free testing of the new Coronavirus possible for all citizens and residents of its territories through the application of "My Health" in order to monitor cases early.
The Yemeni expatriates in Saudi Arabia appreciated the humanitarian step from the health authorities in the Kingdom, while many of them expressed their surprise at the step taken by the Yemeni embassy in "commercial" coordination with other parties in light of providing the service for free from the health authorities in the Kingdom.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17438.html
(* A H P)
Yemen [Sanaa] government denies it failed to report virus cases
The Minister of Health for Yemen's Houthi Rebels on Saturday denied that authorities have failed to report the actual number of coronavirus cases.
Dr. Taha al Mutwakil said the government had been transparent about the number of confirmed cases and those who have recovered.
He claimed that the recovery rate for coronavirus patients is "high" at 80 percent.
The rebels have officially reported just four cases, including one fatality, raising questions about reports of an unaccounted-for surge in deaths there.
The World Health Organization has warned the Houthis that full transparency is needed to fight the virus' spread.
On Thursday, Yemen's Houthi rebels acknowledged for the first time that the coronavirus has spread to multiple governorates under their control.
The Houthi Health Ministry buried the admission in a muted statement, saying only that authorities are working to trace and isolate infected cases that have been recorded in the capital, Sanaa, and several provinces across the war-torn country.
The statement accused the World Health Organization of sending "inaccurate" and deficient tests.
https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/yemen-government-denies-it-failed-to-report-virus-cases-36791
(A H P)
Gesundheitsminister [der Sanaa-Regierung]: Genesungsrate von Corona bis zu mehr als 80 Prozent
Der Minister für öffentliche Gesundheit und Bevölkerung, Dr. Taha al-Mutawakkil, sagte heute, dass die Genesungsrate von COVID-19 im Jemen mehr als 80 Prozent der Fälle in der Hauptstadt Sanaa beträgt und eine Reihe von Provinzen.
Während eines erweiterten Treffens in Sanaa bestätigte Dr. al-Mutawakkil, dass die Corona-Epidemie in mehreren Gebieten und Provinzen, einschließlich der Hauptstadt Sanaa, aufgetreten sei.
"Wir arbeiten daran, die notwendige Gesundheitsversorgung für die infizierten Fälle bereitzustellen, diejenigen zu verfolgen, die sich mit ihnen vermischt haben, und ihre Fälle zu überwachen", fügte er hinzu.
Der Gesundheitsminister wies darauf hin, dass die Welt die Fälle als Zahlen und Statistiken behandelte, was sich negativ auf den psychischen und Immunstatus von Patienten und Gesellschaften auswirkte.
"Wir im Jemen werden uns mit Patienten befassen, die nicht das Menschenrecht auf Pflege haben, und nicht mit Börsenzahlen, über die die Medien berichten wollen, um Terror und Einschüchterung unter den Gesellschaften zu verbreiten und die Moral unter den Patienten zu verringern", sagte er.
Er fuhr fort: "Wir werden auf einem anderen Weg als dem globalen Medienterrorismus arbeiten, der die Verantwortung für einen großen Teil der Zahl der Todesfälle in der Welt trägt, um einen Zustand der Beruhigung zu schaffen und Vorsichtsmaßnahmen auf höchstem Niveau zu stärken. ""
Der Minister wies darauf hin, dass die Ineffizienz der von der Weltgesundheitsorganisation bereitgestellten Tests dazu beigetragen hat, dass keine genaue Anzahl von Infektionen erreicht wurde, und bestätigte, dass die verfügbaren Fähigkeiten zur Bekämpfung dieses Virus genutzt werden würden.
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3098197.htm
Mein Kommentar: Unglaubwürdig.
(A H P)
Houthis' health minister says rates of patients recovered from COVID-19 very high
Minister of Public Health and Population of the Houthi Salvation Government (Ansar Allah) Dr. Taha Al-Mutawakkil said on Saturday that recovery rates from Covid-19 infection in northern Yemen are very high due to "curbing media terrorism," accusing the United Nations of failing to confront the virus.
Concerning that his ministry has not announced the real numbers of cases and deaths resulting from the virus in the areas controlled by the group, Al-Mutawakkil said
"We deal with patients out of their human right to care, not as stock market figures that the media are racing to address," al-Mutawakkil added, according to the Houthi-run "Al Masirah" TV.
The Minister of Health of the Houthi government claimed in a meeting of health cadres held in Sanaa that "there is media terrorism that made the disease turn into a stigma, and this matter behind it was a malicious media policy that ignores man and turns it into a number for bidding."
He added, "The rates of recovery cases are very high in Yemen, and this is due to the curb of media terrorism, which bears the responsibility of a large part of the number of deaths around the world."
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17452.html
and by Saba: https://www.saba.ye/en/news3098190.htm
My comment: This does not sound convincing. As far as Corona is concerned, this man has lost all credibility.
(* A H P)
Houthis admit COVID-19 outbreak north Yemen, accuse WHO of affecting results of laboratory tests
The Ministry of Health in the Houthi "Ansar Allah" government accused the World Health Organization organization of influencing the results of laboratory tests on the novel coronavirus (Covid 19).
The ministry said in a press release on Friday that the inaccuracy and inefficiency of the solutions and swabs sent by the World Health Organization (WHO) showed positive results for non-human and unexpected samples, noting that it would be revealed in a press conference in the coming days.
In its statement, the ministry admited the outbreak of the epidemic in the secretariat of the capital, Sanaa, and a number of governorates under its control, asking the Yemeni people to turn to God to confront the epidemic, the statement read.
Despite the increasing number of daily deaths, the Ministry of Health, which is under the control of the group, has only announced three infection cases, including the death of a Somali immigrant who was found dead in a hotel in the capital, Sana'a.
Th Houthi Health Ministry statement pointed out the countries hit by the epidemic around the world by saying: "Many countries of the world deliberately intimidated and exaggerated the procedures of confrontation, which weakened the morale of their citizens and created a state of fear, fear and anxiety that was more deadly than the disease itself."
The statement drew to the living conditions that Yemen is experiencing as a result of the aggression
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17432.html
and
(* A H P)
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni Ministry of Health issues comprehensive statement in Covid-19
Ministry details Yemen's actions against pandemic, as well as failure of UN organisations to aid wartorn country
“Many countries of the world have dealt with the infection cases as numbers and statistics, which has negatively affected the psychological and immunity status of societies,” the statement read.
The Ministry confirmed that it, from the first moment of announcing the pandemic, put in place a national emergency plan to confront it, including allocating places for isolation and equipment in the capital Sana’a and the rest of the provinces according to the available capabilities.
“A strategy and vision has been developed that is appropriate to the country’s situation, by benefiting from the experiences of other countries,” the ministry added, referring to “the failure of the United Nations organisations to provide necessary assistance for Yemen.”
https://www.uprising.today/yemeni-ministry-of-health-issues-comprehensive-statement-in-covid-19/
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=13154
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/851
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/24297
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/159224/Yemen-criticizes-UN-s-lack-of-action-against-COVID-19-crisis
and a film by Houthi Almasirah TV (in Arabic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3tSY_awYBY
My comment: ???
(A H P)
[Sanaa gov.] Combating Epidemics Committee Holds Aggression Countries Responsible for Coronavirus Spread in Yemen
Supreme Committee for Combating Epidemics condemned Friday the aggression countries and their mercenaries as they allow the arrivals to return to Yemen without taking precautionary measures in accordance with international and World Health Organization standards.
The Committee held the aggression countries and their agents responsible for their permanent and repeated attempts to transfer and spread the Corona epidemic in Yemen.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=13159
(A H)
22 new cases of COVID-19 reported, including 4 deaths
The committee said that eight cases of coronavirus were recorded in Taiz, including two deaths, 6 cases in Hadramout with one death, five cases in Shabwa, two cases in Lahj and one death in Abyan.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22161
My comment: Southern Yemen only. All these figures have little to do with reality.
(* A H P)
Doctor, health official among suspected COVID-19 deaths in Abyan
Amid ongoing clashes between government and STC forces and the absence of international aid, Abyan has virtually no prevention measures in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19
Disease outbreaks killed at least 15 people including a health official and a doctor died within a 48-hour period in Yemen’s southern Abyan governorate, where the internationally recognized government and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) have battled for more than two weeks.
While both Jakhba and Qutaish showed coronavirus-like symptoms and had access to the largest hospitals in central Abyan, neither was tested due to the absence of screening devices and kits in the governorate, where multiple disease outbreaks – including chikungunya, malaria and dengue fever – are afflicting the population.
Within the past week, five others in Mudiyah died after suffering from severe fever and shortness of breath, while at least 10 additional people died in the villages and towns of Lawdar, according to local residents.
The health authorities have not established the causes of any of these deaths.
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/849
(A H)
one of the infected told SAM that after his brother was transferred to a Jiblah [Ibb prov.] hospital, he went to visit him, but he discovered that he passed away one day after entering the hospital, and they, after wearing protective clothing, allowed him to see his brother in the mortuary
then took him to the cemetery with other seven bodies, without allowing any of their relatives to follow, as the security services prevented them From entering the cemetery.
https://twitter.com/SAM4rights/status/1265982205383151616
(B H)
Film: Family picnics are Aden's weapons in the face of epidemics
The coast of the southern Yemeni city of Aden has witnessed a high turnout during Eid and beyond, despite the outbreak of epidemics in the city, notably the Coronavirus.Visitors said these coasts are an outlet for them in the face of the country's wars and health suffering, stressing that they are fighting the epidemic with the joy of their children. The city of Aden is suffering from a large outbreak of fevers such as malaria, dengue fever and chikungunya amid a complete lack of preventive measures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9SdGdULDiQ
(* B H P)
Mass deaths in Sana’a amid deliberate concealment of the scale of the outbreak
The number of suspected cases of coronavirus has increased amid a strict blackout by the Houthi group and failure to count victims in the city hospitals.
Hundreds of suspected coronavirus patients have been put into isolation and dead bodies are buried after being washed with Clorox solution, according to doctors.
Every day, social media users report dozens of doctors and citizens who have died due to coronavirus in Sana’a, while the Houthis have continued strict security control.
The SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties said that the Houthi militias have turned coronavirus into a security issue. SAM called on the Houthi militias to deal with the coronavirus pandemic case with legal and ethical responsibility, in accordance with the standards and medical protocols issued by the World Health Organization, most importantly transparency in announcing the number of infections.
The legal government announced Sana’a is the area most badly affected by coronavirus, along with the interim capital Aden.
The Ministry of Health said that the reports received from Sana’a confirmed an alarming increase in infections and consequently, an increase in deaths, noting that Houthis were hiding data and information on the update of the pandemic.
(* B H)
Human rights organisation: 10,000 detainees in Houthi prisons at risk of coronavirus infection
The Yemeni Network for Human Rights and Freedoms announced in a press statement on Wednesday that it had received a report confirming that two abductees in the central prison of Sanaa are infected with coronavirus.
The organisation also warned that 10,000 detainees in Houthis-controlled areas are at risk of coronavirus infection.
The Yemeni organisation called for the immediate release of all the abductees, before the spread of the pandemic in the public and secret detention centres and prisons that the Houthi group uses to hide the oppositionists, exceeding 10,000 abductees.
and
(* B H)
Coronavirus threatens safety of detainees in Houthis-run prisons
Several human rights organizations cautioned on Wednesday against serious threats by the COVID-19 on safety of thousands of detainees in the Houthis-run prisons.
The Yemeni Detainees and Prisoners Organization said that it has learned via its sources that dozens of detainees have been confirmed positive for the virus amid concealment by the Houthis and lack of medical care to the patients.
For its part, the Abductees’ Mothers Association, expressed its deep concern over safety of the illegal detainees who have been in the prison for more than four years.
It demanded immediate release of all the detainees and forcibly disappeared people particularly with the appearance of the epidemic in the Central Prison of Sana’a.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-39908
(* B H)
Guterres: Aden leads world with highest COVID-19 mortality rate in World
The Yemeni iterim capital, Aden, has the world's highest mortality rate from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the world, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Thursday.
"In Aden, we have the highest mortality rates in the world of COVID-19 - 70 percent of those that have the disease are dying", Guterres said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17428.html
My comment: ??? There is very little testing – thus people with minor symptoms are not tested – including them as well would lower this percentage.
(* A H)
[Hadi gov.] Health Ministry: UK, German experts plans coronavirus medical unit in Aden
Working with ASPEN Medical, a global provider of emergency health care, the experts plan to build a 100-bed integrated medical unit to cope with COVID-19.
Public Health and Population Minister Dr. Nasser Ba'oum announced Tuesday that a preliminary team of experts will arrive in the interim capital Aden on Thursday to begin planning for a 100-bed integrated medical unit to cope with coronavirus.
"The government is harnessing all the possibilities available to counter the new corona epidemic and is coordinating with donors and international organizations to support government efforts in this area," the minister said in a statement published by the government-controlled Saba News agency.
The team consists of Dr. Nicholas McCoe, a British national, and Dr. Marcus Hotil, a German national.
"UNDP has contracted with ASPEN Medical, a global provider of emergency healthcare solutions, to begin the integrated medical unit for the treatment and reception of corona cases, including an intensive care unit," Ba’oum said.
https://al-masdaronline.net/local/845
(* B H P)
#Houthis militia appointed a security representative in each hospital to follow up on the cases, while a source for #SAM said that the Minister of Health in the Houthis government disclosed in a secret meeting that Corona disease cases has reached into thousands in #Sana
https://twitter.com/SAM4rights/status/1265305693516513280
(A H)
7 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 256 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22152
My remark: Southern Yemen only.
(B H)
Almost every neighborhood in Aden is having several funerals a day;cause of death is unclear with mix of diseases surfacing. Few days a go it hit home &took away my aunt. Like many who lost loved ones during COVID-19 feeling stranded, helpless, & far really sucks. I will miss you
https://twitter.com/SaraAlZQ/status/1265602153114189826
(* A H)
Yemeni trading group secures health workers salaries: WHO
A Yemeni trading group has promised to cover salaries of health workers combating COVID-19, the World Health Organization said Wednesday in a statement.
Hayel Saeed Anam Trading Group donated US$ 200,000 to pay health workers active in the fight of coronavirus at 4 hospitals in Sana'a and Aden, WHO tweeted.
This is just a portion of the group's work with WHO as part of the global initiative in the face of COVID-19 in Yemen.
On 23 April, the HSA group announced a contribution in the form of tens of thousands of COVID-19 test devices and other medical equipment that would arrive in Yemen to help counter the pandemic in the war-torn country.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17407.html
(* A H)
Yemen: Leaked doc shows COVID-19 outbreak among Hadi supporters
A leaked classified document from the Yemeni Defense Ministry of the Saudi-backed administration has revealed the outbreak of the novel coronavirus among militants supporting Yemen’s fugitive President Mansur Hadi.
The document, issued by the Department of the Military Medical Service of the ministry and addressed to the Archives of Logistics Documents, showed that the Saudi mercenaries have contracted the deadly virus while fighting in the third and seventh military zones of Yemen, Arabic-language al-Alam television news network, citing local media outlets, reported.
The paper further exposed that COVID-19 diagnostic tests were administered to the militants after they showed symptoms similar to those of the respiratory disease.
The samples were sent to the eastern Yemeni province of Hadhramaut, and they were all positive subsequently.
The COVID-19 test results sent waves of terror and panic among the Saudi-backed and pro-Hadi militants, which Saudi-sponsored militant commanders fear could lead to major losses and humiliating defeats in battles against Ansarullah defenders.
Earlier, Yemeni military sources close to the former administration had pointed to the outbreak of the coronavrius among Saudi mercenaries, especially in the Midi district of the country’s northern province of Hajjah.
(A H)
Volunteer unit engaged in desinfection campaign in Sana’a
Volunteers call for mass desinfection across the country
A group of activists in the Bir Hotram neighborhood in the capital Sana’a, has on the first day of Eid al-Fitr launched a desinfection campaign in several streets and neighborhoods, as part of general measures to confront Covid-19.
https://www.uprising.today/volunteer-unit-engaged-in-desinfection-campaign-in-sanaa/
(* B H P)
In Yemen, Aden buries its dead while Houthis bury their heads in the sand
There used to be about ten burials a day in the cemeteries of Yemen's second city, Aden, but since Covid-19 arrived the number has risen to around 80 a day.
Although many of these deaths have not been properly investigated, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) which runs the city's only dedicated Covid-19 treatment centre, says there is little doubt about the cause.
"The patients we see dying clearly have the symptoms of Covid-19," the organisation said last week. "Diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya are endemic to the city, but they have never produced so many deaths in such a short amount of time."
People dying from the virus in Aden are generally much younger that those in Europe, according to MSF. Mostly, they are men aged between 40 and 60.
Many of those arriving at MSF's treatment centre are already suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome. This not only makes it more difficult to save them but, together with all the burials, it suggests many others are dying at home with no treatment at all.
This makes a mockery of the official statistics which say that in the southern parts of Yemen – including Aden – which are controlled (up to a point) by the internationally-recognised government there have been only 49 deaths from Covid-19 and 249 confirmed cases of infection.
Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels who control the capital, Sana'a, and much of northern Yemen, have admitted to only four cases, including one death. Those figures are patently untrue – leaked results from laboratory testing show there have been confirmed cases that the Houthis didn't announce.
https://www.al-bab.com/blog/2020/05/yemen-aden-buries-its-dead-while-houthis-bury-their-heads-sand
(* B H)
Film: "We have a lot of the people that arrive almost dead, or already dead."
Cemeteries are overflowing in Yemen as #coronavirus-related deaths spike, according to @MSF_USA
https://twitter.com/QuickTake/status/1265915733088907266
(* B H)
Film: Yemen - after the closure of hospitals... Free centre for the treatment of epidemic victims in Aden
The modern Cuban hospital in Aden province has opened a charitable emergency center to treat fevers caused by the recent outbreak of epidemics in the province that have claimed hundreds of lives there. The hospital administration indicated that the emergency center will provide treatment services to all patients and suspected viruses, particularly the coronavirus, especially since the majority of hospitals in the province either closed or stopped receiving the injured and suspected cases due to the lack of medicines and medical equipment, calling on local and foreign relief organizations to provide financial and logistical assistance to sustain the work of the hospital.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z5AvNoHTdI
(B H)
#PictureOfTheDay A medical clinic in the Port city of #Hodeidah. Prior to the outbreak of #Covid_19 in #Yemen, @WHO @UN warned that the health situation in #Hudaydah was the worst in the nation, stressing that health conditions were deteriorating by the day.
https://twitter.com/NavantiGroup/status/1265612884614287362
(* B H)
Malaria Emergence of dengue in malaria endemic countries with limited diagnostic resources, including Yemen, can be problematic because presumptive treatment of febrile cases as being malaria is a common practice. This makes evaluation of febrile patients a challenge and may lead to unnecessary treatment of dengue as presumed malaria or to ignore malaria treatment in a coinfection confirmed as dengue only.and dengue in Hodeidah City, Yemen: the importance of laboratory confirmation
Results
Of 355 febrile patients, 32.4% had falciparum malaria and 35.2% had dengue. Of dengue-positive patients, 63.2% had recent probable infection (NS1- and/or IgM-positive) and 36.8% had past infection (IgGpositive).
Co-infection with falciparum malaria and recent probable dengue infection was detected among 4.8% of febrile cases.
https://f1000research.com/posters/9-481
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
(A K pS)
Joint forces foil Houthi attack in south Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/23174
(A K pH)
47 Verstöße der Aggressionstruppen in Hodeidah innerhalb von 24 Stunden
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3098220.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression forces commit 47 violations in Hodeidah in 24 hours
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3098217.htm
(A K pH)
41 Verstöße der Aggressionstruppen in Hodeidah innerhalb von 24 Stunden
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3098148.htm
(A K pH)
anhaltende Verstöße in Hodeidah
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3098172.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression forces commit 41 violations in Hodeidah in 24 hours
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3098140.htm
(A K pH)
Aggressionstruppen verstießen erneut gegen Al-Hodeidah-Abkommen
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3098069.htm
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update for Thursday, May 28th, 2020
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=13147
(A K pS)
Houthis Target Hays, Al-Duraihimi in South Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22156
(A K pH)
53 Verstöße der Aggressionstruppen in Hodeidah in den letzten 24 Stunden
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3098049.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression forces commit 53 violations in Hodeidah
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3098053.htm
(A K pH)
Verstöße der Aggressionskräfte in Hodeidah führten zum Tod eines jungen Mannes
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3098001.htm
(A K pH)
67 Recorded Violations by US-Saudi Aggression in Hodeidah
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=13134
(A K pH)
In Hodeidah, a civilian was killed with US-Saudi mercenaries' gunshots in Hais district. US-Saudi aggression committed 67 violations in the past 24 hours. Among the violations was a warplane flight in Kilo-16 and 5 spy drones flight in Al-Jah, 50th St., Kilo-16 and Al-Jabaleah areas.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=13133
(A K pS)
Joint forces thwart Houthi infiltration attempt in Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22149
(A K pH)
Verstöße der Aggression gehen weiter
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3097947.htm
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON MAY 30, 2020 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-may-30-2020-map-update/
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON MAY 28, 2020 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-may-28-2020-map-update/
(* A K P)
Saudi Forces, US Experts Leave their Sites in Marib Secretly
On Friday, local media revealed that Saudi forces and US experts have secretly left their sites in Marib. A special source told Aden Times that Saudi forces and American experts left their equipment and devices in their centers in Marib so that doesn't not attract attention.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=13167
(* B H K P)
Yemen. The Impossible Way Out of the War
The first months of 2020 have been a period of significant worsening of the already disastrous situation in Yemen
Yemeni developments have included the intensification of earlier trends: further deterioration of the humanitarian situation, reduced involvement of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, collapse of the Riyadh agreement, and the breakdown in the implementation of the Hodeida Agreement. To this already awful list must be added the major Huthi offensive in the north-east, devastating floods, the rapid spreading of Covid-19 throughout the country, and the “self-rule” declaration by the Southern Transitional Council (STC). Given previous experience, it would be unwise to suggest that things cannot get any worse, in the very month when the country should be celebrating thirty years of unity.
[Overview]
https://orientxxi.info/magazine/Yemen-The-Impossible-Way-Out-of-the-War
(* B K P)
Disorder And Disease Wins In Yemen – Analysis
Short on funds and allies, Saudi Arabia struggles to end its intervention in the Yemen Civil War.
To the international community, several of the Saudi-led coalition’s most persistent challenges looked self-inflicted. Emirati and Saudi generals’ all-encompassing focus on the Houthis enabled the Islamic State and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, to flourish in Yemen. In the early years of the intervention, a lack of oversight led Saudi Arabia and the UAE to finance AQAP-aligned militias that happened to be fighting the Houthis. The 2016 move by Saudi Araba and UAE to boycott Qatar, one of the coalition’s strongest member states, also compelled that peninsular monarchy to withdraw its troops from the coalition.
Though Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen has stalled for some time, the coronavirus has given new impetus to the kingdom’s efforts to extricate itself from the Yemeni quagmire.
While Saudi Arabia navigates a battlefield shaped by the coronavirus, the kingdom must negotiate with opponents over whom it has surrendered most of its leverage. Fast losing allies, Saudi officials have had to confront this challenge alone.
The vast reserves of financial firepower on which Saudi Arabia has often relied to mitigate other quagmires is dwindling. The database Global Firepower ranks the kingdom as third in terms of military expenditure – after the United States and China – but 17th in strength. As the price of oil has slumped because of another conflict between OPEC and Russia, Saudi officials have had to burn through their foreign-exchange reserves to replace the sudden shortfall in income. Analysts predict that Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit could be more than $60 billion this year, restricting the kingdom’s ability to prosecute its brutal campaign in Yemen and compelling Saudi officials to abandon the operation, which has seen Saudi Arabia spend billions on weapons
While the coronavirus has slowed Saudi activity in Yemen, the pandemic may have less of an effect on the conflict itself, which only grows more complicated
As allies become enemies in Yemen, the coronavirus continues to spread.
To escape the Yemeni Civil War, bin Salman must pick from a short list of troubling options. His diplomats might scrap together a hasty peace treaty with the Houthis as the United States did during the Vietnam War, tying a diplomatic ribbon on a war that Saudi Arabia has in all likelihood lost. He might withdraw his troops altogether as the Soviet Union did at the end of the Soviet-Afghan War, hoping that his Yemeni proxies can hold their own against a tenacious enemy.
The more troublesome the Yemeni Civil War becomes, the more bin Salman might turn his ambitions inward. He has launched a variety of reforms to modernize Saudi Arabia and placate constituents. As the Saudi economy plummets, managing the kingdom’s internal affairs has gained that much more importance. The coronavirus has clarified the reality: The faster Saudi Arabia gets out of Yemen, the better for the crown prince and his flagging reputation at home and abroad – by Austin Bodetti
https://www.eurasiareview.com/29052020-disorder-and-disease-wins-in-yemen-analysis/ = https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/disorder-and-disease-wins-yemen
(* B H K P)
Our Disaster
Why the United States bears responsibility for Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
World health experts regard Yemen as a potential hot spot for the coronavirus and have worked frantically to prepare for its arrival.
The policies of the United States are deeply implicated in Yemen’s suffering, through the sale of billions of dollars in munitions to Saudi Arabia and other countries that have intervened in the civil war.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged the United Nations to reduce the aid it delivers to areas controlled by the Houthis. A New York Times report quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying that Pompeo, at a 2019 conference in Warsaw, said the coalition forces should kick the stuffing out of the Houthis, although Pompeo, according to the unnamed diplomat, “used an earthier noun than stuffing.”
The Obama Administration, notes Al-Adeimi, sold Saudi Arabia $115 billion of weapons and provided additional support in the form of targeting assistance, training, and maintenance of aircraft and vehicles. The Trump Administration has continued to support Saudi Arabia, including its 2017 pledge to sell $350 billion in weapons to the repressive regime over a ten-year period. President Donald Trump cited this lucrative package in declining to take action against Saudi Arabia for murdering Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The United States has also provided cover for Saudi Arabia in the U.N. Security Council, which passed a resolution in April 2015 that demanded an end to Yemeni violence but made no mention of the Saudi-led intervention.
Al-Adeimi understands the difficult position the United Nations is in, since it depends heavily on donations from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. But she is dismayed by what she calls its “all-siding” the war—addressing the conflict as though it were between evenly matched opponents.
In March 27, the Trump Administration suspended aid to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, where 70 percent of Yemen’s population live. It accuses the Houthis of obstructing aid deliveries. Meanwhile, the Saudis are enforcing a blockade on all of Yemen’s land, sea, and airports, forcing its population into dependence on relief organizations.
Aisha Jumaan, a Yemeni who works as an epidemiologist in Washington State, says the effect of these aid cuts was immediate. She worries that Yemen may be manipulated by donors who can threaten to withhold desperately needed food, medicine, water, and fuel.
The policies of the United States are deeply implicated in Yemen’s suffering, through the sale of billions of dollars in munitions to Saudi Arabia and other countries that have intervened in the civil war.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged the United Nations to reduce the aid it delivers to areas controlled by the Houthis. A New York Times report quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying that Pompeo, at a 2019 conference in Warsaw, said the coalition forces should kick the stuffing out of the Houthis, although Pompeo, according to the unnamed diplomat, “used an earthier noun than stuffing.”
The Obama Administration, notes Al-Adeimi, sold Saudi Arabia $115 billion of weapons and provided additional support in the form of targeting assistance, training, and maintenance of aircraft and vehicles. The Trump Administration has continued to support Saudi Arabia, including its 2017 pledge to sell $350 billion in weapons to the repressive regime over a ten-year period. President Donald Trump cited this lucrative package in declining to take action against Saudi Arabia for murdering Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The United States has also provided cover for Saudi Arabia in the U.N. Security Council, which passed a resolution in April 2015 that demanded an end to Yemeni violence but made no mention of the Saudi-led intervention.
Al-Adeimi understands the difficult position the United Nations is in, since it depends heavily on donations from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. But she is dismayed by what she calls its “all-siding” the war—addressing the conflict as though it were between evenly matched opponents.
In March 27, the Trump Administration suspended aid to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, where 70 percent of Yemen’s population live. It accuses the Houthis of obstructing aid deliveries. Meanwhile, the Saudis are enforcing a blockade on all of Yemen’s land, sea, and airports, forcing its population into dependence on relief organizations.
Aisha Jumaan, a Yemeni who works as an epidemiologist in Washington State, says the effect of these aid cuts was immediate. She worries that Yemen may be manipulated by donIn 2019, the investigative website Bellingcat reported that eleven individual U.S. states plus the District of Columbia have each exported more than $100 million worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Altogether, the United States provided up to $6.8 billion in weapons including bombs, rocket launchers, and machine guns through March 2019.
Some of these weapons may be linked to war crimes. Identifying marks on U.S. bombs used in the 2018 Dahyan bus bombing, which killed forty children and eleven adults, linked back to a Lockheed Martin plant in Pennsylvania.
On a monthly basis, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned shipping company, Bahri, sends cargo ships to Wilmington, North Carolina, and other U.S. ports, to collect bombs, grenades, cartridges, and defense-related aircraft. The United States also supplies weapons to Bahrain and other countries actively participating in the Saudi-led war against Yemen – by Kathy Kelly
https://progressive.org/magazine/our-disaster-kelly/
(A P)
NGO renews demands for release of detainees
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Liberties, a local NGO demanded on Wednesday release of all detainees to avert large-scale outbreak of the coronavirus in detention centers.
Over 10,000 detainees were arbitrarily arrested from homes or workplaces for anti-Houthis activism or suspicious links to government officials.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-39888
My remark: They only care for detainees in Houthi jails.
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(B K P)
US-Saudi Coalition Detains 20 Oil, Food Derivatives Ships
The aggressive US-Saudi coalition continues to detain oil and food derivatives ships, not allowing them to enter Hodeidah Port ; In an attempt to exacerbate the economic crisis for the Yemeni people.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=13143
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=13168
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp3 – cp18
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-653b-yemen-war-mosaic-653b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-654-yemen-war-mosaic-654
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-654 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-654:
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:
