Sa’ada War Victims Still Unfed
a- The Yemeni Red Crescent is a tool of the state that does withhold humanitarian aid from those perceived as Houthi loyalists.
b- Why the heck was Faris Manna on the old mediation committee? Isn’t he an arms and drug smuggler? Saleh’s partner? There was quite an assortment of interesting characters, I didn’t realize Faris was on the committee with his cohorts. Another odd person on the mediation committee, or not that odd really is that old jihaddist, the current ambassador to Egypt, al Shamari. Is Hussain Manna, Gov of Saada, related to Faris Manna?
c- There’s tens of thousands still starving and displaced, mostly women and children. And the next war may start in al Jawf, Sa’ada six. There’s been little reconciliation, the prisoners have never been released despite the three (six?) announcements to the contrary since 2005.
Yemen Times: SA’ADA, Feb. 18 – A Houthi representative in Sa’ada has claimed that humanitarian assistance beneficiaries in the four internally displaced persons’ camps in Sa’ada are limited to pro-government locals, as Houthi followers have been evacuated despite the peace settlement.
“Sa’ada governor Hussein Manna is supervising the camps, and directs aid to his own village Al-Taleh,” said Saleh Habra Abdulmalik, spokesman for Al-Houthi.
Government officials could not be reached for comment.
Habra said that the humanitarian assistance whether through the Red Cross, Red Crescent or government agencies is distributed unfairly and is mostly given to a “privileged few”.
He specifically named the area of Bani Moath, which according to him had not received any assistance except once in 2004. Habra praised Medicine Sans Frontiers as a “true humanitarian organization” that does not “differentiate between Houthis or non Houthis.”
Yet the Red Cross in Sa’ada assured that its staff carries out regular assessments in the camps and is in direct contacts with the four camps management. It also monitors the distribution of food aid and assistance to internally displaced persons.
Klaus Spreyermann, head of the Red Cross sub delegation in Sa’ada, said that they could cover large parts of the conflict affected areas in Sa’ada.
“On some occasions we have to stand by when we get an indication from the government or when we see fit to ourselves, but, for the larger part, we have access to conflict-affected areas,” he said.
Rabab Al-Rifai, communication delegate of the Red Cross in Yemen, admitted that there are areas the Red Cross cannot reach even today.
“We realize the humanitarian need but we have to ensure the safety of our staff as a first priority,” she said, confirming that the Red Cross is currently supporting more than 6,700 internally displaced persons located in the four camps in Sa’ada.
On a similar front, the mediation process has stalled recently because of bureaucratic challenges set against the mediation committees leaders, whether Faris Manna the former head of committee or the current leader Abdulaziz Al-Dhahab, according to the Houthi office.
“Al-Dhahab promised to release 230 of our men who are detained in the government’s various prisons. We were also promised that three military bases in Al-Malaheth area would be removed in three days. But now over a month has gone by and nothing has changed,” explained Habra.
Although up to 122 Houthi followers with intense injuries such loss of a limb or severe eye injury were sent for treatment in the governmental Military Hospital in Hodeidah, the patients were neglected to the extent that they had to be returned to Sa’ada untreated, according to Habra.
The Military Hospital in Hodeidah confirmed that the hospital received the patients in two phases and emphasized that they were either given “adequate treatment” before being sent home or referred to the capital if they could not be treated in the hospital.
The Red Cross explained that the idea of internally displaced persons in camps not receiving health care is not accurate, as each of the four camps has two mobile clinics – one for men and one for women. These clinics provide basic health care to the internally displaced persons while those who need advanced treatments are referred to one of the three hospitals in Sa’ada.
