Armies of Liberation

Well over 100,000 residents of Zinzibar fled their homes (which were then thoroughly looted by al Qaeda which transported the bounty back to Marib) when al Qaeda occupied the city and others. The areas are still under occupation and only by surrendering their civil and political rights are residents allowed to return. The families are still living in about 60 schools in Aden, causing the city’s children to miss a year of school. The US-allied Yemeni regime is thought to have green lighted the al Qaeda expansion into Abyan, Shabwa and recently al Baydah order to create chaos and delay the political transition.

Yemen Post Yemeni children direly suffer due to the current political conditions and insecurity, particularly in South Yemen, said Rima Salah, Deputy Executive Director of he UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (Read on …)

IDP’s in Yemen exceed a half million: 300K Saada, 100K Abyan, 200K (at least) Somalis; one doctor per 100K in some areas, one third of children malnourished, education on hold, humanitarian access denied and the whole UN relief project is underfunded by 40%:

Raxanreeb: U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said millions of people in Yemen face “a daily struggle for survival” due to conflict, poverty, drought, soaring food prices and collapsing state services. (Read on …)

About 275,000 still homeless after a brutal Yemeni/Saudi air campaign in the Saada governorate during the 6th outbreak of the Saada War. About another 70,000 as a result of the AQAP occupation of Zinjibar and other southern towns, About 10,000 displaced from Arhab and another 1000 in Taiz.

Governorate Number of IDPs Source
Sa’ada 110,000 UNHCR (31/05/2011)
Hajjah 105,673 UNHCR (31/05/2011)
Amran 41,996 UNHCR (31/05/2011)
Al-Jawf 24,491 UNHCR (31/05/2011)
Aden 62,079 Government (July 2011)
Lahj 15,859 Government (July 2011)
Abyan 13,349 Government (July 2011)
Sana’a 2,020 UNHCR (June 2011)
Total 375,467

New Displacement Figures since 15 July (Unverified)
Al-Jawf *1,500-3,500 July 2011
Arhab/Amran *9,500 18/07 – 31/07/2011
Shabwa *826 2/08/2011
Taiz *1,000 17/07/2011
Total *12,826 – 14,826

Update: a link would be nice, no? Relief Web

Hood said in a statement that it formed the new teams as a result of the tragic events that accelerated in areas of Abyan, Arhab and other flashpoints, and the resulting humanitarian situation and deteriorating conditions of the civilian population especially the vulnerable groups of society including women, children and the infirm, as Hood has received reports of executions of prisoners en masse and the repeated use of weapons in the bombing of civilian areas and military and mosques.

Ahmed Saleh, head of the RG and counter-terror chief, commanded Yemen’s military forces during the 6th Saada War during which many crimes against humanity were committed including bombing refugee camps and a hospital, denial of food, medical care and international aid, and over 300,000 internal refugees were largely left without support. Bombing civilian areas in Yemen since the rev includes Ibb, Taiz, Arhab and Nehm in Sanaa, and others around the country.

The humanitarian crisis is deepening and SEYAJ urges relief convoys to the starving people displaced to Aden and Lahj

An appeal call No(2) to save the people in Abyan

Issued by the Emergency Cell in Seyaj
Yemen- Sana’a- June 22nd -2011

The Emergency Cell in Seyaj organization for childhood protection calls to declare Abyan governorate as a disastrous area by all the standards.

Seyaj directs its second humanitarian appeal to all the Yemeni people to send urgent humanitarian relief convoys to the victims in Abyan of the dirty security political game that displaced , killed and violated the lives, humanity and dignity of at least more than forty thousand families.

Moreover, Seyaj calls the Arabic, Islamic and international associations and humanitarian relief organizations to send urgent humanitarian relief convoys to Abyan victims in Aden and Lahj governorates.

Seyaj also calls the acting president to take concrete actions to save the lives of his people and clan in Abyan.
Seyaj confirms that the areas of war against Al-Qaeda as called are free of country’s institutions that are capable of performing its duty to displaced people in Abyan, Aden and Lahj ,as the first responsibility lies on the Yemeni people in all its political& social activities, humanitarian organizations, religious men , youth , politicians and others of the society components. (Read on …)

The Houthis returned the Saudi soldiers they had captured as a condition of the cease fire. The continued incarceration of Yemenis in Saudi Arabia is a sore spot, especially as the PR notes, there’s been videos leaked of beatings. Saudi Arabia refouled, refused entry to, civilians seeking safety from the bombing, a violation of international law. The Saudi bombing of Saada was indiscriminate, and the arbitrary arrests and continued detention of hundreds of Yemenis without charge are also illegal under international law. You’d think the Saudi Arabia would just return the prisoners and be done with the issue but apparently they are busy outlawing protests of their own. YOHR contact information below. I also have the list of names in Arabic.

The Yemen Center for Human Rights requests from King of Saudi Arabia to direct and order to reveal the names of all the Yemeni prisoners and work to release them promptly (Read on …)

Yes they do. Written by a former consultant,

United Nations mistreats refugees Yemen Times

Published:16-12-2010
The UNHCR mission in Sana’a, since it opened its office, has been arrogant in the way it treats refugees. It is still acting in a proud manner towards refugees. It is notorious for corruption and trades on the plight of refugees. A decade ago I worked as a social consultant for the UNHCR in Sana’a. I did not love the practices of this office, famous for its many staff changes, because of corruption. It has been proven that most of its staff have been involved in cases of bribery, which prompted me to retire from that sick office. (Read on …)

Yemen Post: At least 30 people, deported from Saudi Arabia to the Yemeni border area of Haradh, died in the last four weeks after being stranded without food or water. (Read on …)

The arms flow between the two is well established. If we recall the eight foreigners arrested, and later released, for trying to ship weapons to Somali’s ICU in 2006. And the connection of Anwar al Awlaki with that case. Afterwards, numerous Somali Islamists came to Yemen. The weapons have been flowing from Yemen via Faris Manna, legally he claims. The boats delivering the refugees over the last several years wouldn’t return empty.

Telegraph: Yemeni officials have claimed that members of the al-Shabaab terrorist group have been arrested in refugee camps for Somalis. The government fears that refugee camps such as Al-Kharaz, which now houses 18,000 out of an estimated 2-300,000 Somali refugees in Yemen, could become recruiting grounds for radicals.

Officials also claim there are “regular links”, including arms transfers between al-Shabaab and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group accused of planting parcel bombs on planes last month.

“I see Shabaab people on the streets of Aden,” said one former Somali airport official who fled with his family when he was threatened and now lives in a fly-blown two-room hut in the al-Kharaz refugee camp, two hours’ drive into the desert from the port city.

Wow, what a concept, attacking Shabwa. The 26 September reporting “fierce clashes”. Also two mosques destroyed.

SANAA (Reuters) – Up to 12,000 civilians have fled their homes in the southern Yemeni province of Shabwa because of heavy fighting between government forces and suspected al Qaeda militants, according to Yemen’s Red Crescent. Three al Qaeda militants and two soldiers have died in the clashes that erupted Sunday at dawn, a security source said.

Between 8,000 and 12,000 people have left the town of al-Hota and surrounding areas due to the violence, the local branch of the Red Crescent said in a report to the Red Cross in Sanaa, seen by Reuters. Yemen’s defence ministry said in its online newspaper that security forces engaged in fierce clashes in Shabwa with “armed elements” from al Qaeda, among whom were foreigners, including Saudis “who are trying to mingle with the population.”

UNICEF and Government of Yemen jointly launch the First Inter-Agency Comprehensive Child Protection Assessment Report in Conflict Affected Areas in the north of Yemen:

Key Findings:
* 68% of children interviewed have been subjected to domestic violence
* 8% of all abused children have admitted exposure to sexual exploitation perpetrated by host communities, aid workers and others
* 7.9% of IDPs and affected families have had one child killed as a result of the conflict
* 10.3% of children of these families have been injured as a direct result of the fighting from both sides of the conflict
* 21% of children reported that they saw someone being injured or wounded
* 7.1% had witnessed someone being killed
* 10.2% of families reported that their children had been subjected to detention by both sides of the conflict
* More than 15% of the fighters from Al-Houthi and tribal militias are Children below 18 yrs.
* 2.1% of displaced and affected families have indicated that at least one of their children is still missing
* High illiteracy levels amongst care givers in displaced and affected regions, 73% of fathers and 85% of mothers are illiterate without appropriate learning or educational opportunities

Yemen is the only nation that signed onto the UN convention granting refugees status to those fleeing war. Since then the lack of international support, and corruption and inefficiency within the UN offices, meant that Somalis in Yemen are trapped in a life of poverty and hunger with few options but to illegally migrate to Saudi Arabia and beyond. The refugees strain the government’s meager resources and many have no access to education, medical services and jobs, but then neither do many Yemenis.

IRIN: SANAA, 9 August 2010 (IRIN) – Straining to cope with the number of Somalis arriving by boat, Yemen is seeking to end the prima facie refugee status (automatic asylum) it has been giving them for the past 20 years. The government says some are economic migrants and should not be granted automatic refugee status, while others are militants seeking to join al-Qaeda groups to destabilize the country. (Read on …)

Yemen Post: There are roughly 423000 child laborers in Yemen aged between 6 to 14 years old, most of whom are working in the countryside, a recent official survey has said.

Also, most of the children are subjected to physical and psychological abuse, it said, pointing out that amid poverty many families send their children to work to support them. (Read on …)

Alert Net – Escalating fighting in northern Yemen is preventing vital supplies reaching thousands of people fleeing a war between government forces and rebels, aid groups say. (Read on …)

A good TV program on the lives and tremendous challenges of refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia when they arrive in Yemen is available here at France 24’s website.

Human Rights Watch issued a new report on refugees and migrants in Yemen. Sections include:

The Journey to Yemen
Systematic Violation of Yemen’s Obligations to Asylum Seekers under International Law
Running the Gauntlet: Ethiopian Asylum Seekers in Yemen
Discrimination and Abuse Against Ethiopian Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Migrants in Yemen
The Role of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The numbers keep doubling annually. The UN at best has a serious lack of capacity in providing services to the refugees at arrival or later on.

SANAA, 1 (IRIN) :- The past 10 months saw the highest number of Africans reaching Yemeni shores over figures for the same period in 2008 and 2007, when large numbers began travelling to Yemen by boat, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). (Read on …)

Aid to the displaced in Sa’ada is being stolen, just like the international aid for the flood victims in Hadramout was…

Bakeel Abdu Hobaish, the chairman of the GPC branch in Harf Sofyan, in an interview with al Tagheer notes the diversion of aid away from the truely needy. Brave guy.

Underscored the fact that “influential” to distribute to those who do not deserve it .. رئيس فرع الحزب الحاكم بحرف سفيان لـ” التغيير ” : الإغاثة الشعبية لا تصل إلى النازحين Chief of the ruling party Sufian character for “change”: the People’s relief does not reach the displaced
الاربعاء 2009/10/07 (Read on …)

Newsroom

The United Nations human rights chief has called on the Yemeni Government to launch an investigation into recent air raids that have resulted in civilian deaths, saying she is “deeply disturbed” in particular at a strike two days ago against a camp for displaced persons.

Dozens of internally displaced persons (IDPs) were killed in the September 16 air attack on the camp in northern Yemen, which houses some of the 150,000 people uprooted by the latest round of fighting between the Government and Al Houthi rebels that began on August 12. (Read on …)

Continuing our previous discussion of the huge explosion on Midi Island, news from Al Motamar

On the other hand Yemeni security apparatuses arrested 107 African migrants in the island of Midi holding Nigerian, Chadian and Sudanese nationalities. The security men also said 2 of the African migrants; one Nigerian youth and a woman in her 6th decade have died and doctors said the death was natural.

The rest of the African migrants were transported to the Centre Al-Jazeera Leadership for investigation and then they were detained in Hudeida province. It is to be noted that this is the third rime African migrants to attempt to infiltrate into Yemeni territories via the island of Midi. On most occasions investigations proved that the African migrants, mostly Sudanese, were intending to infiltrate into Saudi territories across Yemeni territories.