‘85,000 children died of hunger’
> 14 million Yemenis at risk of famine, says charity
SANA’A: As many as 85,000 children have starved to death in Yemen, according to Save the Children with the charity warning that up to 14 million people are at risk of famine if a ruinous war does not end soon.
Since 2015, when the fighting first broke out, the group has estimated that at least 84,700 children under the age of five may have died from malnutrition.
That is the equivalent of every child in Birmingham, Britain’s second biggest city.
The devastating statistic came as fighting flared in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah, the frontline of the latest battle, where food prices had soared by at least 400%, according to local residents.
Only two hospitals are now working in the port town, both of which are dangerously close to the front line.
“For every child killed by bombs and bullets, dozens are starving to death and it’s entirely preventable,” Save the Children’s Yemen director, Tamer Kirolos, said.
“Because of the fighting, parents are delaying taking their children in for treatment of malnutrition, when their internal organs are not working, and they have multiple infections due to the wasting.”
Kirolos said at that point medics can do nothing to save them.
The charity warned that the number of cases has dramatically increased since a Saudi Arabia-led coalition imposed a monthlong blockade on the country a year ago.
The Gulf alliance launched a bombing campaign in the Spring of 2015 to oust the Iran-backed Houthi rebels that swept control of the country, forcing Yemen’s recognised President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee.
The fighting has sparked the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
Over two-thirds of the population now rely on aid to survive.
According to the United Nations, 400,000 children in Yemen are on the cusp of dying from hunger, 15,000 more than last year.
For the last five months the crisis has deepened as the gulf coalition and Yemen government troops waged an intermittent campaign to seize Hodeidah, home to some 300,000 people.
At least 80% of the country’s food and medical supplies come through Hodeidah port, but amid the fighting, commercial imports have plummeted.
Goods now coming through are only enough to meet the needs of 16% of country’s population, according to the UN.
Save the Children said yesterday any further decline in imports would be likely to lead directly to famine.
There had been hopes of ceasefire this week when Yemen’s internationally recognised government said on Monday it would take part in UN-brokered peace talks scheduled next month.
Just hours before Mohammed Ali al- Houthi, the rebel group’s political decision maker, tweeted that he wanted the rebels to “halt all military operations” and stop firing missiles on Saudi Arabia.
But Hodeidah residents told The Independent fighting had flared again yesterday in the city, where food prices have soared, meaning families were going hungry or eating rotten food to survive.
“Citizens feel trapped here. Food prices have gone up as much as 400%. Some food is smuggled into the city, but nobody is able to buy it due to financial problems,” Ibrahim alJaberi said from the city. – The Independent