King directs KSRelief to allocate $15m to Rohingyas
WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia has been the top provider of humanitarian aid to Yemen over the past two years, Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, supervisor general of the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid (KSRelief), said Tuesday.
Al-Rabeeah voiced the directives of the King Salman to allocate $15 million for the Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar as a result of genocide and torture. He expressed thanks to king and crown prince for their help and support for the needy around the world.
Saudi economic and humanitarian assistance to Yemen is in excess of $8.2 billion, he added, speaking as the featured guest of a conference in Washington organized the National Council on US-Arab Relations, titled “Humanitarian Challenges in Yemen.”
Al-Rabeeah described this initiative as an extension of the previous relief aid that king directed to help the displaced people of Myanmar, to alleviate their suffering as a result of the government’s extreme actions against them and to provide relief and humanitarian support to them.
KSRelief has implemented 153 projects in Yemen, including repatriation, water treatment and medical services, such as ongoing efforts to contain the spread of water-borne illnesses, especially cholera.
In recent weeks, the number of cholera cases has fallen by 40 percent, and the mortality rate from the disease has decreased by 70 percent, said Al-Rabeeah.
Contrary to the dominant narrative in the West, it is the Houthis and supporters of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh who are responsible for the majority of civilian casualties, he added.
The Houthis have armed some 20,000 child soldiers, and have routinely used land mines, the victims of which are overwhelmingly children, he said.
The Arab Coalition in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government has lessened the impact of the rebel siege of Taiz city by airdropping 85 tons of food supplies, Al-Rabeeah added.
He pointed out that the center implemented the first phase of the resettlement project of the refugees of Rakhine state in the provinces of Mrauk U, Minbya, Kyauktaw and Pauktaw in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“The project aims to provide community support for crises and agricultural development to help 17,500 beneficiaries in 35 villages (become) capable of earning a living,” he said.