Red Cross alerts world capitals to humanitarian crisis

UNITED NATIONS — The outgoing head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen says he believes more people are dying from indirect effects of the conflict now than from bombing, shelling and ground attacks.

Alexandre Faite pointed to more than 2,000 deaths from cholera and acute watery diarrhea in a little over six months, a crumbling health system, almost no power in most towns, and the absence of key commodities or their availability only at very high prices.

He told a group of reporters Friday that he has been traveling to capitals including Berlin, Brussels, Paris and Washington to deliver the message that “the situation in Yemen and the results of indirect effects of the hostilities are really dire.”

With the high death toll from cholera, Faite said, “I would personally think ... that now more people are dying from the indirect effect of the hostilities.”

Civil war in Yemen began six months after Houthi Shiite rebels and their allies seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in September 2014. A Saudi-led coalition has been trying to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government to power, but the conflict is stalemated, with the Houthis still in control of Sanaa and much of the north.

U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the Security Council on Tuesday that Yemen remains “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis” with three-quarters of the population — over 22 million people — urgently needing humanitarian aid including 8.4 million struggling to find their next meal.

Before the war, Yemen relied on imports for 90 percent of its staple food, medicine and fuel. But Lowcock said delays at ports and shortages have led to sharp increases in the price of food and household necessities, forcing hundreds of thousands of destitute families to turn to humanitarian aid to survive.

“Economic life is key,” Faite said. “A country cannot run on humanitarian assistance . ... What is also vitally important is that commercial items, imports, commercial life, is really allowed to resume.”

Faite said it’s critically important that political and military authorities allow essential goods into all areas of Yemen.

Faite said all parties need to sit down to see what can be done to speed up commercial shipping, especially in the northern port of Hodeida.