Official: 75% of Yemenis in need of humanitarian aid

Some 75 per cent of Yemenis are in an urgent need for the “simplest” humanitarian assistance Moheet.com reported Yemen’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdel-Malik Al-Mekhlafi saying yesterday.

Al-Mekhlafi’s remarks came during an Arab League and European Union meeting in Cairo, Egypt.

“Coup forces in Yemen do not care about the fact that three-quarters of Yemenis, one-third of them children, are in need for the simplest humanitarian assistance, mainly food and medicines,” He said.

He cited the findings of the international reports which indicated that thousands of children, women and elderly people are on the “edge of an imminent humanitarian crisis” and they are susceptible to “famines and epidemic diseases”.

Al-Mekhlafi called on the international community to put pressure on the Houthis and the forces of the ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in order to afford safe passage to delivery humanitarian assistance to the besieged Yemeni cities, as well as to take the needed measures to reinforce confidence ahead of returning to the political process.

The deputy prime minister noted that the Iranian interference in Yemen’s affairs is one of the prime obstacles ahead of reaching a political reconciliation for the conflict.

He noted that the current volatile situation threatens the regional and international safety and security, mainly as it affects the safety of navigation in the Red Sea and the international waters around Yemen.

A recent UN report has said that 21 million Yemenis, 80 per cent of the population, are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. The reports also stated that around 10,000 Yemenis have been killed in the conflict.