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Minister: 60% of Yemen workers lost their jobs

May 2, 2019 at 1:07 pm

People gather around a heavily damaged building after Saudi-led coalition’s air strikes over Arhab District of Sanaa, Yemen on 23 August, 2017 [Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency]

Five million Yemeni workers, 60 per cent of the overall workforce, have lost their jobs as a result of the ongoing war in the country, the minister of social affairs revealed yesterday.

“The war launched by the Houthi militias against the Yemeni people has caused nearly 60 per cent of the country’s workforce to lose their jobs,” Ibtihaj Al-Kamal said in a statement issued to mark International Labour Day.

Al-Kamal explained that the workers lost their jobs after local and foreign companies ceased operating in the war-torn country.

“Workers are the most affected by the Houthi militias’ coup against constitutional legitimacy including their strong control over state institutions as well as forcing hundreds of workers out of their jobs and replacing them with men loyal to them.”

The Yemeni minister said that despite the exceptional situation that the country is going through, the government’s economic and development plans for 2019 include employing workers indevelopment projects in various fields.

She stressed on the importance of the private sector’s role in supporting the government’s efforts, by providing job opportunities that contribute to reducing unemployment and mitigating the effects of war.

READ: Yemen war one of most destructive since Cold War