UN Truce in Yemen Does Not Meet Needs of Humanitarian Crisis

The time of the humanitarian and military truce in Yemen, which entered into force on the 2nd of last April, is about to end, and Yemenis have not felt its effects, especially patients who need to travel abroad.

Head of the Higher Medical Committee in Sana’a, Dr. Mutahar Darwish, confirmed in a recent statement that the number of Yemeni patients traveling through Sana’a airport did not exceed 2% of the total passengers, which made the effect of this truce non-existent.

“The total number of patients who traveled during the two armistice periods through 15 flights amounted to 1,200 patients out of 35,000 patients registered with the committee,” Darwish explained.

Dr. Darwish confirmed that the committee needs a daily flight for a year to overcome the disaster caused by the war and the siege of the Saudi-led coalition that has lasted for eight years.

High costs prevent patients from traveling

The number of flights was not the only reason that stood in front of the Yemeni patients, as the only carrier “Yemeni Airways and the only destination and transit in Amman created costs beyond the patients’ capacity.

The additional costs also led to patients’ inability to travel, as 12 patients who needed to travel abroad died during the first month of the truce, according to a previous statement by the head of the medical committee.

Children and women top the list of patients who need to travel abroad, as 35% of the patients are children, 80% of whom have congenital malformations, and 40% are women, which puts the humanity of the United Nations that it claims to the test.

Child “Jahaf” is a witness to the coalition crimes

Last May, during the armistice, the child “Mohammed Abdulsalam Jahaf,” one of the Yemeni children who was deprived of the right to receive treatment abroad, died after long suffering from congenital malformations and brain atrophy.

Doctors in Yemen failed to treat the child “Jahaf” and decided to travel for treatment abroad, which was not achieved as a result of delaying Yemeni patients’ reservations due to the coalition’s disruption of many of the flights that were scheduled according to the terms of the humanitarian truce.

The world and Yemenis have not forgotten the image of the child “Jahaf” as he breathed his last in the hands of his parents. This image will remain a witness to the coalition’s crimes against Yemeni children who were deprived of the opportunity to save their lives and receive treatment outside the country, which suffers the worst humanitarian catastrophe as a result of war and siege not witnessed in human history.

No truce without complete opening of Sanaa airport

In the face of the coalition’s intransigence and indifference to the suffering of Yemenis, including patients who need to travel abroad, Sanaa seems keener on alleviating the humanitarian suffering caused by the coalition due to the war and siege.

The Supreme Political Council in Sana’a recently stressed the full opening of Sanaa International Airport and made it one of the conditions for extending the truce, which is about to expire.