Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:32:55 +0200
Sana'a power vacuum hampers aid response
SANA'A, 30 September 2014 (IRIN) - For several days, Um Ibrahim's walls
shook as she tried to keep her two children calm. Her 18-year-old son and
21-year-old daughter are both physically and mentally handicapped, unable to
walk on their own, so she had little choice but to stay put in her
one-bedroom shelter in the Hasaba neighbourhood as areas of the Yemeni
capital Sana'a were rocked by clashes.
"We hid in the kitchen. Neighbours offered to help us leave, but how was I
to move [my children]?" asked the woman, who was one of the few to remain in
her area as the sound of shelling unfolded around her.
"A week after a ceasefire agreement that ended days of fighting in the city,
Um Ibrahim is among thousands of civilians hoping for support as they look
to return to their normal lives."
Clashes broke out on 16 September in Al-Qabel village just outside Sana'a
and quickly moved deep into the capital as armed Houthi rebels (a Zaidi
Shiite group concentrated in the country's north) gained territory in a
battle with a mix of government troops and militias affiliated to Islah -
Yemen's most powerful Sunni Islamist grouping.
After days of fighting in neighbourhoods in northwestern Sana'a, shelling
finally ceased on 21 September as the Houthis captured a major military
complex which had been under the command of Gen Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, a
leader in the Islah Party and a military adviser to the president.
Following their victory, the Houthis quickly took control of other
government facilities. At the same time, political parties
<http://www.irinnews.org/report/100653/yemen-deal-brings-little-solace>
endorsed a UN brokered deal that officially brought an end to the fighting.
The agreement, signed by the Houthis and major political parties with
President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi's endorsement, called for the creation of a
new government, a reduction in fuel prices and granted the Houthis a larger
say in governmental decisions.
Over 270 dead
According to Ali Sariya, the emergency manager at the Ministry of Public
Health, over 270 people died and more than 500 were injured in the clashes.
At least 60 civilians are among the dead, but Sariya explained that there
could be dozens more because families probably buried casualties without
reporting them.
While the ceasefire may have stopped the bullets, civilians, many of whom
are slowly returning to their homes after being displaced, say they paid the
heaviest price for what many see as a political power struggle that turned
violent.
"I don't know who to be mad at," said Ali Al-Kamaly, a 28-year-old engineer
living near 30 Meter Street in northwestern Sana'a, where much of the street
fighting took place. "All these people died for nothing - or was it for
politics?"
Al-Kamaly and his family weathered the shelling and, like Um Ibrahim,
decided to remain in their homes. While Um Ibrahim had limited means to
leave, Al-Kamaly chose to stay for fear of abandoning his property. As
clashes ensued, he saw militias from both sides occupying homes, setting up
camps and storing weapons in private property.
Al-Kamaly spoke to IRIN after the peace deal had been signed but said he
still did not feel safe. During the fighting his car was caught in the
crossfire. As his brother ran out for supplies, his friend was shot in the
arm. Al-Kamaly and his family felt compelled to bury the bodies of four
soldiers that were left in the street. An aid organization later came to
retrieve the bodies.
"One solider [we found dead] had 70 riyals [33 US cents] in his pocket. Not
even enough to buy water," Al-Kamaly said.
Planning a response
Aid organizations are still determining how to assist civilians as they
return home. In several neighbourhoods electricity was out for a week, but
restored services have encouraged many to return. There has been no final
tally of families displaced, but the Yemen Red Crescent Society's (YRCS)
initial estimates put the internally displaced persons (IDP) figure at 3,000
households.
"When we talk about IDPs [in Sana'a], it's difficult [to estimate numbers],"
said UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative in Yemen Julien Harneis.
IDP's acute needs, he said, are not easily defined, given the varying ways
people dispersed. Some fled to relatives, those that could afford it went to
hotels, and others fled the city to seek refuge in their villages in rural
Yemen. Some of the most vulnerable who could not afford to flee or were
trapped by the fighting received water trucking and other immediate
assistance, Harneis said.
According to Mohammed Fakeeh, a programme coordinator at the YRCS, 750 homes
were damaged in the fighting, with around 10 percent requiring significant
restoration work. Fakeeh estimates that over 50 percent of people have
returned home.
Some households have only sent one family member home to check on property
and many who fled to their home villages outside the capital will probably
stay through Eid Al Adha, which begins on 4 October and runs through the
following week.
Many Yemenis that IRIN spoke to were not making long-term plans as they fear
the ceasefire may be short-lived. "They will [continue to] observe the
situation," Fakeeh said.
Beyond the immediate
Harneis says UNICEF's chief concerns now will be tackling the longer-term
impacts of fighting, especially for children. UNICEF has disseminated 4,000
posters and flyers that offer advice to parents on how to help children cope
with the aftershock of conflict and avoid unexploded ordnance.
UNICEF is also running public service announcements with similar advice on
radio and TV stations with the goal of reaching communities throughout
Sana'a, as well as other recent areas of conflict including Al-Jawf and
Amran.
The Education Ministry announced the closure of public schools on 20
September, citing concerns for the safety of students and teachers as
fighting intensified. UNICEF reports that 51 schools were affected to
varying degrees in the clashes. Several were occupied by combatants, but a
majority of schools are expected to reopen on 29 September.
UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Education and local partners to clean
up any remaining debris at facilities and asking Houthi fighters to leave
the final five public buildings they occupy, which they expect them to do, a
UNICEF spokesperson said.
Rights abuses
Rights groups maintain egregious violations took place during the fighting
on both sides. At the public Al-Kuwait hospital on a day when the fighting
raged, an ambulance driver who had been transporting injured and dead to the
health facility spoke to IRIN on condition of anonymity. Heavy shelling
boomed several miles away and smoke billowed in the sky as the driver told
IRIN that his marked vehicle had come under fire. He also reported that
fighters had prevented his colleagues from picking up victims and entering
certain areas.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) would not comment on
specific cases, but in a written statement, Marie Claire Feghali, an ICRC
spokesperson, said: "Should there have been violations, the ICRC would have
addressed the issue bilaterally [working with the Ministry of Public Health
and Population and YRCS] with all parties concerned in the fighting, and we
did when the situation required so."
The Houthis, who are now effectively in control of the capital, are coming
under increasing criticism from rights groups as they storm and occupy
houses of well-known Islah leaders.
Ali Al-Imad, spokesperson for the Houthis' political office, conceded that
violations were and continue to be committed by his group. "We have
apologized [for many things]," he said. "We are working to solve these
issues quickly." He added that a committee has been formed to address such
issues and is working directly with members of the Islah Party.
But Yemen's Human Rights Minister Hooria Mashhour said rights violations
being committed are too numerous to list. The minister is relying on local
partner organizations to document abuses committed by both sides during the
fighting and after.
"In the current situation where there is no state - no system in place,
anything can happen," she told IRIN.
A Yemeni diplomat, who declined to be named as he was not allowed to
formally speak to the press, said the government's focus right now is on
forming a new Cabinet, in line with the peace agreement, and finding a new
prime minister after the former one resigned during the fighting.
Asked if the government would help civilians rebuild destroyed property or
offer compensation to those killed, the diplomat said: "Hopefully that would
be the case," but efforts are not in place yet.
In the meantime, Sana'a's residents are left to rebuild in a changed
political landscape.
"People are coming back," said 30-year-old Nada Alsharif at her home in
Hasaba, where electricity was cut for several days after the fighting
stopped. Her family allowed neighbours to use their generator to charge
phones and other appliances. "Somebody has to provide community services,"
she said.
<http://www.irinnews.org/Photo/Details/201409291018560936/Thousands-of-Houth
i-supporters-gather-in-Tahrir-Square-for-a-victory-celebration-on-23-Septemb
er>
http://www.irinnews.org/photo/Download.aspx?Source=Report&Year=2014&ImageID=
201409291018560936&Width=490
Photo: <http://www.irinnews.org/photo> IRIN
Thousands of Houthi supporters gather in Tahrir Square for a victory
celebration on 23 September 2014 in Sana'a, Yemen.
(image/jpeg attachment: image001.jpg)