From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Nov 14 2009 - 07:49:53 EST
Large influx of Yemeni Shia refugees worries UN
Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:09:25 GMT
The UN refugee agency has warned that it is facing a flood of refugees from
Yemen's war-ridden province of Sa'adah where a government offensive
continues.
Those fleeing the latest round of violence, which began in August, are
increasingly seeking refuge in camps or with host families in the
neighboring southern provinces of Hajjah and Amran, the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.
According to the agency, in recent days, around 150 new families have been
arriving at Al Mazrak camp in Hajjah province on a daily basis, compared
with the 20 to 30 that were coming daily in previous weeks.
"This new displacement puts increasing pressure on UNHCR's attempts to
alleviate the suffering of the people in need," UNHCR spokesperson Andrej
Mahecic told reporters in Geneva.
"The latest sudden influx is adding more pressure on an already dire
situation, and overcrowding in the camp is becoming a major concern. Three
or four families now share a tent normally meant for one," he added.
UNHCR estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been affected by
the fighting between Government troops and Houthi fighters in Yemen,
including those displaced by the latest crisis.
The UN agency warned that the Al Mazrak camp has now exceeded its capacity
with nearly 10,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living there.
"We need to make life for IDPs in the camp as normal as possible, especially
if they have to stay there for a longer time. There remains a lot to be
done," UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Janet Lim said while
visiting the camp Thursday.
She also noted that that there was a need to speed up the construction of Al
Mazrak II camp with the help of local authorities and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) to protect the displaced from the threat of the
approaching winter.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) also urged all parties to
protect children from violence.
"During the past three months, children affected by the conflict in the
north have seen all their basic rights violated," UNICEF Regional Director
for the Middle East and North Africa, Sigrid Kaag, said in a Friday
statement.
"Lack of safe water, nutrition and hygiene is exerting a heavy toll on their
health and well-being and threatening their very survival - a situation that
will only get worse with the coming of winter," she added.
The conflict between Sana'a and Houthi fighters first started in 2004, but
on August 11 the Yemeni military initiated a new wave of violence by
launching a major offensive - dubbed Operation Scorched Earth - in the
northern province of Sa'adah.
The government says that the fighters, who are named after their leader
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, seek to restore the Shia Zaidi imamate system, which
was overthrown in a 1962 coup.
The Houthis argue, however, that they are defending their people's rights
against government marginalization- a policy which they believe has been
adopted under pressure from Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists who consider
Shias heretics.
During the past fortnight, Saudi Arabia has managed to aggravate the problem
even further by launching air raids in northern Yemen, based on a claim that
Houthi fighters have killed two of its soldiers.
While Riyadh insists that it is targeting Houthi positions on 'Saudi
territory', the Shia resistance fighters say Yemeni villages are being
targeted with deadly phosphorous bombs, which cause massive injuries among
the Shia civilian population.
As the Yemeni government does not allow independent media into the conflict
zone, there are no clear estimates available as to how many people have been
killed since the beginning of the unrest in 2004 or in the recent wave of
violence.
Key Iranian clerical body slams Sana'a for 'massacre'
Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:08:01 GMT
A leading Islamic clerical establishment in Iran has condemned the
indiscriminate killing of Shia civilians by Yemeni government forces.
"News of the unfortunate crackdown against Yemeni Muslims and Shias by the
country's government forces. has left the Muslim world in great sorrow," the
Society of the Seminary Teachers of Qom said in a Friday night statement.
The Shia establishment also condemned human rights organizations for staying
silent about the massacre and indirectly attacked the Saudi Arabian
government for launching its own military offensive against northern Yemen.
"The direct interference of certain Arab regimes in the ethnic cleansing of
Shia and the silence adopted by the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) and international human rights establishments about this atrocity
leaves room for thought."
The statement warned Islamic countries that "enemy forces are trying to
instigate genocide and discord in the Muslim world," urging them to abandon
military conflict.
The Society urged the Iranian government and the OIC to employ all
diplomatic means to end the bloodshed and asked Shias worldwide to show
their objection to the killing of innocent members of their religious
community.
Although the conflict goes back several years, the Yemeni military initiated
a new wave of violence by launching a major offensive - dubbed Operation
Scorched Earth - against local Houthi fighters in the northern province of
Sa'adah on August 11.
The government says that the fighters, who are named after their leader
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, seek to restore the Shia Zaidi imamate system, which
was overthrown in a 1962 coup.
The Houthis argue, however, that they are defending their people's rights
against the central government's marginalization policies adopted under the
influence of Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists.
The Saudi air force has further complicated the conflict during the past
fortnight by a deadly offensive against Houthis, accusing the Shia
resistance fighters of killing two Saudi soldiers on the border.
While Riyadh claims that its offensive targeted Houthi positions on 'Saudi
territory', the fighters say Yemeni villages were being bombarded.
Shias, who form the clear majority in the north, make up approximately half
of Yemen's overall population.
Yemen's Sa'adah province borders the southwestern Saudi province of Asir
where Saudi Ismaili Shias live.
According to UN figures, the recent unrest has displaced around 75,000
people, bringing the total count to 175,000 since 2004.
Figures released by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) indicate that the unrest
has also directly affected up to 75,000 children.
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