Yemen: Aid Coordinator Asks Saudis to Simplify Restrictions
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Version 0 of 1. Scrambling to bring emergency aid into Yemen during a five-day humanitarian pause in the Saudi-led bombing of Houthi rebels and their allies, the United Nations said Friday that the relief effort was still encumbered by Saudi Arabia’s stringent import inspections. Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said at a news conference conducted by telephone from Yemen that even during the bombing halt, “the arms embargo and its inspection regime results in commercial goods, be it by air or by ship, no longer reaching the country.” The Saudi inspection process, he said, “needs to be simplified, needs to be faster.” The bombing by a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states, which began in late March, was halted on Tuesday for five days, the first negotiated pause in the Saudi effort to thwart the Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival. Mr. Van Der Klaauw said emergency relief teams were hoping to feed 700,000 Yemenis and provide 500,000 people with medical support during the lull. He spoke as the first of six planeloads of supplies from United Nations aid agencies landed in Yemen. He warned that Yemen desperately needed more fuel to power the generators that are now supplying all of the country’s electricity, or else hospitals, water and sanitation facilities would shut down. |