Yemen Urges Ending Aggression Instead of Holding Conferences on Humanitarian Aid
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement said putting an end to the Saudi-led aggression and its total blockade against the country is the best help that the Yemeni nation could receive under the current circumstances.
Mohammad Abdul-Salam was speaking on Monday as the United Nations launched a conference attended by representatives from more than 100 governments as well as donors, hoping to raise 3.85 billion dollars to prevent famine in the country.
“I implore all donors to fund our appeal generously today to stop famine engulfing the country. Every dollar counts,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said as the conference, co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland, opened.
Abdul-Salam said holding conferences on humanitarian aid to Yemen helps the aggressors improve their image rather than help Yemen.
“Conferences help aggressor states to identify themselves as obliging not hostile or aggressor states which must end the siege and aggression,” the spokesman said.
Abdul-Salam also underlined on his personal Twitter page that stopping the aggression and lifting the blockade is the biggest help Yemen can ever receive.
“The best services that the Saudi-led coalition provides to Yemen are nothing but daily airstrikes, brutal siege, the blockade of oil products and the closure of Sana’a International Airport, and the human consequences thereof.”
Abdul-Salam blamed the Saudi-led coalition for all the crisis in Yemen.
The UN, which describes Yemen as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, is seeking to raise the 3.85 billion dollars from donors, including wealthy Persian Gulf nations, after falling 1.5 billion dollars short of the required 3.4 billion last year.
Several aid groups have warned of a "catastrophe" for Yemen if funding cuts continue, adding that "severe aid cuts have deepened the suffering" of people in Yemen.
The war has taken a heavy toll on Yemen's infrastructure since March 2015, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.
According to the United Nations, 80 percent of Yemen’s 30 million people need some form of aid or protection. About 13.5 million Yemenis currently face acute food insecurity, UN data shows.