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Saudi Arabia still blocking aid to Yemen despite pledge to lift siege
Source: The Guardian
Saudi Arabia still blocking aid to Yemen despite pledge to lift siege
Saudi-led coalition has failed to lift blockade on Yemen’s ports, leaving tens of thousands without food and medicine
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Friday 24 November 2017 07.21 GMT
Aid agencies said Saudi Arabia had not fulfilled its promise to reopen humanitarian aid corridors into northern Yemen on Thursday, leaving the main aid lifeline closed for tens of thousands of starving people.
Following intense pressure from western governments, Saudi Arabia agreed on Wednesday to lift a fortnight-long blockade of the port of Hodeida from noon (9am GMT) on Thursday, but more than eight hours after the deadline, aid agencies said no permissions for humanitarian shipments had been given.
A UN source in Yemen said: “We have submitted the request to bring in aid, as we have every day, but there has been nothing. At this stage, we do not know the reason for the delay.”
Jamie McGoldrick, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen, said: “There is a system where we notify [the Saudi-led coalition] and ask for space or time slots to bring our planes in, and we negotiate in terms of getting space on the port as well. We’ve actually gone through the normal procedures and we’re just waiting to find out how that goes.”
-snip-
Saudi-led coalition has failed to lift blockade on Yemen’s ports, leaving tens of thousands without food and medicine
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Friday 24 November 2017 07.21 GMT
Aid agencies said Saudi Arabia had not fulfilled its promise to reopen humanitarian aid corridors into northern Yemen on Thursday, leaving the main aid lifeline closed for tens of thousands of starving people.
Following intense pressure from western governments, Saudi Arabia agreed on Wednesday to lift a fortnight-long blockade of the port of Hodeida from noon (9am GMT) on Thursday, but more than eight hours after the deadline, aid agencies said no permissions for humanitarian shipments had been given.
A UN source in Yemen said: “We have submitted the request to bring in aid, as we have every day, but there has been nothing. At this stage, we do not know the reason for the delay.”
Jamie McGoldrick, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen, said: “There is a system where we notify [the Saudi-led coalition] and ask for space or time slots to bring our planes in, and we negotiate in terms of getting space on the port as well. We’ve actually gone through the normal procedures and we’re just waiting to find out how that goes.”
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/24/saudi-arabia-continues-to-block-humanitarian-aid-to-yemen
