'Final warning': UN accused of blockading Yemeni people - Official

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
5 Feb 2023 19:38
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The Deputy Foreign Minister in the Sanaa government warns that the United Nations is obstructing Yemeni ships on behalf of the Saudi-led coalition.

A ship at a Yemeni port (Archive)

Deputy Foreign Minister in the Sanaa government, Hussein Al-Ezzi, tersely stated that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his special envoy Hans Grundberg are officially accused of blockading the Yemeni people.

"The UN's inspection protocol in Yemen refused to issue a permit for a ship, without providing any explanation as to why," he added.

"The arbitrariness of the UN verification protocol for ships will surely cost the United Nations a lot," Al-Ezzi said.

"This is a final warning," he stressed.

The top Yemeni official also called on the United Nations to immediately stop obstructing the Yemeni ship or abort the mission of UNIFEM.

"As for the United Nations obstructing Yemeni ships on behalf of the Saudi-led coalition, this is absolutely unacceptable," he stressed.

Two months ago, the Yemeni Red Sea Ports Corporation warned of the closure of the port of Al-Hudaydah due to the Saudi coalition's continued blockade on importing and entering spare parts for equipment and operational machinery for the port, which is a vital artery and a major source of humanitarian aid and basic commercial goods for Yemenis.

The Sanaa government estimated that the Yemeni Red Sea Ports Corporation has lost two billion and 746 million dollars as a result of brutal Saudi coalition attacks during the past eight years.

The Saudi-led coalition's blockade and restrictions on humanitarian goods, commercial imports of food, fuel, and medicines, as well as the closure of key land, air, and sea routes in Yemen, are exacerbating the humanitarian situation and amounting to death sentences for thousands of sick Yemenis.

Earlier today, the Sanaa government's Ministry of Health disclosed a high prevalence of liver failure deaths among Yemenis, urging the Saudi coalition to ease its restrictions on Sanaa International Airport.

It is worth mentioning that Yemen has become the site of grievous civilian suffering amid intractable Saudi aggression. More than one million people have been displaced as a result of the war on Yemen, which has resulted in cholera epidemics, medical shortages, and hunger concerns. Yemen's humanitarian catastrophe has been dubbed "the worst in the world" by the United Nations.