Saudi-Led Coalition, Houthis Impeding Aid Deliveries To People In Yemen - UN Official

Both the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels in Yemen are preventing humanitarian agencies from freely assisting people along the western coast of the country, United Nations humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said during a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2019) Both the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels in Yemen are preventing humanitarian agencies from freely assisting people along the western coast of the country, United Nations humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said during a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday.

"In government-controlled areas, Coalition forces continue to impose bureaucratic requirements on humanitarian agencies trying to travel up the west coast from the south," Lowcock said. "This policy frequently delays assistance for people in these areas."

Lowcock added that Houthi rebel movement, also known as Ansar Allah, is preventing humanitarian assistance from reaching people in Yemen. In April and May, aid agencies recorded 375 access incidents across the country, mostly in areas controlled by the Houthi authorities.

"During this time, Ansar Allah-affiliated authorities detained more than 180 trucks carrying humanitarian cargo and held them for an average of 36 days before release," he said.

Additionally, Lowcock said, the Houthis continue to postpone a UN technical examination of the decaying Safer oil tanker by delaying the necessary permits for the assessment. The tanker, which has been moored off the coast north of Al Hudaydah since 1988, is rapidly deteriorating, threatening to spill up to 1.1 million barrels of oil into the Red Sea.

Yemen has been locked in a conflict between government forces, led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthis. The Saudi-led coalition has been conducting strikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015. The conflict has resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis in the country.