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Thursday, November 16, 2017, 23:10
UN: Untold thousands to die if Yemen blockade not lifted
By Reuters
Thursday, November 16, 2017, 23:10 By Reuters

In this Jan 24, 2016 file photo, a malnourished child lies in a bed waiting to receive treatment at a therapeutic feeding center in a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. (HANI MOHAMMED / AP)

GENEVA – The heads of three UN agencies issued a fresh plea on Thursday for the Saudi-led military coalition to lift its blockade on Yemen, warning that "untold thousands" would die. 

Yemen already has 7 million people on the brink of famine, but without the reopening of all ports that number could grow by 3.2 million

The coalition closed all air, land and sea access to Yemen last week following the interception of a missile fired towards the Saudi capital, saying it had to stem the flow of arms from Iran to its Houthi opponents in the war in Yemen. 

Yemen already has 7 million people on the brink of famine, but without the reopening of all ports that number could grow by 3.2 million, the statement said. 

READ MORE: UN warns of massive famine if Yemen blockade isn't lifted

"The cost of this blockade is being measured in the number of lives that are lost," David Beasley, Antony Lake and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the heads of the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the World Health Organization, said in the statement. 

"Together, we issue another urgent appeal for the coalition to permit entry of lifesaving supplies to Yemen in response to what is now the worst humanitarian crisis in the world." 

Saudi Arabia has since said that aid can go through "liberated ports" but not Houthi-controlled Hodeidah, the conduit for the vast bulk of imports into Yemen. 

For months, the U.N. has warned that the closure of Hodeidah would dramatically escalate the crisis. 

ALSO READ: Saudi-led forces close air, sea and land access to Yemen

"Without fuel, the vaccine cold chain, water supply systems and waste water treatment plants will stop functioning. And without food and safe water, the threat of famine grows by the day," the UN agency heads said in the statement. 

At least one million children are at risk if a fast-spreading diphtheria outbreak is not stopped in its tracks, and there is also the risk of a renewed flare-up in cholera, which was on the wane after the most explosive outbreak ever recorded - with over 900,000 cases in the past six months. 

"If any of us in our daily lives saw a child whose life was at immediate risk, would we not try to save her? In Yemen we are talking about hundreds of thousands of children, if not more," the joint statement said.

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