SANA’A – The number of Yemeni civilians who will be facing starvation will likely increase to 10 million by the end of 2018 if the war continues. This was stated by United Nations Under-Secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock.
The situation in Yemen is already the single worst humanitarian crisis on the face of the earth today, with at least 8.4 million Yemenis suffering from famine according to UN statistics. But, if the war continues unabated, this number is likely to rise even more.
The epicenter of the humanitarian disaster caused by the Saudi-led invasion is the port city of Hodeidah, which has been under a Saudi siege since June. Before the escalation of the conflict there, Hodeidah had a population of around 600,000 inhabitants. Reports have it that at least 250,000 of them are in acute risk of starvation right now.
The conflict for Hodeidah has also caused the situation to worsen for the rest of Yemen, as the city is responsible for about 80% of Yemen’s import of food and other necessary goods.
Un-Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, stated in an interview to France24, that “critical actions need to be taken now” in order to avoid total starvation.
“It’s no surprise to say that the human situation of Yemen is the worst humanitarian situation in the world. A large part of the Yemeni people relies on the United Nations assistance and other international institutions to provide food and other goods,” Griffiths said.
The attack on Hodeidah is part of the Saudi-led coalition’s plan to force Yemen into surrender by starving the entirety of its population. Despite over three years of constant war, the Saudis have been unable to militarily defeat Yemen, resorting instead to an approach of deliberately caused starvation.
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