UN concerned for women and children in Yemen

Officials fear for the safety of civilians since fighting broke out again between government forces and Shiite militants.

NEW YORK // UN officials have raised serious concerns about the safety of civilians since fighting broke out again between government forces and Shiite militants in Yemen's northern mountains. The world body criticised government troops and al Houthi rebels for showing "utter disregard" for the many women and children caught up in the latest bout of violence in a five-year-old conflict.

Officials painted a grim portrait of those fleeing the battlegrounds, describing refugees braving soaring temperatures and walking for several days before reaching shelter. Others needed to avoid mines and unexploded ordinance before reaching camps "traumatised and exhausted". Sigrid Kaag, the regional boss for the UN's children's agency, Unicef, said women and children make the bulk of refugees, with infants often arriving at shelters malnourished and suffering from skin diseases.

"It has been four weeks exactly since the latest conflict in Sa'ada started," Ms Kaag said. "Humanitarian agencies still have no access to most of the displaced population and to the many more still trapped in the conflict area. The number of casualties remains unknown, but is expected to be heavy. "Children are bearing the brunt of this conflict. Many now have to live in camps, schools or with host families, often not for the first time. Their access to basic services like safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, food and health care is extremely limited under these conditions. They need shelter. They need food. They need safe water."

Ms Kaag estimated that children make up 55,000 of the 150,000 displaced by fighting, which intensified around Sa'ada city in July and has spilled across the province and into the neighbouring regions of Hajjah, Amran and al-Jawf. Street battles continue to rage in several neighbourhoods of Sa'ada, where residents are "dangerously exposed to the fighting" and have been without piped water and electricity since August 12, said Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Those fleeing al Malaheet described the area south-west of Sa'ada as a battleground, while those at Mazraq camp in Hajjah province appeared exhausted and bedraggled, he said. "Some had walked through the desert for five days before reaching the camp, spending nights under trees as there was no other shelter," Mr Mahecic said. "The majority of the displaced are women carrying hungry infants and crying babies."

This latest northern uprising adds to the woes of the Arab world's poorest country, where a weak central government struggles against a secessionist movement in the south and what analysts have described as an influx of al Qa'eda militants. Members of the Zaidi sect make up about 23 per cent of Yemen's 23 million population, which al Houthi rebels say suffer at the hands of a corrupt western- and Saudi-backed government in Sana'a.

The UNHCR complained that it has not received any contributions towards an emergency appeal of US$5 million (Dh18m) launched last week to help feed, shelter and provide medical assistance to those fleeing the violence. Officials have also called on Saudi Arabia to grant access through its southern border to help the 2,000 refugees who have been denied access to the kingdom and languish on the Yemen side without shelter and limited supplies.

"We have seen time and again in places such as Darfur and Gaza that restricting humanitarian access has dire consequences for civilians, especially children. All parties to this conflict have the obligation to protect children from disease and violence and keep them out of harm's way," Ms Kaag said. [e-mail]