Oxfam: People are "starving and dying" in Yemen

(Vatican Radio) As fighting intensifies in Yemen, aid agencies have warned that fuel shortages there could halt their work and increase the risk of deaths from malnutrition.They say an already desperate humanitarian situation in the impoverished nation is getting worse each day with at least 300,000 people displaced by the conflict. Even before the outbreak of fighting, more than half the population in Yemen was dependent on humanitarian aid whilst over a million Yemenis are acutely malnourished.  

Nuha Jabbara is the humanitarian coordinator in Yemen for the British charity Oxfam and she told Susy Hodges that people there are starting to die from starvation in some areas of the war-torn country and warned that many more could do so, if the conflict continues.  

   

Listen to the full interview with Nuha Jabbar of Oxfam:  

 

‘Getting worse every day’

Nuha said it was difficult to find words to describe the gravity of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen but said “every day the situation is getting worse.” She explained how the shelves in the food shops are getting “emptier each day” with bakeries closing down and therefore very little bread for the population.  

Turning to the major fuel shortage afflicting Yemen, Nuha said this is impacting on all aspects of daily life with virtually “no cars” seen on the streets due to the fuel crisis.  She went on to describe how the fuel shortages are already preventing aid agencies NGO’s like Oxfam from going out into the field to provide badly-needed assistance to people displaced by the conflict. 

‘People are starving and dying’

Nuha said people are starting to starve in some areas of the nation and predicted that Yemen could see large numbers of people dying from malnutrition if there is no early halt to the conflict and a lifting of the air and sea blockade which is preventing fuel, food, medicine and other essential goods from reaching the country.