U.S., U.K. Call On Saudi-Led Coalition To Open Yemen’s Ports To Allow Humanitarian Aid Access

CNN: In Yemen, the markets have food, but children are starving to death
“…In Yemen, aid workers are hunkered down in secure compounds in cities out of fear for their safety and boxes of Plumpy’nut rarely get to where they are most needed. In Yemen, children … die because by the time they get treatment, the damage is irreversible. The United Nations estimates that 8.4 million people in Yemen are just ‘a step away’ from famine and that it will be the worst the world has seen in many decades. Both sides are using food as a weapon of war, but the crisis is caused primarily by a brutal air, land, and sea blockade imposed by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition…” (Ward, 12/19).

Press Association/The Guardian: Saudi Arabia told by U.K. minister to stop blocking Yemen aid
“Saudi Arabia has ‘no excuse’ for blocking aid to Yemen, the [U.K.] international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, said as she warned that ‘using starvation as a weapon’ was a breach of humanitarian law. The U.K. is set to provide an emergency £50m aid package to help feed millions of Yemeni people caught in what she called ‘the world’s worst humanitarian crisis’…” (12/17).

Reuters: United States calls for delivery of U.N. aid shipments to Yemen
“…John Sullivan, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, discussed Yemen with the leaders of international organizations on Friday and underscored that Washington was pressing for restoration of full humanitarian and commercial access to Yemen, the department said. Sullivan told the leaders the United States was calling for ‘the delivery of World Food Programme shipments that have not reached Hudaydah since late November, and the installation of new cranes at Hudaydah port,’ it said in a statement…” (Brice, 12/18).

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