Human Rights: The Houthis prevent corona vaccination in their areas of control
English - Wednesday 02 June 2021 الساعة 11:50 am
NewsYemen, AFP:
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch accused the Houthi rebels - Iran's arm in Yemen - of preventing vaccination against the Covid-19 epidemic in their areas of control, despite the high number of infections in the war-ravaged country.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Houthis, who control a large part of northern Yemen, rarely publish information about the epidemiological situation, and have announced one death so far.
In a statement, the organization said that the Houthi leadership "is withholding information about the risks and impact of the Corona virus, and undermining international efforts to provide vaccines in areas under its control."
"No vaccines have reached the Houthi-controlled areas," it added.
The international organization urged the de facto Houthi authorities "to take immediate steps to facilitate efforts to provide vaccines in northern Yemen and to stop spreading misinformation about the virus."
“The deliberate decision by the Houthi authorities to conceal the true number of Corona cases and their opposition to vaccines threaten the lives of Yemenis,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Pretending that the coronavirus does not exist is not a strategy to mitigate risks and will only lead to suffering.” collective".
At the end of March, Yemen received 360,000 doses of vaccine under the UN-supervised Kovacs mechanism to provide vaccines to the world's poorest countries.
The plan, which includes the country’s access to 1.9 million vaccines in 2021, stipulates that part of the doses will be delivered to Houthi-controlled areas.
Human Rights Watch quoted a medical source as saying, "The group's lack of cooperation with the World Health Organization and the Yemeni government prevented any vaccines from reaching the north."
The organization confirmed that "vaccines are underway only in the south", which is under the control of the government, which is recognized by the international community and is supported by Saudi Arabia.
Yemen, with a population of 30 million, has officially recorded more than 6,700 injuries, resulting in 1,321 deaths.
However, the war that has been going on for more than six years between the legitimate government and the Houthi coup d'état has destroyed the already fragile health system in this country, where two-thirds of the population depends on humanitarian assistance.
