Source: Médecins Sans Frontières
STATEMENT:
Yemen, 26 October – Over the past few days, our teams in Aden and Mocha have been exposed to a series of incidents that further restrict humanitarian access and provision of medical care to the people in Yemen.
This morning, on Monday 26 October, three strikes hit the coastal area of Mocha. One of the strikes fell only 150 meters away from the Mocha General Hospital where our teams are working in the maternity and paediatric wards.
While all staff and patients are safe, the strike caused damage to the building that may weaken the structure in the longer term. This is a building that has already been weakened by years of regular blasts.
The strike also created panic among patients, medical staff and civilians, further limiting their safe access to healthcare. Such incidents are preventing patients from coming to the hospital because they fear for their lives. With every strike around the hospital, we see a decrease in the numbers of patients coming to seek care.
A few days earlier, while an MSF plane was about to take off from Aden’s airport on a routine flight intended to carry humanitarian workers, a missile hit the vicinity of the airport. The plane was forced to stay on the ground, and the staff were asked not to board but seek shelter inside the airport instead.
Aden’s airport is the main entry point for humanitarian workers, supplies and medical equipment to the southern parts of Yemen, and accessing it safely is crucial.
These incidents, among others, are exposing MSF and other humanitarian actors in Yemen to further threats, directly impacting their capacity to operate, at a time when their needs are highest and the provision of humanitarian care is essential.
We reiterate to all parties involved in the conflict that humanitarian and medical workers, as well as medical facilities and patients and their access to care, must be protected.
MSF is an international, medical, humanitarian organisation that delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, or political affiliation. MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. Every year more than 120 Australians and New Zealanders go on assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières working as: doctors, midwives, psychologists, laboratory technicians, human resource/finance coordinators, pharmacists, mental health specialists and logisticians. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit https://msf.org.au