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MSF withdraws from hospital in Houthi-held region of Yemen
 [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have decided to withdraw from al-Thawra hospital in the Houthi-held governorate of Ibb due to the breach of their "no weapons policy."Since the turmoil began in the country after the 2014 Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews... coup in Sanaa, which led to an ongoing conflict that began in 2015, MSF has provided civilians with medical facilities that have become scarce due to the war. "Due to our inability to run activities according to MSF’s principles of independence and impartiality, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw from Al Thawra hospital in Ibb," the program manager for MSF in Yemen, Hugues Robert, said in a statement on Thursday. The statement stated that MSF, which employs 66 people in the hospital, would not depart immediately, but gradually over the next three months. The head of the Yemeni government’s Higher Relief Committee, Abdul Raqeeb Fatah, said according to local media reports that the reason behind MSF’s withdrawal was due to harassment by Houthi militias who are in control of the area. The report said that turbans entered the hospital with weapons. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... MSF denied the media reports, stating that they are not accurate. They said there have been no harassments and that medical personnel were never prevented from treating patients. "The reason MSF decided to withdraw from the hospital was because people would refuse to leave their weapons outside before entering when we asked them to do so. This of course is a health and safety risk for both patients and staff," MSF press officer Maha Oda told Al Arabiya English, explaining that this was a breach of MSF’s no weapons policy. Posted by: Fred 2017-03-25 |
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