The Yemeni embassy in Amman said siege of the city of Taiz for 3,000 days by Houthi militia and closure of the city’s main entrances, left “multiple negative effects in all aspects of life” and affected its 4-million population. In a statement on Thursday, the embassy added that the city’s health sector “was affected after preventing delivery of medicines and medical supplies, in addition to closure of healthcare centers, which led to deprivation of large segments of Taiz population’s access to medical services, especially women, and kidney failure and cancer patients. The blockade also caused damage to 32,200 students due to school closure in the conflict areas, and inability of 8,568 students to enroll in universities, the embassy announced. The embassy said the seige caused an increase in the city’s unemployment rates, as the number of workers in industrial establishments dropped from 18,000 to 9,000, adding that thousands of workers from government sectors and universities were displaced. Moreover, the statement referred to expansion of areas planted with mines in Taiz vicinity, which led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries, in addition to mine-related damage to the city’s transportation. The embassy also noted the siege caused large losses in the tourism sector, adding that environmental pollution prevailed due to quantities of garbage that are not transferred to their landfills. Following a year and a half of the armistice, Taiz governorate is still besieged in violation of citizens’ rights to live in peace, as well as restricting freedoms, and violating rules and standards of international humanitarian law, the Yemeni embassy affirmed.

Source: Jordan News Agency