{"id":78512,"date":"2016-08-29T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=78512"},"modified":"2016-08-27T16:54:53","modified_gmt":"2016-08-27T15:54:53","slug":"the-death-toll-in-yemen-is-so-high-the-red-cross-has-started-donating-morgues-to-hospitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/08\/the-death-toll-in-yemen-is-so-high-the-red-cross-has-started-donating-morgues-to-hospitals\/","title":{"rendered":"The Death Toll in Yemen Is So High the Red Cross Has Started Donating Morgues to Hospitals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

A hospital operated by the the Paris-based aid agency, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), on August 16, 2016, in Yemen, a day after the hospital was hit by an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition.
Photo: Stringer\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

25 Aug 2016 – <\/em>Almost a year and a half into Saudi Arabia\u2019s U.S.-backed bombing campaign in Yemen, the humanitarian toll has become so extensive that the International Committee of the Red Cross has taken the unusual step of donating entire morgue units to Yemeni hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hospitals were not able to cope,\u201d said Rima Kamal, a Yemen-based spokesperson for the Red Cross. \u201cYou could have more than 20 dead people brought into one hospital on one single day. The morgue capacity at a regular hospital is not equipped to handle this influx of dead bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times several dead bodies had to be stored on one shelf to avoid further decomposition,\u201d Kamal continued. \u201cThe situation was not sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia began bombing Yemen in March 2015, after Houthi rebels took control of the capital and forced Yemen\u2019s Saudi-backed leader, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, into exile. The United Nations has since attributed the majority of the war\u2019s 6,500 deaths<\/a> to the Saudi coalition, which the U.S. and U.K. have resupplied with tens of billions<\/a> of dollars of weapons.<\/p>\n

The Red Cross has donated body bags and refrigerated storage machines to three hospitals \u2013 two in the capital of Sana\u2019a, and one in Dhamar, in southwestern Yemen. \u201cMore are in the pipeline,\u201d said Kamal.<\/p>\n

Aid workers also train hospital staff in the forensics of identifying bodies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not that common for the ICRC to donate morgues,\u201d said Kamal. \u201cThe fact that we now do is telling of the size of the human tragedy in Yemen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>

Two people killed in a heavy shelling on their neighborhood are seen on stretchers at the entrance of the hospital. Their respective families still have to come in to identify them. Al-Rawdah Hospital. Taiz. Yemen.
Photo: ICRC<\/p><\/div>\n

Yemen\u2019s hospitals often store bodies for a long period of time before they can be identified. Displaced people often lose contact with their families, who don\u2019t know where to search for missing relatives. After a while, unidentified bodies are buried in anonymous graves.<\/p>\n

Shortages of electricity, fuel, and medical supplies also affect hospitals\u2019 ability to provide care. The Red Cross has had to donate generators to help ensure medical facilities and morgue units were provided with power.<\/p>\n

Both sides in the conflict are complicit in the hundreds of reported attacks<\/a> on clinics and hospitals, which have led many to close, leaving more than 14 million Yemenis without access to healthcare.<\/p>\n

Last week, for example, Saudi Arabia bombed an MSF-supported hospital<\/a>, leading the charity to withdraw doctors from six hospitals in northern Yemen. The government-run Saudi Press Agency issued a statement expressing<\/a> \u201cdeep regret\u201d over MSF\u2019s decision. Saudi Arabia had previously bombed MSF medical facilities and personnel three times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a>

Three morgue units donated by the ICRC are seen at Dhamar hospital in Yemen.
Photo: ICRC<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to a relentless bombing campaign, the Saudi-led coalition has maintained a strict naval blockade of the country, which previously imported 90 percent of its food, medicine, and fuel. As a result, the war in Yemen has spawned one of the world\u2019s largest human-made humanitarian disasters.<\/p>\n

UNICEF<\/a> reported in May that more than 21 million people \u2013 nearly 90 percent of Yemen\u2019s population \u2013are in need of humanitarian assistance. Fourteen million people lack sufficient food, with more than 320,000 children under 5\u00a0years old at risk of severe malnutrition.<\/p>\n

The situation has been exacerbated by recent surge of airstrikes. In the days following the collapse of one-sided peace talks<\/a> last month, the Saudi-led coalition bombed a key bridge to Sana, which Oxfam estimates carried 90 percent<\/a> of World Food Program aid to the besieged city. Days later, Saudi Arabia announced the closure of the Sana airport, effectively cutting of humanitarian aid to millions of people.<\/p>\n

As Yemen descends into chaos, the U.N. is facing a lack of resources. The current humanitarian response plan<\/a> for Yemen calls for $1.8 billion, but the international community has only funded 28 percent of it. Ironically, 60 percent of the money comes from countries involved in bombing Yemen or supplying weapons to the coalition.<\/p>\n

Under pressure from critics to end the war, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, to participate in talks about the situation in Yemen. Kerry\u2019s visit comes as numerous Human Rights groups are calling for a Saudi arms embargo<\/a>, and as several U.S. congressmen<\/a> are trying to block arms shipments.<\/p>\n

______________________________<\/p>\n

Alex Emmons<\/a> – \u2709alex.emmons@theintercept.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 theintercept.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 Aug 2016 – Almost a year and a half into Saudi Arabia\u2019s U.S.-backed bombing campaign in Yemen, the humanitarian toll has become so extensive that the International Committee of the Red Cross has taken the unusual step of donating entire morgue units to Yemeni hospitals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}