SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties issued a report on the suffering of the displaced in Yemen, today, Thursday. The report documents the humanitarian situation in some forced displacement camps in Yemen for the period (March 2018 - December 2020), considering that this suffering reflects the human tragedy left by the 8-year old war.
The report, titled "Displaced in the Open," aims to highlight the continuous and prolonged suffering of the displaced Yemenis, in the camps and areas to which they fled, after losing their homes due to the insecurity in their areas of origin. The report also indicates the deterioration of the humanitarian, health and security situation affecting Yemenis during their journey of displacement between the camps and the difficulties they face, in addition to the violations they are subjected to, especially women and children.
The report was based on the direct personal investigation methodology through field visits. SAM visited a number of camps in Marib, the interim capital of Aden, Taiz and Al-Mahra through a team of researchers and collaborators trained to write human rights stories and use internationally applied monitoring and documentation mechanisms.
The organization noted that the findings in this report do not encompass the scale of the humanitarian disaster in Yemen, which, according to UN reports, was described as one of the largest humanitarian disasters in modern era. However, the report seeks to provide vivid images from inside the camps and to convey the suffering of the victims as it is and recounts live examples of the stories of those displaced in many Yemeni governorates
At the end of its report, SAM emphasized that the continuation of the conflict in Yemen, targeting civilians, particularly women and children, displacing them from their homes, and attacking their areas of residence caused unprecedented humanitarian crises, especially the repeated displacement situation millions of Yemenis suffer from. All this happens without any real solution on the horizon that guarantees the protection of these individuals against the violations they are exposed to during their journey of displacement from their areas to safer areas.
The organization stresses that the arrival of those displaced to those safe areas did not mean the end of this crisis, but rather the beginning of another crisis related to providing shelter, food, drink and basic needs, in light of the evasion of the UN and international organizations concerned with the rights of refugees and displaced persons. Furthermore, the current conditions in those camps have proven beyond doubt that there is a real humanitarian crisis in those camps, especially when we are talking about the lack of tents suitable to house these people. In addition, there are no medical services, food, or specialized care for children, women, and disabled individuals, who are the largest segment of those displaced persons.
The report recommended that international non-governmental organizations should be minimized because at the end of the day the local non-governmental organizations are the executors of the projects – in order to avoid consuming a large share of funds in project management and salaries. The report called for transparency by publishing financial and technical reports of all projects funded and implemented in Yemen and making all this data available online. It also called for the Participation of beneficiaries and the local community in planning through implementation to ensure that programs meet people's needs. The report recommended allocating more funds for the developmental aspect to generate income and create job opportunities, and it called for not using cash to deliver aid to the beneficiaries, and instead transferring funds to the bank account of the beneficiaries to reactivate Yemeni banks and to avoid exchange rate fraud by INGOs. In addition, the report recommended adopting accounting systems to maximize control and monitoring of aid operations , as well as considering to buy materials and grains from local markets in order to stimulate the economy and create more job opportunities. Finally, the report called for ensuring to supply aid money to the Central Bank of Yemen so that it would be spent through it and then spent on projects and activities in Yemeni riyals, which can enhance the status of the Yemeni riyal and improve the exchange rate.
The organization concluded its report by emphasizing the importance of sparing civilians from the scourge of the violations and practices committed by the parties to the conflict, and the need to provide full protection for those civilians. “SAM” also stressed at the same time the need for international bodies, on top of which is the United Nations and its agencies, to provide basic supplies for the displaced, allocate protected places for them in order to take care of them, work to provide all medical, educational and food services, and put pressure on the parties to the conflict to stop their escalating violations against civilians and to bring those involved in committing these violations to a fair trial.