The Forgotten Crisis: FAO Warns of Mass Starvation in Yemen

Local Editor

Mass starvation is ongoing in Yemen, the United Nations warns, calling it a "forgotten crisis." The poorest country in the Middle East may be on the brink of famine, while it faces bombing and a blockade from a Saudi-led coalition, backed by the US.

Approximately 14.4 million Yemenis - more than half of the population of the country - are food insecure, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, also known as the FAO.
The UN estimates there are 25 million people in Yemen. This means at least 58 percent of the population is food insecure.

Hunger is growing. In the seven months since June 2015, the number of food insecure Yemenis has grown by 12 percent. Since late 2014, the number has grown by 36 percent.

"The numbers are staggering," remarked Etienne Peterschmitt, FAO deputy representative and emergency response team leader in Yemen.

Peterschmitt called the mass starvation "a forgotten crisis, with millions of people in urgent need across the country."

The FAO says "ongoing conflict and import restrictions have reduced the availability of essential foods and sent prices soaring."

What the FAO does not mention in its report, however, is that these import restrictions are a result of the Saudi blockade on Yemen. Since the war broke out in March, with the backing of the US and UK, Saudi Arabia has imposed a naval, land and air blockade on Yemen - which imports more than 90 percent of its staple foods.

Because of the Saudi-led blockade and war, for more than six months, humanitarian organizations have warned that 80 percent of the Yemeni population, 21 million people, desperately need food, water, medical supplies and fuel. The UN has insisted for over half a year that Yemenis are enduring a "humanitarian catastrophe."

Salon sent the FAO multiple requests for comment, inquiring as to why the agency did not directly acknowledge the Saudi blockade, yet did not receive a response.

The US media and government have devoted very little attention to the Saudi blockade, and the UN has not mentioned it much in its reports on Yemen.

Journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous has warned that "Yemen is now the world's worst humanitarian crisis."

In December, the UN indicated Yemen may be facing an impending famine. The World Food Program noted that food insecurity is at "emergency" levels, just one step below famine, in almost half of the country.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team