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 9 October 2009
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Humanitarian chief on three-day mission to Yemen

09/10/2009

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes is on a three-day mission to Yemen, where thousands of people continue to flee fighting in the north of the country.

Displaced youth in Yemen

Displaced youth in Yemen

On Friday Mr. Holmes visited a camp in Hajjah governorate which houses roughly 7,000 people. He says the population is growing each day.

"Of course, there are an awful lot of people outside the camp, because a lot of people, culturally, do not want to be in a camp. Therefore, they are either with host families or taking shelter on common land."

The UN estimates that 150,000 people have been displaced in northern Yemen since conflict first erupted between government forces and Al Houthi rebels in 2004.

The latest round of fighting started three months ago, and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reports the situation "remains tense and volatile" as civilians flee Sa'ada governorate for relief camps in neighbouring provinces.

In addition to visiting the camp, one of five established for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Mr. Holmes will also meet with government authorities and the humanitarian community.

A $23 million humanitarian appeal for Yemen which was launched in September has so far received just under $4 million.

Dianne Penn, United Nations Radio
(duration: 1'16")

Sound bites

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes cut 1

"Of course, there are an awful lot of people outside the camp, because a lot of people, culturally, do not want to be in a camp. Therefore, they are either with host families or taking shelter on common land."
Duration: 00:00:09

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes cut 2

"The biggest issue is in fact not, in a sense, the people that we are seeing today, because they are getting help and they are accessible; It's the people that are not accessible at the moment, particularly in the Sa'ada governorate where the main fighting is and particularly in Sa'ada city where a lot of people have taken refuge and have been displaced for some time now, but also in some of the governorates around Sa'ada where we're having great difficulty in, again, access because of insecurity, in setting up camps because of some cultural issues and land issues. So, we've got a long way to go to get the access we need and to be able to give all the services we need to everybody."
Duration: 00:00:35

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes cut 3

"We're getting to a position where we're about 25 funded. In other words, we've got about $5 or 6 million in the Appeal or to the Appeal. And there are of course people who funding projects outside the Appeal as well. So, there are some resources coming in but not enough. One of the things that I want to do is to make sure that the international community--the international donor community--is aware of the seriousness of what's happening in this area and of the need to make sure that we have enough resources to deal with it."
Duration: 00:00:29