The National Team For Foreign Outreach - Yemen

1. The continued closure of Sana’a International Airport by the War Coalition countries has led to kidnapping, torture and forced disappearance of a number of expatriates. It has also caused death to some patients with chronic diseases traveling from the northern governorates to receive life-saving treatment abroad via Aden and Seiyun airports; most of them are children and elderly.
2. The closure of Sana’a International Airport imposed by the War Coalition countries led their affiliated armed groups at one of the checkpoints in Al-Houta area, Lahj Governorate, to murder the Yemeni-American expatriate Abdul-Malik Al-Sanabani, after torturing him and looting his money and belongings, while he was on his way from Aden to Sana’a.
3. The various segments of Yemeni society, Civil Society Organizations and International Non-Governmental Organizations have publically denounced and condemned violation of the expatriate citizens’ travel rights and committing the most heinous crimes against them to death. They called on the UN for urgent opening of Sana’a International Airport to reduce the crimes and extortions that Yemeni expatriates are exposed to while returning from the countries of expatriation through Aden and Seiyun airports.
4. The continued ban on Sana’a International Airport since August 2016 by the Saudi-led Coalition, with American and European support – especially Britain and France – has had negative consequences for Yemenis both at home and abroad.
5. The German Member of Parliament, Zaklin Nastić, participated in a mass protest organized by the Yemeni community in Germany, in which they condemned and denounced the murder of the expatriate Abdul-Malik Al-Sanabani upon his return to his homeland via Aden Airport, and called for opening Sana’a International Airport. “Abdul-Malik Al-Sanabani was killed upon his return to his homeland via Aden Airport. Had it not been for the closure of Sana’a airport, this would not have happened,” Nastić stated in the protest.
6. The German MP scornfully referred to the so-called Legitimate Government stating that, “They were supposed to protect their citizens, if they were truly legitimate, according to international recognition, not to kill Al-Sanabani and loot his money.” Then, she called for immediate opening of Sana’a International Airport to civilian flights, under the supervision of the United Nations.
7. On the other hand, Nastić addressed the German people stressing that an “average of three containers full of weapons are exported per week from the port of Hamburg to the Gulf countries and certainly they are weapons of death, and we have reports from the arms factories about that.”
8. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) condemned the US-led War Coalition countries for depriving 32,000 critically ill Yemeni patients of life-saving treatment abroad, by closing Sana’a International Airport for five years consecutively.
9. The NRC and CARE statement held the Saud-led Coalition responsible for the death of thousands of Yemenis suffering from long-term health conditions such as cancer, kidney, liver and blood diseases, by imposing restrictions on Yemen’s airspace for 5 years, resulting in the closure of Sana’a airport to commercial flights, trapping millions of Yemenis in a war zone and preventing the free movement of humanitarian and commercial goods from the entrance through this path.
10. The statement further pointed out that the closure of Sana’a airport and the restrictions imposed on the port of Hodeidah caused the prices of some medicines to double, making them unaffordable for most of the population and further contributed to the deterioration of the health system in Yemen, which has already been decimated by the conflict.

The Health Sector

1. Ministry of Public Health and Population indicates that the pharmaceutical sector in Yemen is facing great difficulties as a result of the continuation of the war and siege. This can be summed up as follows:

• The Saud-Led coalition has been preventing entry of medicines, raw materials for manufacturing medicines, medical supplies and spare parts to factories.
• Medicines and pharmaceutical materials – introduced through Aden port and passing through a long period of time to reach the northern governorates – are exposed to damage, affecting the safety of the drug.
• The Saud-Led coalition prevented the entry of 360 types of medicines that need to be transported via refrigeration facilities, and closed Sana’a International Airport, which hindered the fast arrival of important medicines, especially medicines of chronic diseases.
• They have prevented 120 types of medicines needed by people with chronic diseases from entering Yemen, and banned 56 international pharmaceutical companies from entering their products into Yemen.