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| Yemeni protesters gather next to a burning police vehicle following clashes with security forces in the southern city of Taez yesterday |
“We call on the international community to quickly provide humanitarian aid to Yemen during this difficult time,” said the UN team in a statement at the end of a nine-day visit.
“Yemen is facing a humanitarian crisis due to intentional actions plus a failure in taking action,” it said.
“We remind everyone, whether government or non-government parties, that civilians should not fall as victims of collective punishment because of the power struggle” gripping their country, it said.
“Officials must realise that with such actions, they are violating international laws and will thus be held accountable after Yemen passes this phase. We urge them to stop these acts,” it added.
The poorest country in the Middle East has since late January been rocked by deadly anti-government protests demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ouster. Security forces have been used to clamp down on protests across the country.
The unrest has led to shortages of power, water, food and fuel, amid charges that elite Republican Guard troops led by Saleh’s son Ahmed are preventing supplies from entering Sanaa.
“The absence of security, the spread of outlaws, obstacles preventing free movement, and the many outcomes of oil and power shortages have greatly influenced the economy and means of transporting food from cities to countryside,” said the UN statement. “It has also affected education and medical services ... and has caused inflation as well as an increase in unemployment. It has also created an economy which depends on the black market,” it said.