Local Editor
Humanitarian organizations are ready to exchange detainees “within hours” in a bid to broker a ceasefire in war-torn Yemen but have been delayed by political wrangling.
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer told The National on Wednesday that he hopes to have “numbers acceptable to all sides [of the Yemen conflict] for a first bunch of releases and exchange”, which the aid organization is ready to help facilitate alongside the UN.
The ICRC and the United Nations have been involved in talks with officials from both the Houthi Ansarullah movement and the resigned regime of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to help bring about the transfer of Yemenis detained in the war. International law states that in armed conflicts, the ICRC must be granted access to all prisoners in order to verify the conditions of their detention and to restore contacts between with their families.
“We could start within hours, and we are now waiting for weeks,” he said.
The lists so far submitted by both sides are made up of thousands of detainees.
Maurer is expecting a “big” exchange between different factions of the Yemen conflict, but said it was “up to political parties to give the green light, it’s their political agreement”.
ICRC’s president warned against complacency in bringing stability to Yemen, which has seen up to 80 percent of the population depending on aid handouts – the highest of any country globally.
“Let’s not fool ourselves. When this happens, we won’t have solved much yet. But it will be an important step forward. There are more agreements to come… once the Hodeida ceasefire is implemented, and they are badly needed because Yemen remains the biggest humanitarian crisis.”
The port of Hodeida is a frontline for aid workers in Yemen. In February, the UN warned that rice was rotting at the Red Sea Mills silo near the port despite a ceasefire agreed between the government and the rebels due to ongoing clashes. Aid agencies have since been able to reach the site and are assessing what is still fit to be handed out.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
