"US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's announcement that he will be designating Ansar Allah as a terrorist organisation has a far-reaching impact on the already dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. The sanctions will hamstring the ability of aid agencies to respond, and without additional safeguards and broader exemptions for the commercial sector, Yemen’s faltering economy will be dealt a further devastating blow. Getting food and medicine into Yemen—a country 80% dependent on imports—will become even more difficult. The U.S. government must ensure that any sanctions do not block food, fuel and medicines from entering a country already in the middle of a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe."
"We call on President Elect Joe Biden to act upon taking office to ensure Yemeni civilians can still receive life-saving aid. We are calling on the US government to provide unambiguous safeguards and guarantees so that humanitarian aid can still be delivered without delays and across conflict territories regardless of who is in control, and protect aid workers from being criminalised” says the Norwegian Refugee Council's Country Director for Yemen, Mohamed Abdi.
For more information or interviews please contact:
- Riona Judge McCormack, Communications and Media Coordinator, Yemen Riona.McCormack@nrc.no, Whatsapp/phone: +967 736 003 397 (Yemen) | +353 85 257 1926 (Ireland) or
- NRC's global media hotline on +47 905 623 29, media@nrc.no.
