Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SANAA2124
2009-11-24 11:37:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Sanaa
Cable title:  

IDPS IN AMRAN ESCAPE WAR BUT STILL EXPOSED TO

Tags:  PREF PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI UNHCR YM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYN #2124/01 3281137
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241137Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3278
C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 002124 

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD, INR JYAPHE, AND PRM/ANE RSCHAEFFER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2019
TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI UNHCR YM
SUBJECT: IDPS IN AMRAN ESCAPE WAR BUT STILL EXPOSED TO
DANGER

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 002124

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD, INR JYAPHE, AND PRM/ANE RSCHAEFFER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2019
TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI UNHCR YM
SUBJECT: IDPS IN AMRAN ESCAPE WAR BUT STILL EXPOSED TO
DANGER

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The approximately 28,000 IDPs in Amran
governorate may have escaped the conflict zone, but their
survival remains precarious. Local authorities view them
with suspicion and have attempted to restrict and manipulate
aid delivery for political purposes. The camp established
for them is so unsafe that all non-governmental service
providers, including UNHCR and Islamic Relief Yemen, decided
to suspend activities there until the government provides
adequate security for IDPs and aid workers alike. Local
hospitals, already burdened by malnutrition and other
poverty-related ailments, are having difficulty meeting the
IDPs' urgent needs. U.S. support has enabled UNHCR to stand
up an office in Amran City in order to help meet the IDPs'
needs and advocate on their behalf for more access to
services. Post will continue to encourage national and local
authorities to provide security for IDPs and relief workers,
as well as to quickly identify and establish a safe
alternative location for an IDP camp. END SUMMARY.

IDPS IN AMRAN
--------------


2. (SBU) Of the approximately 175,000 IDPs nationwide, there
are an estimated 28,000 in Amran governorate. While many of
them fled the fighting in Harf Sufyan, in northern Amran
governorate, IDPs living in Amran have come from as far as
the Yemeni-Saudi border. There is one IDP camp in Khaiwan
district that houses approximately 50 families. However, the
vast majority of IDPs in Amran are living with host families,
in empty schools and warehouses, or in rented apartments.
IDPs often sell their belongings to be able to pay for
transport out of the conflict zone and to pay the rent in
temporary housing. In a November 17 visit to Amran City,
less than an hour from Sana'a, PolOff spoke to one IDP family
that had fled Razih (Sa'ada governorate) two weeks prior
because they could not find food and were frightened by the
fighting. They pooled their resources with other families to

pay 120,000 riyals (600 USD) to hire a vehicle to transport
them out of the conflict zone. They are now renting an
apartment in Amran City, but the male head of household has
been unable to find employment. Another IDP family told
PolOff that they fled Al-Tahl, on the outskirts of Sa'ada
City, a month prior. They, too, are renting an apartment but
have no steady source of income.


3. (C) Martha Kow-Donkor, UNHCR Associate Field Officer in
Amran, told PolOff that IDPs generally prefer not to live in
camps for cultural and privacy-related reasons. As most are
unable to find work, however, "When the money runs out, how
will they survive?" The local authorities' previous policy
on aid distribution has compounded the hardships of IDPs.
For the first few months of the conflict, the Governor of
Amran prohibited those IDPs not living in the camp from
receiving any assistance. Kow-Donkor explained that the
local authorities suspected the IDPs were Houthis, and by
corralling them into the camp, the government hoped to
restrict their movements and control them. (Note: Gian
Carlo Cirri of the World Food Program told PolOff on November
4 that the Governor of Amran, unlike his counterpart in Hajja
governorate -- where Mazraq IDP camp was established )- is
not responsive to the requests of relief organizations nor
receptive to their advice about how best to manage aid
delivery. End Note.) Yahya Tawaf, Ministry of Interior
liaison officer to UNHCR, told PolOff that the reason the
government wants IDPs to reside in Khaiwan camp is that
"Amran residents are afraid that these people share the
Houthi ideology." According to Kow-Donkor, UNHCR opposes
such a policy. "We don't want to force people into camps.
Camps should be the last resort." About one month ago, local
authorities finally allowed distribution of humanitarian
assistance to take place outside the camp, and UNHCR has
begun distributing aid to IDPs in Amran City, Khaiwan camp,
and Houth and Khamir districts.

KHAIWAN CAMP: TOO UNSAFE
--------------


4. (SBU) Another reason UNHCR opposes the government's
attempt to channel IDPs into Khaiwan camp is that it is not a
safe place, for IDPs or humanitarian aid workers. Just nine
kilometers from the fighting in Harf Sufyan, shells have
landed near the camp on multiple occasions. There have also
been two shootings by local tribesmen who want some of the
aid for their impoverished communities, according to
Abdulaziz Saeed, Head of Programs for Islamic Relief Yemen.
Small arms are prevalent, contributing to the sense of
insecurity: Kow-Donkor told PolOff that "Even in Khaiwan
camp, all the IDPs are armed." The camp is government-run,
though UNHCR and other relief organizations had been

supporting the IDPs with food and non-food items (NFI).
However, due to ongoing concerns about the security situation
there, all service providers decided on November 17 to
suspend their activities in Khaiwan camp until the local
authorities take appropriate measures to ensure effective
protection of both IDPs and humanitarian aid workers. UNHCR
is urging the governor to identify a safer location for an
IDP camp. Kow-Donkor reported that a camp may be established
in Beni Surim, but the government must first negotiate
permission to establish the camp with the tribes that own the
land.

UNHCR ACTIVITIES IN AMRAN
--------------


5. (SBU) In addition to distribution of non-food items (NFI)
such as mattresses, blankets, and cooking equipment, UNHCR is
undertaking "quick impact projects," such as renovating
schools, warehouses, health clinics, and homes where IDPs
have found shelter. This way, the local families and
communities who have offered shelter to IDPs receive some
benefit for their hospitality, in the form of improved
buildings or an extra bathroom in private or community
facilities. UNHCR, with Islamic Relief Yemen, will also open
a "community center" where IDPs can obtain psychological
counseling, legal referrals, and greater access to
information about aid and other resources available to them.
This is especially important now that UNHCR and other aid
groups are no longer working inside Khaiwan camp. The
community center should help reduce the confusion about
registration and distribution that IDPs expressed to PolOff
on November 17. (Note: According to Kow-Donkor, U.S.
support is what enabled UNHCR to launch its Amran program
shortly after the sixth round of fighting began. End Note.)

LOCAL HOSPITAL STRAINED
--------------


6. (SBU) Dr. Abdulghani Fares, Director of Al-Jumhuri
Hospital in Amran City, told PolOff on November 17 that the
emergency room is experiencing an increased caseload from
IDPs. Since the fighting broke out in mid-August, the
emergency room has attended to 650 families whose members
were suffering from a variety of illnesses and ailments,
including war wounds. The hospital's malnutrition ward is
currently admitting 50 cases per day, a thirty percent
increase due to the influx of IDPs. Five to ten patients are
hospitalized every day because of severe malnutrition and
lack of appetite; the remaining patients come to the hospital
daily for feeding until they are stabilized. (Note: USAID
supports Al-Jumhuri Hospital with equipment for the neonatal
care unit and training in best practices in maternal,
neonatal, and children's health. End Note.)

COMMENT
--------------


7. (SBU) IDPs in Amran may have escaped the conflict zone,
but their survival remains precarious. It may become even
more so if the fighting comes closer, if their presence
exacerbates tribal conflicts or causes resentment among the
local communities -) whose impoverished residents do not
qualify for aid )- or if they run out of what little money
they had from selling their possessions. Post will continue
to encourage national authorities and those in Amran to
provide security for IDPs and relief workers, as well as to
quickly identify and establish a safe alternative location
for an IDP camp. END COMMENT.
SECHE