The Worst Humanitarian Crises in Syria and Yemen
Oxfam Italy said Yemen and Syria are the two hardest-hit countries in terms of humanitarian crises currently underway worldwide.
Oxfam said “the population of Yemen is fighting for survival in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world”.
The international NGO said in a statement that “over 17,000 civilians have been killed or wounded and nearly three million have had to leave their homes” between 2015 and now.
“In a country in which 24.1 million residents out of 28.5 million depend on humanitarian aid for survival, the destruction of hospitals, water infrastructure, and the intermittent closure of the main ports and supply points for basic necessities have resulted in nearly 18 million men, women, and children without almost any source of safe water or basic sanitary services,” Oxfam said.
It said this has caused “since mid-2017, the most serious cholera epidemic ever, which has thus far infected more than 1.3 million Yemenis”.
It said the situation in Syria is also serious, following eight years of violence that broke out in 2011.
“Over one-third of the population survives without access to sources of clean water,” Oxfam said.
It said there are 6.6 million internally displaced people in the country, nearly 2.5 million of whom are children.
“The risk of contracting illnesses such as cholera or typhus increases every day, because there are no hospitals and infrastructure is destroyed,” Oxfam said.
Source: ANSA MED.