Yemen’s Foreign Ministry demanded an immediate and unconditional end to the Saudi-led military coalition’s violence against children in the embattled country.
In a statement released on the occasion of the World Children’s Day, celebrated on November 20 each year, the ministry said children are subjected to heinous crimes by the aggressor states.
The children have either been killed or maimed in the coalition attacks. Schools and hospitals have been bombed, and children have been deprived of their healthcare and educational rights, the statement added.
The ministry statement, citing figures compiled by the United Nations, noted that there are about 12.2 million children in Yemen in dire need of humanitarian aid, more than five million children under the age of five who suffer from malnutrition, about 1.71 million displaced children, and more than two million children out of school.
Incessant coalition attacks have also resulted in the death of more than 3,790 children, and the injury of over 4,000 others, it said.
In the statement, there was also a part where the United Nations’ removal of the coalition from a blacklist of parties violating the rights of children was highlighted. The move, it said, was a setback by the UN in regard to globally protecting and promoting children’s rights; the removal also gave Saudi Arabia the carte blanche to continue committing war crimes against Yemeni children.
The statement called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to re-include the Saudi-led coalition in the list of groups violating children’s rights, or it would be considered a ‘partner in the killing’ of Yemeni children.
The Sana’a-based National Salvation Government, the statement said, respects international humanitarian law, and is committed to the protection of children’s rights in Yemen.
The ministry statement urged condemnation of the crimes against Yemeni kids. It called on the freedom-loving people around the world, the UN chief, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba de Potgieter, the UN Human Rights Council and all the concerned organizations, especially UNICEF, to act in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Source: Al-Ahad News Website
