Aden(SONNA)Tens of Ethiopian migrants protested in fornt of UNCHR office in Aden today demanding answers for the deadly fire at the migrant detention centre in Sana’a resulting in the death of 44 ethiopian migrants and more than 170 injured in the facility last week,SONNA reported.
Othman Gilto, who heads the Ethiopian community, blamed “negligence” by the Houthi rebels who control the capital, as well as the United Nations, which has aid agencies present in Yemen.
The migrants were on a food strike after being requested from the houthi-controlled-facility to fight along side Houthi militants in their war against Saudi Arabia and to pay great sum of money to allow them to be deported home.
Those requeset caused the refugees distress and fury about their current situation at the centre,starting a food strike to demonistrate against the centre’s request and the living condition.
Survivors and local rights campaigners say the deadly blaze erupted when guards fired tear gas into the crowded warehouse, trying to end a protest against alleged abuses and ill-treatment at the facility.
The fire was in a hangar near the main “overcrowded” building, which then housed nearly 900 migrants, mainly Ethiopian, according to IOM
A United Nations agency has demanded “urgent humanitarian access” to migrants – mostly Ethiopians – in Yemen who have been wounded in a deadly fire at an overcrowded detention center
The International Organization for Migration could not confirm the number of deaths but it said more than 170 people were treated for injuries, and many others are still in critical condition.
“As many migrants are in a critical condition, meeting their health needs must be an urgent priority,” IOM Middle East and North Africa director Carmela Godeau said in a statement.
“We are facing challenges accessing the injured due to an increased security presence in hospitals.
The country has been embroiled in a bloody power struggle since 2014 between its government, supported by Saudi Arabia, and Houthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa and most of the north.
Despite Yemen’s war, tens of thousands of migrants – mostly from the Horn of Africa – try to pass through the country every year, hoping to find work in Saudi Arabia. But the borders are closed and the migrants are stuck there.
The Houthis were regularly accused of preventing or complicating the work of NGOs in the territories they control.
Source: BBC,The National ,The Australian west
