“Britain’s humanitarian and foreign policy are pursuing different ends”

Half of the warplanes used in the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen are British-made —Reports

“Britain’s humanitarian and foreign policy are pursuing different ends. The Yemenis are being pulverized by the Saudis while we try to get aid in through ports which are being blockaded and while British ordnance is being dropped there,”  Andrew Mitchell, the former UK Conservative (Tory) Party whip and ex-Secretary of State for International Development, told The Telegraph.

UK Government’s support for Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen has destroyed more than a decade’s worth of British aid spending in the country, senior politicians have warned.

More than 5,800 people have been killed in Yemen, about half of them civilians, at least 27,000 others wounded since March this year, according to the U.N.

• Britain ‘fueling war in Yemen’ through arms sales, says Oxfam

Saudi Airstrikes on Schools and Hospitals

“An air strike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a relief warehouse run by Oxfam, while the Save the Children has had two of its bases destroyed. Both charities’ aid efforts in Yemen are funded in part by DFID. Clinics operated by the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres have also been destroyed,” said a report.

In a recent report, Amnesty International has cited five air strikes on schools in Yemen between August and October this year, which killed five civilians and wounded at least 14 others, including four children.

Saudi-led air strikes in Hajjah and Qabatiya provinces killed at least 19 civilians in bombings of homes and a market on Sunday, villagers said.

The collapse of Yemen’s health system

The breakdown of Yemen’s health system has left more than 14 million people without the basics like antibiotics and vaccines, and risk dying from preventable diseases like diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria, said the UN. Additionally,

• 21.2 million, or 82% of the population are in need of humanitarian assistance.
• 14.4 million are food insecure (including 7.6 million severely food insecure).
• 3 million people now require treatment or preventive services for malnutrition.
• 2 million are currently acutely malnourished, including 1.3 million children – 320,000 of whom are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Half of the warplanes used in the Saudi airstrikes are British-made Tornadoes and Eurofighters, say reports.

“There is a clear risk that the [UK] Government is complicit in indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas,” said Tim Cross, a retired British Major General.

Related Links

• Saudi state terrorism leaves 21.2 million Yemenis—82% of population—in need of humanitarian assistance

Death Toll in Ukraine Conflict Reaches 2,086 – UN

GLOBAL CONFLICTS FOR NATURAL RESOURCES & ‘STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE’
STATE TERRORISM
MASS MURDER
HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE
SCENARIOS 909, 444, 222, 219, 200, 069, 04, 02
.

The number of people killed in eastern Ukraine has doubled since July 31 to 2,086, according to the UN estimates, said to be “very conservative.”

“This corresponds to a clear escalating trend,”  UN human rights spokeswoman told Reuters.

In addition to the 2,086 killed, about 5,000 others have been wounded.

The figures comprise civilians, self-defense forces and Ukrainian military. However, those are “very conservative estimates,” said the spokeswoman.

N early a million people have abandoned their homes, including 730,000 people that have fled across the border into Russia, and at least 110,000 others who have been internally displaced in the conflict, according to reports.

Related Links

• The Next Phase of Collapse: Wars for Resources Posted on March 5, 2014
• Russia ‘Forced’ to Hold Military Drills in Response to Ukraine Op: Moscow Posted on April 24, 2014
• Ukraine Launches ‘Anti-Terrorist’ Operation Against Separatists Posted on April 15, 2014
• “Sea of Police” in Ukraine, Looting in Argentina, Hunger Strike… Posted on December 11, 2013

Many Dead or Displaced after Clashes on Kenya-Ethiopia Border

Clan violence leaves dozens dead, tens of thousands displaced on Kenya-Ethiopia border

Up to 40,000 people from about 6,500 households have been forced to abandon their homes, according to aid agencies.

Two days of inter-clan fighting among the Gabra, Burji and Borana communities has left dozens of people killed, houses torched, gunfire exchanged, business come to a standstill and up to 40,000 people flee their homes, in the areas of Somare and Teti.

Most of the displaced have crossed into Ethiopia, and are in urgent need of food assistance, shelter, drugs, water, cooking utensils, clothing and mosquito nets, among other things, said IRIN.

Scores of children, as well as adults, were still separated from their families, while others were missing, said aid agencies.

All primary and secondary schools in the region remained closed since September 2 because both the teachers and students remained displaced, too afraid of renewed violence to return home, the report said.

Syria Refugees Top 2 Million

FIRE-EARTH log on Syria – dated June 14, 2012

The joint proxy war waged by Saudi Arabia and Israel against Syria has entered a new phase. The head of UN peacekeeping operations has described the Syrian conflict as a “civil war.”

5,000 Refugees crossing Syria’s borders each day: UNHCR

Some two million Syrian refugees, including more than 1 million children aged 17 or younger, are now living in Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, said the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.

The 2 million figure represents Syrians who have registered as refugees or awaiting registration. As of end August the total comprised 168,000 in Iraq, 110,000 in Egypt, 716,000 in Lebanon, 515,000 in Jordan, and 460,000 in Turkey.

The exodus represents “a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history.” said the High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.

“The risks for global peace and security that the present Syria crisis represents, I’m sure, are not smaller than what we have witnessed in any other crisis that we have had since the Vietnam war,” said Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister.

A further 4.25 million people are displaced internally, according to data from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),  which means there are now more people forcibly displaced in Syria than in any other country.

Human river of Syrian refugees cross border into northern Iraq, August 2013. Photo: UNHCR/G. Gubaeva

About 98 per cent of Syria’s refugees are hosted by 4 neighboring countries and nearby Egypt, placing an overwhelming burden on their infrastructures, economies and societies.

Meantime, UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie, has expressed her dismay at the level of death, destruction and danger that has forced so many Syrians to run for their lives.

“The world risks being dangerously complacent about the Syrian humanitarian disaster. The tide of human suffering unleashed by the conflict has catastrophic implications. If the situation continues to deteriorate at this rate, the number of refugees will only grow, and some neighbouring countries could be brought to the point of collapse,” she said.

Related Links

• Obama Itching to Accelerate Global Collapse August 31, 2013
• Destabilization of Middle East Intensifies August 26, 2013
• IDP Numbers Continue Rising Globally April 14, 2013
• Syria’s drought pushing 3 million people into “extreme poverty” September 11, 2010
• Middle East: Early Signs of Collapse July 5, 2010
• 2010 Disaster Calendar [February]
• 2010 Disaster Calendar [January]

• Mediterranean missiles reportedly launched by Israel to test its ABM [external link]
• Israel, U.S. test missile defense system in Mediterranean [external link]