To airlift 7 Yemenis in need of medical care to Jordan. The Saudi blockade of the airport at Sana has prevented much needed medical care going in or out of Yemen. It took 18 months of negotiations just to be able to airlift 7 people. But , the article claims “Prince Mohammed has also faced stinging international criticism over his conduct of the war.” Really, what criticism? Where is all this harsh criticism? Where was any coverage of this on network TV news?
The airport in Sana has been closed to civilian traffic since 2015, effectively imprisoning thousands of Yemenis requiring urgent or complex medical treatment that the country’s war-ravaged health care system is incapable of providing. Only United Nations flights use the airport.
The majority of those waiting to leave are women and children who have brain tumors or aggressive forms of cancer, or who need organ transplants or reconstructive surgery, the World Health Organization said.
Other aid groups expressed anger that the airlift had taken this long.
“Today’s move comes too late for thousands of Yemenis who died waiting to leave the country for urgent lifesaving care,” said Mohammed Abdi of the Norwegian Refugee Council. “They were handed a death sentence when the Saudi-led coalition blockaded northern Yemen by closing down the airport in Sana over three years ago.”
