CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL PROBE INTO FIRE AT HOUTHI RUN DETENTION CENTRE IN SANAA

Sun 14 March 2021:

On Saturday In a news conference in Sanaa, Othman Gilto, a leader of the Ethiopian community has called for an international investigation into a fire that killed at least 44 people, mostly Ethiopian migrants, as it tore through a detention centre last week.

Othman Gilto blamed “negligence” by the Houthi rebels who control the capital, as well as the United Nations, which has aid agencies present in Yemen. The fire also injured more than 200 people, he said.

Some 900 migrants, mostly from Ethiopia, were held at the facility – including 350 inside a warehouse – when the blaze took place on Sunday, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). That was three times the facility’s capacity, it added.

Survivors and local rights campaigners say the fire erupted when Houthi guards fired tear gas into the crowded warehouse, trying to end a protest against alleged abuses and ill-treatment at the facility, according to The Associated Press news agency.

Representatives of Ethiopian, Eritrean Djibouti, Somali and Sudanese communities held a joint press conference in front of the IOM office in Sanaa, speaking about the fire that erupted at a detention facility holding “illegal migrants” in the capital. (Local media) pic.twitter.com/BwAQ9nVEwf

— Naseh Shaker (@Naseh_Shaker) March 13, 2021

Women from the migrant community were seen screaming and crying while ambulances, carrying the bodies, arrived from a funeral service at a major mosque on Friday. At least 43 of the dead were buried in a Sanaa cemetery amid tight security and fears the death toll could rise.

There were no immediate comments from the Houthis, who have been locked in a protracted war with the country’s internationally-recognised government that is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.

Abdallah al-Leithi, head of the Sudanese community in Sanaa, said many of the dead lacked identity documentation and could not be identified, adding that most “had not given their real names” on documentation before the fire.

“As many migrants are in a critical condition, meeting their health needs must be an urgent priority. We are facing challenges accessing the injured due to an increased security presence in the hospitals,” Carmela Godeau, the IOM’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Humanitarians and health workers must be given access to support the treatment of those affected by the fire and others who have been receiving long-term care from IOM and partners,” added Godeau.

Yemen’s six-year-old war has not prevented people from entering the country, desperate to make their way to neighbouring Saudi Arabia to find jobs as housekeepers and construction workers.

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