ICRC president visits Yemen, decries 'needless suffering'

TAIZ, Yemen - 24 July 2017: President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer arrived in Yemen Monday as the country's unprecedented cholera outbreak ravages an alarming – and growing - percentage of the population, the ICRC official site reported.

"The great tragedy is that this cholera outbreak is a preventable, man-made humanitarian catastrophe. It is a direct consequence of a conflict that has devastated civilian infrastructure and brought the whole health system to its knees," Maurer said. "I find this needless suffering absolutely infuriating. The world is sleep-walking into yet more tragedy."

"Further deaths can be prevented, but warring parties must ease restrictions and allow the import of medicines, food and essential supplies and they must show restraint in the way they conduct warfare," Maurer said .

In Yemen, the ICRC president will discuss the humanitarian situation with communities and officials on all sides of the conflict. With at least 10 families approaching the ICRC every week to report a missing loved one, Maurer will urge all warring parties to provide unconditional and immediate access to people detained in relation with the conflict, the statement added.

Over 3 million people have fled their homes since the onset of the conflict, and more than 20 million are in need of humanitarian assistance throughout the country.