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Thousands of cancer-stricken Yemeni children at risk of dying due to Saudi war, siege: Rights group

Sunday, 05 February 2023 8:00 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 05 February 2023 8:28 AM ]

A Yemeni girl who suffers from cancer lies on a bed while she receives medical treatment at the cancer-treating center in Al-Kuwait hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, on Nov. 11, 2020. (Via Xinhua)

The Saudi war on Yemen well as the crippling siege in the impoverished Arab country could result in the death of thousands of children suffering from cancer, a Yemeni human rights organization has warned.

Entisaf Organization for Women’s and Children’s Rights said in a statement on the occasion of World Cancer Day that more than 3,000 Yemeni children, who have developed cancer as a result of Saudi aggression and the tight sea, land, and air blockade on the country, are now at significant risk of death.

The rights group criticized the international organizations and other relevant bodies for neglecting Yemeni cancer patients over the past years.

Enfisaf added that the incidence of leukemia is increasing among Yemeni children, saying the cases of kids suffering from blood cancer have soared from 300 to 700 in the capital Sana’a due to the use of internationally-banned weapons supplied by the United States and the United Kingdom and used by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

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Approximately 1,000 children are also believed to have contracted leukemia in other Yemeni regions due to the same reasons, it added.

Entisaf pointed to the dire shortage of medicines needed for the treatment of patients diagnosed with cancer because of the Saudi-led military onslaught and siege, stating that many children lose their lives as a result.

The human rights organization noted that the economic hardships caused by the ongoing military aggression and blockade have prevented minor cancer patients from seeking treatment abroad, calling for the opening of Sana'a International Airport for humanitarian purposes.

It finally held Saudi Arabia and its allies fully responsible for all crimes and violations being perpetrated against the Yemeni nation, especially children, urging the international community to bear the legal and humanitarian responsibility for the violations against the civilians.

Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states, launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015.

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Yemen

The objective was to crush the popular Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen and reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

The Saudi-led coalition has failed to achieve any of its objectives, leaving hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead and spawning the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

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