VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYN #2124/01 3281137
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241137Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3278

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 002124 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD, INR JYAPHE, AND PRM/ANE RSCHAEFFER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2019 
TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI UNHCR YM
SUBJECT: IDPS IN AMRAN ESCAPE WAR BUT STILL EXPOSED TO 
DANGER 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The approximately 28,000 IDPs in Amran 
governorate may have escaped the conflict zone, but their 
survival remains precarious.  Local authorities view them 
with suspicion and have attempted to restrict and manipulate 
aid delivery for political purposes.  The camp established 
for them is so unsafe that all non-governmental service 
providers, including UNHCR and Islamic Relief Yemen, decided 
to suspend activities there until the government provides 
adequate security for IDPs and aid workers alike.  Local 
hospitals, already burdened by malnutrition and other 
poverty-related ailments, are having difficulty meeting the 
IDPs' urgent needs. U.S. support has enabled UNHCR to stand 
up an office in Amran City in order to help meet the IDPs' 
needs and advocate on their behalf for more access to 
services.  Post will continue to encourage national and local 
authorities to provide security for IDPs and relief workers, 
as well as to quickly identify and establish a safe 
alternative location for an IDP camp.  END SUMMARY. 
 
IDPS IN AMRAN 
------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Of the approximately 175,000 IDPs nationwide, there 
are an estimated 28,000 in Amran governorate.  While many of 
them fled the fighting in Harf Sufyan, in northern Amran 
governorate, IDPs living in Amran have come from as far as 
the Yemeni-Saudi border.  There is one IDP camp in Khaiwan 
district that houses approximately 50 families. However, the 
vast majority of IDPs in Amran are living with host families, 
in empty schools and warehouses, or in rented apartments. 
IDPs often sell their belongings to be able to pay for 
transport out of the conflict zone and to pay the rent in 
temporary housing.  In a November 17 visit to Amran City, 
less than an hour from Sana'a, PolOff spoke to one IDP family 
that had fled Razih (Sa'ada governorate) two weeks prior 
because they could not find food and were frightened by the 
fighting.  They pooled their resources with other families to 
pay 120,000 riyals (600 USD) to hire a vehicle to transport 
them out of the conflict zone.  They are now renting an 
apartment in Amran City, but the male head of household has 
been unable to find employment.  Another IDP family told 
PolOff that they fled Al-Tahl, on the outskirts of Sa'ada 
City, a month prior.  They, too, are renting an apartment but 
have no steady source of income. 
 
¶3.  (C) Martha Kow-Donkor, UNHCR Associate Field Officer in 
Amran, told PolOff that IDPs generally prefer not to live in 
camps for cultural and privacy-related reasons.  As most are 
unable to find work, however, "When the money runs out, how 
will they survive?"  The local authorities' previous policy 
on aid distribution has compounded the hardships of IDPs. 
For the first few months of the conflict, the Governor of 
Amran prohibited those IDPs not living in the camp from 
receiving any assistance.  Kow-Donkor explained that the 
local authorities suspected the IDPs were Houthis, and by 
corralling them into the camp, the government hoped to 
restrict their movements and control them.  (Note:  Gian 
Carlo Cirri of the World Food Program told PolOff on November 
4 that the Governor of Amran, unlike his counterpart in Hajja 
governorate -- where Mazraq IDP camp was established )- is 
not responsive to the requests of relief organizations nor 
receptive to their advice about how best to manage aid 
delivery.  End Note.)  Yahya Tawaf, Ministry of Interior 
liaison officer to UNHCR, told PolOff that the reason the 
government wants IDPs to reside in Khaiwan camp is that 
"Amran residents are afraid that these people share the 
Houthi ideology."  According to Kow-Donkor, UNHCR opposes 
such a policy.  "We don't want to force people into camps. 
Camps should be the last resort."  About one month ago, local 
authorities finally allowed distribution of humanitarian 
assistance to take place outside the camp, and UNHCR has 
begun distributing aid to IDPs in Amran City, Khaiwan camp, 
and Houth and Khamir districts. 
 
KHAIWAN CAMP: TOO UNSAFE 
------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Another reason UNHCR opposes the government's 
attempt to channel IDPs into Khaiwan camp is that it is not a 
safe place, for IDPs or humanitarian aid workers.  Just nine 
kilometers from the fighting in Harf Sufyan, shells have 
landed near the camp on multiple occasions.  There have also 
been two shootings by local tribesmen who want some of the 
aid for their impoverished communities, according to 
Abdulaziz Saeed, Head of Programs for Islamic Relief Yemen. 
Small arms are prevalent, contributing to the sense of 
insecurity: Kow-Donkor told PolOff that "Even in Khaiwan 
camp, all the IDPs are armed."  The camp is government-run, 
though UNHCR and other relief organizations had been 
 
supporting the IDPs with food and non-food items (NFI). 
However, due to ongoing concerns about the security situation 
there, all service providers decided on November 17 to 
suspend their activities in Khaiwan camp until the local 
authorities take appropriate measures to ensure effective 
protection of both IDPs and humanitarian aid workers.  UNHCR 
is urging the governor to identify a safer location for an 
IDP camp.  Kow-Donkor reported that a camp may be established 
in Beni Surim, but the government must first negotiate 
permission to establish the camp with the tribes that own the 
land. 
 
UNHCR ACTIVITIES IN AMRAN 
------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In addition to distribution of non-food items (NFI) 
such as mattresses, blankets, and cooking equipment, UNHCR is 
undertaking "quick impact projects," such as renovating 
schools, warehouses, health clinics, and homes where IDPs 
have found shelter.  This way, the local families and 
communities who have offered shelter to IDPs receive some 
benefit for their hospitality, in the form of improved 
buildings or an extra bathroom in private or community 
facilities.  UNHCR, with Islamic Relief Yemen, will also open 
a "community center" where IDPs can obtain psychological 
counseling, legal referrals, and greater access to 
information about aid and other resources available to them. 
This is especially important now that UNHCR and other aid 
groups are no longer working inside Khaiwan camp.  The 
community center should help reduce the confusion about 
registration and distribution that IDPs expressed to PolOff 
on November 17.  (Note:  According to Kow-Donkor, U.S. 
support is what enabled UNHCR to launch its Amran program 
shortly after the sixth round of fighting began.  End Note.) 
 
LOCAL HOSPITAL STRAINED 
----------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Dr. Abdulghani Fares, Director of Al-Jumhuri 
Hospital in Amran City, told PolOff on November 17 that the 
emergency room is experiencing an increased caseload from 
IDPs.  Since the fighting broke out in mid-August, the 
emergency room has attended to 650 families whose members 
were suffering from a variety of illnesses and ailments, 
including war wounds.  The hospital's malnutrition ward is 
currently admitting 50 cases per day, a thirty percent 
increase due to the influx of IDPs.  Five to ten patients are 
hospitalized every day because of severe malnutrition and 
lack of appetite; the remaining patients come to the hospital 
daily for feeding until they are stabilized.  (Note:  USAID 
supports Al-Jumhuri Hospital with equipment for the neonatal 
care unit and training in best practices in maternal, 
neonatal, and children's health. End Note.) 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) IDPs in Amran may have escaped the conflict zone, 
but their survival remains precarious.  It may become even 
more so if the fighting comes closer, if their presence 
exacerbates tribal conflicts or causes resentment among the 
local communities -) whose impoverished residents do not 
qualify for aid )- or if they run out of what little money 
they had from selling their possessions.  Post will continue 
to encourage national authorities and those in Amran to 
provide security for IDPs and relief workers, as well as to 
quickly identify and establish a safe alternative location 
for an IDP camp.  END COMMENT. 
SECHE