UNHCR, EU to raise aid for refugees in Yemen

Source: Saba, 15/01/2011
SANA'A-UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and European Union (EU) averred here on Saturday their intents to increase their aid for refugees and development in Yemen.
The statement made by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio
Guterres and the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva during their meeting with Prime minister Ali Mohamed Mujawar.

Guterres expressed his appreciation of Yemen and its role in shelter refugees, affirming that UNHCR will raise their assistance for the refugees in Yemen as well as urging the international community to prop up the economic and development fields in Yemen.

"The international community should sustain Yemen's economic and development efforts and be as cooperative as Yemen in its efforts with refugees, especially Somalis", Guterres said.

For her part, Georgieva affirmed the EU's intention to raise its development aid to Yemen, besides its assistance for the refugees in Yemen.

"Our visit to Yemen is a confirmation to our desire to increase aid to this friendly country", the EU official said.

The EU has strong trend to support the fourth four-year economic and social development plan 2011-2015 to be presented in the Riyadh meeting of Yemen's Friends Group, Georgieva said.

For his part, Mujawar valued the level of existing cooperation between Yemen and each of EU and UNHCR, reviewing the humanitarian consequences resulted from the rebellion taken place in some districts of Sa'ada governorate and Harf Sufyan district in Amran governorate.

He briefed the UNHCR and EU officials on the social, economic and security impacts on the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees as well as the government's exerted efforts in collaboration with international organizations to manage refugees and IDPs camps.

He talked about Yemen's vision to handle the situation in Somalia, which is based on an international support to establish the Somali state and taking over its entire territories.

The meeting has focused on aspects of cooperation between Yemen, UNHCR and EU in areas of sheltering refugees and IDPs as well as presenting the requisite humanitarian aid in the light of the field visits the UNHCR and EU officials have paid to the IDPs camps in Sa'ada governorate and Harf Sufyan and al-Mizraq areas.