Thousands of Saudis are huddling in tent cities after abandoning their homes when fighting between Yemeni troops and Shiite rebels spilled across the border.
They were evacuated from scores of villages earlier this month and relocated to camps far from the border as the Saudis began to bombard the Zaidi rebels in a bid to drive them back.
The UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said on Friday that 240 villages have reportedly been evacuated and more than 50 schools closed in Saudi Arabia since the conflict erupted.
Ali Hassan Jrad, 21, moved with his family from their home in the village of Al-Maqatba in the southern province of Jizan to the Ahad-Almasarha camp, home to about 1,000 Saudi evacuees.
“My family and I have been living in a tent, which is not equipped with air conditioning because there is no electricity,” Jrad said. “We get daily food rations ... but services are lacking in the camp.”
OVERT ACTION
Saudi forces entered the fray on Nov. 4, pounding rebel positions on the 2,000m Jebel al-Dukhan mountain straddling the border, after rebels killed a border guard and occupied two Saudi villages.
It was the first overt action by Saudi forces against the rebels, also known as Huthis, since Yemeni forces launched Operation Scorched Earth against the insurgents on Aug. 11.
Saudi forces shelled and rocketed rebel positions inside Yemen on Friday, rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdessalam said in Dubai.
Meanwhile, UNICEF said it was “deeply concerned about the escalation of the conflict in northern Yemen,” Middle East regional director Sigrid Kaag said in a statement received in Geneva.
“Fighting has now spilled over into Saudi Arabia, reportedly causing 240 villages to be evacuated and more than 50 schools to be closed,” she added.
While some Saudi families found shelter in tent camps, others were taken in by friends and relatives and some, like Ahmed Salh al-Mussawi, said they prefer to rent an apartment.
“We left all our belongings behind at the time of our evacuation. We will rent an apartment in a nearby village, but we hope we will be able to return home soon,” Mussawi said.
TENT CITY
The Ahad-Almasarha camp was set up on a field in a small town of the same name, some 50km from the border.
The authorities have pitched 420 tents to accommodate the evacuees, Jizan civil defense chief Hammud al-Hassani said.
Organizing daily life is still far from perfect, however, according to a camp volunteer who acknowledged that the distribution of blankets and pillows was erratic because the number of displaced people was vague.
Across the border in Yemen, the number of people who have fled the fighting has been on the rise, Kaag said.
“The total number of people displaced by the conflict since 2004 has gone up to more than 175,000, from an estimated 150,000 only a few weeks ago,” said Kaag, while malnutrition is reaching “alarming levels” in Yemen.
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