HODEIDAH remains the most dangerous place for Yemeni civilians a year after a ceasefire agreement aimed at allowing aid to reach the people there was signed, NGOs have warned today.

Fifteen aid agencies, including the Danish Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee, are angered over the rising death toll.

Nearly 800 civilians have been killed in the port city since the Stockholm Agreement, which was supposed to allow food and aid safely through Hodeidah, was signed by Houthi and Saudi Arabian officials in December 2018.

But the agencies say that progress on peace in the city is slow, with almost a quarter of all civilian casualties in Yemen this year being recorded in the Hodeidah governorate.

The agencies’ statement says: “Despite a ceasefire in the port city being at the heart of last year’s Stockholm Agreement, Hodeidah has seen 799 civilian casualties since the agreement was signed, the highest toll countrywide.

“Families continue to flee for their lives, with close to 390,000 Yemenis uprooted from their homes across the country so far in 2019. Half of all those displaced came from just three governorates — Hajjah, Hodeidah and Al-Dhale’e.”

Aid agencies welcomed the signing of the Riyadh Agreement last month, which was supposedly aimed at ending power struggle in the south of Yemen, as a “real window of opportunity to end the war.”

But they warned that it could lead to catastrophic consequences for Yemeni civilians if urgent action is not taken.

“As aid agencies working in Yemen, we are outraged that after almost five years, Yemenis continue to suffer from an incalculable humanitarian crisis fuelled by conflict…

“Yemen is the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis. Ten million people face starvation and seven million are malnourished. Fighting and restrictions put in place by the authorities are hampering our organisations from reaching the communities in greatest need.

“Conflict also continues to block people’s access to markets and services and inflicts damage on essential infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and water systems.”

The signatories said it was essential to share the revenue from the Hodeidah port to pay wages across the country and end the political deadlock over fuel.