[ad_1]
Sana’a, Istanbul, Tripoli – Muhammad Rajeh, Adnan Abdul Razzaq, Ahmed Al-Khamisi
The Corona pandemic has added to the pain of tens of millions of citizens in the Arab countries where they are in turmoil, namely Yemen, Syria, Libya and Iraq, as these countries are threatened by the expansion of the circle of hunger and shortage of food.
To whom
In light of a fierce war that is still ongoing, causing direct suffering to some 22 million Yemenis in urgent need of humanitarian aid or providing any kind of protection, of which 12 million face the threat of mass starvation, the virus Corona threatens with catastrophic economic consequences making it another additional war imposed on the Yemenis, According to “New Arab” observers.
Yemen is currently facing a triple disaster represented by the conflict, the deterioration of the economy and the Corona virus, as the first and second catastrophe caused the loss of their sources of income by the Yemenis and made most of them live with only two meals a day, while the third disaster threatens to miss the rest of the meals at a time when many of them were struggling. To take back the third meal.
About 360,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, high and critical numbers that place Yemen at the top of the world food crisis map, influenced by a series of drivers linked to the repercussions of conflict, economic crises and climate change.
The head of the Yemeni Food Bank, Muhammad Al-Onsi, told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that the humanitarian crisis exceeds the limits of available capacities with 22 million hungry in Yemen, while the Corona virus has exacerbated human suffering in a country that has been on the brink of war for more than five years. Global famine, which requires changing and developing the system of humanitarian interventions to focus on designing programs and projects that provide employment opportunities for people in all Yemeni regions.
At a time when the Corona virus began to spread widely in most Yemeni cities, and instead of mobilizing efforts to combat it and limit the impact of its devastating economic consequences, the two coalition countries surprised everyone, as confirmed. economic expert Bashir Wazaa to the “New Arab”, fueling a conflict between the parties The components of legitimacy and the “transitional” support supported by the Emirates for the rebellion against the legitimate government, undermining its presence in Aden, looting money and spreading chaos, thus exacerbating people’s suffering and spreading life crises.
Syrian
The Syrian economy has suffered for five years of suffocating crises, the unemployment rate has exceeded 80% and the poverty rate has risen to over 90%, following the policies of the Syrian regime and its war on revolution and economic sanctions imposed since 2011, so much so that the Corona epidemic arrived earlier this year, increasing the misery of Syrians and warning a famine mentioned a few days ago by the United Nations World Food Program. A spokesperson for the program, Elizabeth Byers, said 9.3 million Syrians do not have adequate food, following the surge in high prices this year and the rise of 1.4 million poor this year.
According to media sources, the Ministry of Health in the government of the Syrian regime recorded 146 cases of contagion with the “emerging corona” virus (Covid-19) last June, bringing the total number to 269 cases.
The closures and the “Corona” effects increased the paralysis of the Syrian economy, as tourism and domestic services stopped and production was stopped, after the Bashar al-Assad regime stopped financing imports and wages fixed at £ 50,000, with household spending exceeding £ 500,000.
Syrian economist Imad Al-Din Al-Musbah told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “The impoverishment of Syrians has come to ration bread and distribute it via the” smart card “, and Syrians have been forced to sell property. to survive the Corona outbreak.
The risk of famine in Syria increases the cost of medicines and their depletion from pharmacies, Dr Ibrahim Shahoud told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, especially after the regime stopped financing imports of medicines and materials used. in its manufacture and raised the import dollar from 700 to 1,250 pounds.
Libya
In Libya, the Corona pandemic has exacerbated the hardships of Libyans, who have long lived in difficult situations due to the ongoing conflict between the parties.
Citizen Khalifa Al-Tohami confirms that he is awaiting the monthly subsidy from the Economic Development Fund for what have been known as wealthless families for four unsuccessful years, and has no source of income now due to deteriorating economic conditions .
Tohami tells Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that he worked as a truck driver in a contractor company, but stopped due to the Corona crime, and has a family of five, aged between seven and 20.
In front of his war-torn home in the south of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, citizen Ali Bin Issa tells Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that his suffering has increased due to the Corona crime and high prices of necessary goods, as well as living crises of previous years, such as the lack of liquidity in commercial banks and the crises of gasoline and cooking gas.
The internationally recognized Government of National Accord has allocated 500 million dinars to fight the epidemic, but it is not enough, according to the observers of the “New Arab”.
Economic analyst Ali El Solh said the economic indicators of the country’s situation are very dangerous, with the continued division of the government in the country, adding that the country imports most of its needs from abroad.
Solh added that food security in Libya has been threatened in light of the Corona pandemic, as well as political instability in the country, the suspension of oil exports and the shrinking economy.
For his part, economic analyst Abu Bakr Al-Hadi confirmed that poverty rates are increasing every day in Libya, which has a population of 7.3 million, explaining that living crises will increase due to industry paralysis. private following the outbreak of Corona. And poverty was expected to rise to 44%.
Iraq
The Corona pandemic and related curfew measures across Iraq, and the damage inflicted on the private sector in conjunction with plummeting oil prices and the country’s entry into a suffocating financial crisis, have caused retirees to pay their salaries. and those included in the social assistance network to stop the spread of poverty in the country.
The sidewalks on which Iraqis offer their furniture or household items to sell have become familiar, especially in Baghdad and the cities of the north and west of the countries that had already been affected by the crushing war that those areas witnessed in the last two years, thus bringing to mind the image of the conditions Iraqis experienced in the 1990s due to the siege. Economy imposed on the country after the Gulf War.
By the way, Iraqi Ministry of Planning spokesman Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi said in an interview with Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that “the suffocating economic crisis that is going through the world in general and Iraq in particularly due to the spread of the Corona pandemic, the collapse of oil prices and the suspension of many commercial activities, has led to an increase “. The poverty rate in Iraq ranges from 20 to 34% and is expected to increase more, but at limited rates.
He explained that “the number of families living below the poverty line in Iraq is estimated at two million Iraqi families who have not received any government money from the state, have no stable source of livelihood and have been severely affected by the Corona crisis. The average number of members of a single family fluctuates between 5-6 people, which means that in Iraq about 10-12 million people live below the poverty line “.
[ad_2]
Source link
