Yemen: Houthis recognize responsibility for dozens of migrants' deaths
Satellite views of the migrant detention center before and after the fire on March 11, 2021. The Houthi rebels finally admit their responsibility in this fire where dozens of migrants died.
VIA REUTERS - MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES
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2 min
In Yemen, the Houthi rebels finally acknowledge their responsibility in the fire which killed several dozen migrants in the capital Sanaa earlier this month.
They announced sanctions against some of their officials.
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A video obtained by AFP showed dozens of charred bodies piled on top of each other.
On March 7, in a detention center in Sana'a, Houthi guards locked up several hundred migrants demonstrating against their living conditions.
Dozens of them died in a fire that devastated the building.
According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, the fire was caused by projectiles thrown by the guards.
The Houthis speak first of "
exaggerated
"
figures
, denounce a "
politicization
" of the drama.
This Sunday in a press release, they finally recognize their responsibility.
The guards could not contain the riot, they threw three tear gas canisters which set fire to a foam mattress, causing a fire which left according to the rebels 45 dead and 200 injured.
The Houthis say a dozen guards and several senior officials have been arrested and will stand trial.
Read also Yemen: fire in a detention center, IOM asks to have access to the wounded
The majority of the migrants who died in the blaze are Ethiopians.
Despite the war, migrants from the Horn of Africa continue to pass through Yemen to reach the Gulf countries.
A war where the Houthi rebels confront a coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
In six years, the conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives, millions displaced, and plunged the country into what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
► To read also: Hundreds of migrants cross Djibouti every day to reach Yemen
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International Migration