MSF said on Thursday it was pulling its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen after a coalition air strike hit a health facility operated by the group, killing 19 people.
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Doctors Without Borders is withdrawing from northern Yemen due to what it calls “indiscriminate bombings and unreliable reassurances” from the Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Shi’ite rebels in the country.
MSF’s decision came after 19 people died in an air strike Monday on an MSF-supported hospital in the rebel-held northern province of Hajja.
The MSF said that it had held two meetings with high-ranking Saudi officials involved in the war on Yemen in the past eight months and had been assured that attacks on hospitals would end.
They said hospitals will remain staffed by local volunteers.
The coalition, which has repeatedly said that it is upholding global humanitarian law and not deliberately targeting civilians, has also set up an independent team to investigate the incidents with civilian casualties.
“The decision to evacuate the staff, who include obstetricians, pediatricians, surgeons and emergency room specialists, was not taken lightly, but in the absence of credible assurances that parties to the conflict will respect the protected status of medical facilities, medical workers and patients, there may be no other option”.
Monday’s bombing of Abs hospital drew global condemnation and follows a pattern of what the United Nations complains of as indiscriminate strikes on civilian facilities.
MSF said it had shared the hospital’s Global Positioning System coordinates with all parties involved in the conflict.
“MSF is neither satisfied nor reassured by the SLC’s statement that this attack was a mistake”.
On Saturday, an air attack hit what MSF described as a school in neighboring Saada province, killing 10 children.
“This latest incident shows that the current rules of engagement, military protocols and procedures are inadequate in avoiding attacks on hospitals, and need revision and changes”, said Joan Tubau, General Director of MSF. “MSF asks the Saudi-led coalition and the governments supporting the coalition, particularly the US, UK, and France, to ensure an immediate application of measures geared to substantially increasing the protection of civilians”.
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The Arab coalition began air raids in March previous year, later sending in ground forces, to support the internationally recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after Huthi rebels and their allies overran much of Yemen.
