After two violent incidents in six weeks at the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported hospital in Khamer, Yemen, we have made the difficult decision to suspend our activities at the hospital. We strongly condemn these serious acts of violence, which have endangered our patients, their families and our staff, and have created an environment of insecurity in a place where people come to seek vital medical care.
Since January, our teams have faced repeated security threats targeting both the hospital and our office in Khamer. On Monday 21 April, the situation escalated dramatically when an armed individual entered the hospital and threatened to detonate a grenade inside the facility. This unprovoked aggression is deplorable and placed the lives of our patients and staff in immediate danger. In March, during a separate incident, a man threatened MSF staff on the hospital grounds with a gun.
It's completely unacceptable that medics working to provide healthcare for patients are threatened with deadly violence. Hospitals must be protected and remain safe spaces. The protection of our patients and staff must be ensured, and until then, we cannot continue to provide essential healthcare,” says Ilaria Rasulo, MSF country representative in Yemen.
MSF has worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Khamer hospital since 2010, providing surgery, maternity, pediatric and neonatal care, among other medical services. As an independent medical humanitarian organization, the safety of our staff and patients is our top priority. We do not tolerate any violence or weapons in our facilities, therefore, until the safety of our staff, facilities and patients is ensured, we will be suspending our activities in Khamer hospital. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and assess the risks on a daily basis. Our thoughts are with our patients, and we deeply regret the impact this decision may have on them.
Today, our teams will continue to work across 12 governorates in Yemen in 12 hospitals as well as providing support to more than 12 health facilities across the country. We will unfortunately not reopen our activities in Khamer hospital until we have safety guarantees from the authorities and community leaders that ensure our health facilities and offices will be protected and respected.