Two displaced mothers in Yemen's Taiz city are collecting and selling plastic bottles to feed their children as fighting blocks humanitarian deliveries and restricts civilian movement, Reuters reported.
The United Nations said the latest fighting has displaced 300,000 people in Yemen, with roughly half in Taiz. Access to the city has been limited since Oct. 3, after clashes intensified between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis. Humanitarian supplies cannot get in, while civilians have been unable to leave, Reuters reported.
Fatima Abdullah Qassem's family now shelters in a damaged building after leaving al-Sayahi, west of Taiz, at night. Qassem told Reuters that fighting had reached the village and that her family slept outside for two days because the building was too dirty at first. She is separated from her husband and has eight children; she said she lost a son in a landmine explosion in 2017.
Before fleeing, Qassem and Intizar Ahmed Saeed sold vegetables. Reuters reported that they now gather plastic bottles to sell. Saeed, a widow with seven children, said the income does not cover their food. “I work for 1,500 (rials, or $0.96) and it is not enough,” she told Reuters.
EconoTimes previously reported on fighting that disrupted Taiz supply routes.
