In Yemen, Human Rights Watch published a report Tuesday on the devastating fire that killed at least 60 refugees, most of them from Ethiopia, at an immigrant jail in the capital Sana’a earlier this month. The blaze was reportedly triggered after Houthi security forces launched projectiles into the jail, where refugees had been protesting their conditions. This is one of the survivors of the fire.
Ibrahim Mohamed: “The smoke went through my nose, and I was suffocated and passed out. I covered myself with a blanket and jumped through the window. I saw my friends burning to death.”
In other news from Yemen, dozens of protesters stormed the presidential palace in the port city of Aden Tuesday, demanding payment of delayed wages and better living conditions. The protesters, who were public-sector workers, left peacefully after they delivered their demands. The U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war and blockade have crippled Yemen’s economy and created the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.