Over 100 migrants transported out of Yemen on UN-sponsored flight: Arab Coalition

A total of 160 African migrants were transported out of Yemen on a UN-sponsored flight, the Arab Coalition said on Tuesday.

The Arab Coalition said the flights were organized in coordination with the international-recognized Yemeni government and come as part of the coalition’s humanitarian efforts.

The migrants were transported out of the country after a fire caused by the Iran-backed Houthi militia killed dozens of migrants at a detention center last week.

“The Houthi militia committed a gross and heinous violation of the right of migrants in Sanaa,” the coalition said in a statement.

Survivors and local rights activists said the deadly blaze erupted when guards fired tear gas into the crowded warehouse, trying to end a protest against alleged abuses and ill-treatment at the facility.

The Houthis have not made a statement about the incident and have prevented the United Nations migration agency from accessing injured migrants at hospitals.

The Yemeni embassy in Washington said it “categorically condemned the heinous crime committed by the Houthi militias against African migrants detained in prisons of Houthis in Sanaa,” in a statement on Twitter.