Yemeni Water fights spark concern over Somali refugee influx | WPN World People News

Somali refugee Asmaa Abdullah, 35, and her three children, have been struggling to get water for more than a year in the run-down Safia neighbourhood of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a.

"We arrive at al-Usaimi water tap [supported by a charity] before locals, but are pushed to the end of the queue. Sometimes I queue for three or four hours to fill my container."

But Abdullah says she dares not argue for fear that she might get beaten up.

Water shortages, which have been worsening since serious political unrest began in February 2011, are causing friction between locals and refugees in Sana'a, according to the police.

"Arguments and scuffles between African refugees and local citizens over water have become a daily scene in this slum [Safia]," said Mohammed al-Behish, head of Safia police station, adding that many water disputes go unreported.

"Last week, a Somali woman came to us, bleeding from her nose, claiming she was beaten up by three Yemeni women. In the same week, a local resident reported to us that his daughter was hit by two Ethiopian women at the tap," al-Behish said.

The slum-dwellers queue at the tap to get water free: Most cannot afford trucked-in water, the price of which has doubled in the last 14 months, Yahya al-Sanabani, a long-term adviser to parliament's utilities' committee, told IRIN.

In Safia, where it is estimated a quarter of the 65,000 residents are Africans, the state water supply system gets cut off for more than 10 days at a time, said Khalid al-Kharbi, a local water company official.

Residents receive water for a few hours every 10 days, al-Kharbi told IRIN. "Many women and children are sneaking into mosques at prayer times to fill their containers," he added.

Sourace: ReliefWeb