MUSCAT: Since the dawn of the blessed Renaissance, the Sultanate is providing assorted annual assistance to brothers in Yemen, an official source at Oman Charitable Organization (OCO) said yesterday in a statement to Oman News Agency (ONA). The Sultanate also provided aid to recent earthquake victims in Nepal. The source said that the emergency assistance program for our colleagues in Yemen goes as per two themes. The first is that Oman Charitable Organization manages and operates the first program in the three neighbouring governorates namely Al Mahara, Hadramout and Soqatra.
“The Sultanate, represented by OCO provides assistances and logistic facilities to victims and all those who cross the borders between the two countries, he added.
“A number of families benefited from the assistances provided by the Sultanate namely the return tickets to their countries or the countries to which they want to go. OCO opened accommodation and shelter centres for those who flee from Hadramout and Al Mahara governorates. The number of families cared for by the Sultanate as of now stands at 4,500 (about 25,000 people), he furthered.
“The second theme is providing humanitarian assistance to the conflict and war zones in the middle, north and west of Yemen. The Sultanate has dedicated a budget to assist brothers with medicine, food and shelter through organisations, such as Red Cross International Committee, Higher Commission for Refugee Affairs and other international organisations that provide humanitarian assistance and service to Yemeni brothers in these region. The Red Cross International Committee will start soon from the Yemeni borders, he continued.
The source dismissed the information circulated by some media means that some assistances by sisterly and friendly countries have been sent to Yemen through the Omani lands or sea or air.
He also affirmed that the Sultanate has a standard stance, all assistance sent to war zones should be through the international committee for the Red Cross and Red Crescent or other international organizations including the Omani assistances.
He added that many countries requested to send their assistances through the Omani lands, air and sea. The Sultanate replied to them saying that it has standard terms for sending humanitarian assistance to our
bothers in Yemen, with no exception provided. Until date, no assistance has been sent through the Sultanate from any party.
The terms stipulated by the Sultanate to receive assistance are as follow:
 The assistances should be for humanitarian purposes namely medicine, food, shelter and medical appliances.
 The assistance should be sent to the International Committee for the Red Cross and Red Crescent; the organization authorized to receive, transport and distribute such assistance.
 No propaganda or media campaign should be associated with such aids.
These are the terms that apply for the domestic and foreign humanitarian assistance targeting Yemen.
As for the Omani assistance to help victims of the earthquakes which hit Nepal, the source said that during last month, the Sultanate sent about 100 tons of medical and accommodation supplies for one thousand families.