12/12/2020
Abdul Rahman Ahmed crossed into ‘Saada’ on March 26, after returning from Saudi Arabia, where he had worked in a restaurant for four years to support his family of nine. He stopped working on March 15, as the country announced a partial curfew to combat COVID-19, and restaurants were restricted to takeout orders only.
On his way home to ‘Rima’ governorate, Abdul Rahman was surprised as a military checkpoint transferred him to a quarantine facility located in a school building in ‘Bani Ayyash’. The place was crowded and had no beds, so he was forced to sleep on the floor without a blanket.
On the third day, 100 people were quarantined in the same building. The guards informed them that they would be transferred to another facility at ‘Ehma al-Talh’ school in Sahar District.
By the third day, 100 people were quarantined in the building. The guards informed them that they would be transferred to quarantine in the Ehma al-Talh school in the Sahar District.
Abdul Rahman found out that the new quarantine facility was worse and more crowded. Over 20 people sat in one room, and more than 150 people used one bathroom, with water provided from open ponds surrounding the school.
"They gave us polluted water showing impurities from the water well," Abdul Rahman recalls, adding that dust, insects and plastic waste were scattered on the windowsills, in the corridors and in the courtyard of the building.
Most of the health and response team members in the quarantine facility mixed with its occupants without wearing masks, gloves, or any sterilizers. On top of that, those quarantined were not separated from new arrivals who did not follow sterilization procedures. Those interned were also allowed to go out to neighbouring markets for three hours a day, starting from 1 p.m., to buy food and water, since this was not available in the facility.
Abdul Rahman, only 23 years old, explains that he would not have minded adhering to the quarantine if beds and meals were provided, and preventive measures followed.
"I was in a prison, without food or drink. Their treatment was humiliating, as if I was not a human," he says.
Abdul Rahman decided to escape two days after his arrival. A member of the response team helped him organize his escape by issuing him a discharge note.
Abdul Rahman is only one of 16 cases of escapees or were allowed to be discharged from health facilities of the Yemeni government or the Houthis authority, investigated by the reporter after paying sums of money to obtain discharge notes, or facilitating their exit without precautionary checks.
These people left mandatory quarantine after colluding with members of response, medical or military teams overseeing isolation or quarantine facilities, or people who knew the workers inside these facilities. These acts are all in violation of Public Health Law No. 4 of 2009, which stipulates in Article 11, “to isolate those infected with epidemiological diseases, providing them with the necessary health care, and subjecting the suspected cases to health protection."
Quarantines differ from epidemiological isolation facilities. Quarantines are facilities that restrict the movement of people coming from pandemic-affected areas, and are suspected of having an infectious disease but do not show symptoms. Isolation centres restrict the movement of people with infection, or highly suspected cases, to help reduce the spread of the virus.
Abdul Rahman presented a picture to the reporter showing the actual date of his entry into quarantine, and compared this to the discharge note issued for him with an old entry date; clarifying that he spent only two days quarantining in the ‘Sahar’ District.
He says the response team member offered to organize his escape from day one. When he decided to escape, he paid 200 Saudi riyals. On that same day, the response team member presented him with a discharge note and, with his private vehicle, transported him and five others previously in quarantine to ‘Saada’ city in the evening. Abdul Rahman paid him 300 Saudi riyals in ‘Saada’, travelled to Sana'a, and from there travelled to his family in ‘Rima’ governorate.
Youssef al-Hadhiri, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health and Population of the Houthi Authority, admits that there have been escapes from the authority's health quarantines in Sana'a, but did not specify numbers due to the lack of statistics. Al-Hadhiri says that security authorities have caught many escapees after that was reported by citizens, and workers in quarantine facilities have been arrested for their involvement in the smuggling process. These workers were punished according to Public Health Law No. 4 of 2009, in which the penalty may reach five years in prison or a fine of up to three million Yemeni riyals.
Dr. Ishraq al-Sebaei, spokesperson for the Supreme National Emergency Committee in the Yemeni government says that the committee monitored escapes from isolation centres and quarantines who were obliged to self-quarantine at home by the committee's monitoring team. She said these cases did not return to the isolation and quarantine centres due to their bad psychological state.
One escape story that spread on social media is that of Bassam Sultan, a 35-year-old from ‘Taiz’. The Supreme National Emergency Committee reported that Bassam was infected with COVID-19 on May 6, and was placed in the isolation centre of the Republican Hospital.
"They treated me brutally, as if I had committed a crime. I was not given food and my brother bought it for me from a nearby restaurant," he says.
Three days later, Bassam was transferred to the ‘Shfak’ Medical Centre, designated by the local authorities to isolate people with COVID-19.
Bassam says that he slept without a blanket and was not given enough food. The announcement of his name as the second case of COVID-19 in the ‘Taiz’ governorate caused him and his family public insult, he says. Three days later, Bassam managed to escape with the help of a health worker at the facility.
Abdul Mughni Al-Masni, technical director of the centre, says that the harsh treatment Bassam complained about was due to the requirement of “social distancing” from the health team, who kept their distance, and wore masks, protective clothing, refused to touch him, and kept him in in the isolation room without an escort as required. He adds that any other allegations made by Bassam are untrue and merely justifications for his escape. He admits that the escape incident was unexpected, and that the security measures to prevent it were not sufficient.
As monitored by the investigative reporter and the SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, and according to the testimonies of four members of the response teams, escapees cases appeared repeatedly in five governorates, including ‘Hadramawt’ (through the ‘Al-Wadiah’ border crossing), Sa’ada, ‘al-Bayda’, ‘Rima’ and ‘al-Jawf’. Occasional escape cases were also recorded in four other governorates, namely: Sana'a, ‘Taiz’, Aden and ‘Hajjah’. The sums paid in escape operations ranged between 200 and 3000 Saudi riyals, and the reasons for escaping varied: from fear of contracting COVID-19 inside the health quarantines due to lack of preventive measures, to fear of being transferred to isolation centres in the event of infection, or the lack of basic services such as food, areas for sleeping and toilets.
SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties has documented more than 40 escapees cases from quarantines. The organization's president, Tawfiq al-Hamidi, says that the war in Yemen and the "absence of the state as a functioning institution" rendered many of the set measures to combat COVID-19 ineffective. He adds that in ‘Radaa’, for example, there was no quarantine in a technical sense, but rather a large courtyard in the College of Education and Administrative Sciences, which was easy to enter and exit: "Whoever pays a sum of money can get out. Quarantines were more used for extortion and collecting money, than for actual health quarantines.”
One of SAM Organization’s monitors in the ‘Radaa’ quarantine, whose name is not disclosed for security reasons, says that the quarantine station accommodated more than 3000 people who suffered from lack of food supplies. He says that the women did not find places to sleep, nor toilets to use, and that the quarantine station was a "market" frequented by street dwellers, adding, “To be in such circumstances, and to have the ability to escape –– it is very natural to do so, especially since being in that place was more harmful than useful.”
SAM Organization and the investigative reporter reviewed photos and videos taken by occupants of the quarantine facility in ‘Radaa’, which revealed dozens of people sleeping in the courtyard of the college. They also reviewed testimonies of occupants saying that they were not getting meals regularly, and that there was a lack of preventive and precautionary measures, including dirty toilets and random entries of street vendors into the quarantine facility.
One of the reasons for escaping was the fear of being transferred to isolation centres, which saw high numbers of deaths. The ‘Al-Amal’ isolation centre in Aden Governorate, for example, was formerly designated for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. On May 6, and until the end of July, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Yemen took over the management of Al-Amal isolation centre from the local authority due to their inability to control the virus. MSF received 279 cases between April 30 and May 31, of whom 143 died.
Dr. Zakaria al-Quaiti, director of the Medical and Health Facilities Department of the Health Office in Aden and director of the Epidemiological Isolation Centre at Al-Amal Hospital, spoke about deficiencies in supporting the health quarantines financially and logistically. He says that there were instances of patients escaping from the centre due to negligence, and failure of organization and planning inside the centre: "Most of the patients came on foot, and left it dead. That is why people escaped."
Asaad al-Burai, 31-years-old, accompanied by more than 45 people, left through the ‘Al-Wadiah’ border crossing with Saudi Arabia after the Supreme National Emergency Committee announced the temporary opening of the crossing to the 200 passengers stranded at the Yemeni-Saudi border. Before opening the crossing, the committee said that it had completed necessary medical preparations, including a laboratory and a medium-care unit, and said that all stranded people would undergo medical isolation before heading home.
Asaad did not visit any of these facilities. After his arrival at the crossing, a group of soldiers collected their passports and personal papers. They were escorted to the ‘Al-Tariq’ complex in ‘Al-Abr’, identified as a health quarantine facility. The soldiers in charge of the quarantine asked them to pay for accommodation and food, which sparked a wave of protests that led to the closure of the main road. This persisted until a member of the ‘23 Mika Brigade’ in the army arrived and instructed the soldiers to give the travellers their documents back, and allow them to pass and return to their homes without submitting to quarantine. The incident is documented by videos on social media, showing the protesters blocking the main road in the ‘Al-Abr’ area and then being allowed to return to their homes.
We contacted Dr. Khaled al-Moayad, director of Epidemic Control Department at the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Sana'a, and Mutlaq Al-Sayari, director of ‘Al-Wadiaa’ border crossing, along with his deputy, Ahmed al-Junaidi, to answer our questions about the escapees and the conditions at isolation centres and quarantine facilities in the governorates and border crossings. After many attempts, we did not receive any response or clarification.
Abdul Rahman arrived at his home in the Rima governorate. He was afraid that his family would catch the virus because of him. He thought about returning to one of the health quarantines near his village, but discovered that the quarantines did not have effective means of prevention and precaution. This was confirmed by three members of the emergency response team in the ‘Ramaa’ area in the Rima Governorate. They informed him that the possibility of receiving an infected person could lead to the infection of everyone, including medical staff.
Between his fear of contracting the virus, and the poor state of the quarantine facilities that prompted him to escape, Abdul Rahman decided to stay at home. Sometimes he worries that the virus will infect one of his family members. At other times, he murmurs, "No one dies before their time.”