More unintended consequences of the war with Iran, not that the WH Regime cares a jot for brown skinned foreigners in shithole countries anyway.
Calls for humanitarian corridor through strait of Hormuz as Iran war hits vital aid
Soaring oil prices and the blockade are preventing food, fuel and medicine being delivered to millions of people in desperate need, say NGOs
The volatility of global oil prices caused by the US and Israel’s war on Iran is taking a toll on the most vulnerable people, by slowing or blocking food and medical aid from reaching them.
Now aid organisations are calling for a “humanitarian corridor” to be opened through the strait of Hormuz amid rocketing transportation costs.
Bob Kitchen, vice president for emergencies at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) called for “serious and immediate conversations about humanitarian corridors through the strait of Hormuz so, at the very least, we can get supplies that are currently stuck in humanitarian hubs through the strait to resupply.”
Vital medicines are not making it out of key hubs. Shipping disruptions prevented the IRC accessing $130,000 (£96,000) of supplies stuck in Dubai that are needed by 20,000 people in Sudan. In Nigeria and Ethiopia, government oil rations meant the emergency relief body was having to limit generator use in its health clinics. “In certain parts of hospitals, we’ll have to close off the electricity to keep more important things running [if this continues],” said Kitchen.
He said aid agencies were burning through budgets rapidly. “It is more expensive to buy fuel to run our operations, moving commodities, moving personnel around many of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
Big aid agencies, still reeling from US and European funding cuts, have been badly caught out, because many export humanitarian products including food and medicines from hubs in India and Dubai to communities in need, many of which are in Africa.
Estimates by Save the Children found every $5 increase per barrel of oil cost the charity an additional $340,000 a month in shipping costs, fuel, food and medical supplies over what was budgeted for at the start of the year. That was equivalent to a month of aid for nearly 40,000 children, said the agency’s director of global supply, Willem Zuidema. If oil prices remained at about $100 for the rest of 2026, it would cost the charity an extra $27m this year, he said.
The disruption meant 45 million more people could go hungry, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), in addition to the 318 million people already considered food insecure before February’s attacks.
“We are being squeezed from both ends. While world leaders are cutting aid budgets, conflict is driving up the cost of every shipment, every sachet of food, every medical kit we send,” said Zuidema.
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The WFP’s supply of fortified biscuits was having to be transported by road through seven countries from Dubai to Afghanistan to avoid the usual route via the strait of Hormuz, said Aylieff, taking three weeks longer than usual. “Afghan children today are going hungry as a result,” Aylieff said, adding that many could die.
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The UN agency is working to re-route about 93,000 tonnes of food, such as fortified biscuits and nutrition supplements, destined for communities with urgent needs, including refugees from the war in Sudan – the world’s largest humanitarian emergency – a significant cost and delay. It is not only ships routed through the strait of Hormuz being held up, they explained, but all shipping throughout the region was feeling the impact of the resulting widespread congestion at sea.
Even if a ceasefire held, Savage warned of ramifications for months to come. “We haven’t even seen the tip of the damage that’s already been incurred.”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/apr/29/humanitarian-corridor-strait-of-hormuz-iran-war-hits-vital-aid