The civil war in Yemen has been going on for years, but recently it has escalated, worsening the world's largest humanitarian catastro...
The civil war in Yemen has been going on for years, but recently it has escalated, worsening the world's largest humanitarian catastrophe. With the conflict escalating and economic destruction, COVID-19 has propelled the region to the brink of famine. The endless conflict has left around 24 million people (80% of the population) in dire need of humanitarian assistance.119,364 individuals were displaced in 2021, Women and children represent 79% of the displaced population. Thousands of people have become refugees in other countries like Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia.
According to the United Nations, 2.3 million children under five are suffering from severe malnutrition. More than 10,000 children have been killed or severely injured since March 2015. Every 4 in 5 children needs urgent humanitarian assistance. Over 2 million children are out of school and another 1.7 million children are internally displaced. And 18 million people do not have access to safe water, hygiene, or sanitation.
How did the Civil War Start
The Modern Republic of Yemen came into existence in 1990. From then till 2012, the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh ruled a unified Yemen with centralised power and control under his protection through partnerships with Saudi Arabia and other foreign partners.
In 2011, the Arab Spring spread across the Arab world, including Yemen. Popular uprisings swept across the country against the longtime ruling president, Abdullah Saleh, for causing government corruption and widespread unemployment, which resulted in the resignation of the Salah government and power being transferred to his long-time vice-president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi (also recognised by the international community). In January 2014, the National Dialogue Conference (backed by the UN) was also constituted, which included 565 individual delegates from various political factions in Yemen to settle all of Yemen’s outstanding political issues. But in January 2014, the NDC ended without agreement, and the situation worsened when Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government lifted fuel subsidies (under IMF pressure) in July 2014. The Houthis (a Zaydi Shia group) actively protested against the government. They got the chance to mobilise people against the government and criticise the UN transition process. They organised mass protests, demanding lower fuel prices as well as a new government. Shortly thereafter, the Houthis launched a military offensive to seize large regions of northern Yemen, culminating in their capture of the capital Sanaa in September 2014. Military units loyal to Saleh, the former President, aligned themselves with the Houthis, contributing to their battlefield success. Hadi's government failed to stop them. In March 2015, after Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who had fled to Saudi Arabia, appealed for international intervention, Saudi Arabia assembled a coalition of several of its Arab partners (a Saudi-led coalition) and launched a military offensive aimed at restoring Hadi’s rule and dislodging Houthi fighters (financed and backed by Iran) from the capital and other major cities. The Yemen Data Project has tallied over 23,627 Saudi-led coalition airstrikes since March 2015, resulting in over 18,600 civilian casualties.
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| Source: Yemen Data Project |
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| Source: Yemen Data Project |
Militarized intervention from foreign players makes the situation in Yemen worse and According to experts, after the intervention of regional powers, the Yemen civil war has turned into a proxy war between the Saudi-led coalition and Iran, which further complicates the situation and destabilises the region.
Various peace talks initiated by the United Nations and various other countries like Oman, Turkey, Australia, called for a ceasefire but failed as no conflict party was ready to negotiate. The U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen, Grundberg, said, "The conflict parties have not discussed a comprehensive settlement since 2016... It is therefore long overdue for the conflict parties to engage in peaceful dialogue with one another under U.N. facilitation on the terms of an overarching settlement, in good faith and without preconditions.
After President Biden took over office he announced US policy on Yemen in February 2021 in which the United States has ceased support to offensive operations by Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners and made some changes to U.S. missile and air defence of Saudi Arabia.
Yemen holds a strategic location in the Arabian peninsula as, after the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca, the Bab al Mandab is one of the world’s busiest chokepoints in terms of the volume of crude oil and petroleum liquids transported through it each day. According to the Energy Information Administration, "Total petroleum flows through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait accounted for about 9% of total seaborne-traded petroleum in 2017." Conflict and destruction in Yemen will eventually have a profound impact on all of us.