By: Ayyan Shaikh
You may have heard about the humanitarian crisis in Yemen or seen people talk about it on their social media but what exactly is happening in Yemen?
Yemen is a country in the southern end of the Arabian peninsula in Western Asia and is considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world. The Republic of Yemen was formed after the two prior Yemen states combined in 1990. Ali Abdul Saleh was chosen to be the first president of modern Yemen and stayed the only authoritarian president up until 2012 till he resigned. His rule has been described as a kleptocracy and was constantly accused of failed governance, and the inability of the government to solve their long-standing conflict with the Huthis, belonging to Zaydis-a Shi’a sect.
Although the country was always in some form of a crisis, the official political crisis started in 2011, when people started protesting against poverty, unemployment, corruption, and president Saleh’s plan to amend Yemen’s constitution to eliminate the presidential term limit, in effect making him president for life. To bring the country back to ‘stability’, president Saleh stepped down to let his deputy Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi take over. However, Hadi also struggled to manage the poverty-stricken and post-uprising country.
Now, along with all the problems he inherited from Saleh, he had to deal with attacks from ‘jihadists’ as well as the uncooperative behavior of militant officers who were loyal to Saleh. The Houthis then capitalized on the discontent among the country and took advantage of the new presidents’ weakness by seizing control over northern Saada province and the neighboring areas. Later these rebels, facilitated to a certain extent by former president Saleh, took control of the capital Sanaa which in turn forced Hadi and the member of his government to flee in 2015. They then proceeded to declare themselves as the new government after Saleh was shot dead by a sniper in 2017.
In 2015, following the capture of Sanaa and the fleeing of president Hadi, a coalition was formed consisting of Saudi Arabia and 8 other majorly Sunni states backed by the US, UK, and France. They decided to intervene and took it upon themselves to restore the internationally recognized government of President Hadi. Since then, a full-blown armed conflict has started as the coalition launched an aerial bombing campaign against the Huthis. The coalition claimed that the Houthi led rebellion was backed by Iran, a Shia majority state and their long term rival, who was providing them with weapons-something Iran denies. They feared that this was the effort of Iran to take power right across its southern border and hence establish a foothold in Yemen.
Over the next five years, the conflict engulfed the entire country and many small groups also emerged and joined the conflict for their vested interests, including tribal groups seeking autonomy and those who opposed this notion. As a result, the country has been in a state of civil war until now and many lives have been lost due to this.
How has this civil war affected the people of Yemen? What are the overall consequences of the conflict to fill or restore the power vacuum? The answer to this is simply shocking. This Civil war in Yemen has resulted in a famine affecting 17 million people with over 3.3 million children and pregnant women suffering from acute malnutrition. In October 2018, the United Nation warned that 13 million people face starvation in what could be “the worst famine in the world in 100 years”.
As if that wasn’t enough, the constant bombing has destroyed the country’s aquifers and water infrastructure which has resulted in the largest and the fastest spreading cholera outbreak in modern history. But wait, this doesn’t end here, in addition to the war, an epidemic, and a famine, Covid-19 has also started spreading in Yemen. On top of this, there is also a mosquito-transmitted virus outbreak known as the Chikungunya virus. With 2 epidemics and one pandemic striking an already beaten country, Yemen is facing an emergency within an emergency. There is no proper healthcare system, sanitation, or enough food for people to survive this critical condition and as a result, the country is said to be in the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. As Yemen almost approaches its end due to more than 80% of its population needing immediate help, the UN has issued desperate pleas for financial aid in this war-ravaged country.
With global media refusing to cover this heartbreaking situation of millions of families, it is up to us to raise awareness and help those in need. While it is easy to feel helpless at times like this, it is important to keep the effect of social media in our minds and remember that no matter how minuscule, we do hold the power to bring a change. Talk more about these issues, mainstream media and the world need to see that the new generation will not give up on humanity and that we demand the world leaders to do something. Donate to UNICEF here and help aid their projects for children and others in Yemen. You can also donate here to other small scale organizations and projects. Most importantly, SIGN THE PETITIONS! It takes less than a minute to sign one petition and this one sign can help millions of people in need. Here are the petitions:
In addition to this, find all other important information about Yemen Crisis here, and please remember, if we give up on people in Yemen then humanity will give up on us and that is something we cannot afford. At all.
(Photo from here.)
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