Background on the Conflict
‘Worst humanitarian crisis in the world’
Since 2015, Yemen has been embroiled in an unceasingly brutal civil war which has displaced millions and killed tens of thousands. The roots of the conflict can be traced back to the Arab Spring, but, more specifically, the Yemeni Revolution of 2011, when former president Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted from power. By 2014 Saleh had allied with a group collectively known as the Houthi rebels. Seeking an end to government corruption and Western influence, the Houthis emerged in the 1990s but rose to prominence following their coordinated attack on Yemen’s Aden Airport. Then-president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, duly elected in 2012, reclaimed the airport with the support of government troops. The Houthi offensive was relentless, however. In fact, only a week after Hadi and his troops had captured the airport, Saudi Arabia led a coalition of nine countries in initiating a series of aerial bombing campaigns to support the Hadi government. Saudi Arabia justified the attack by citing Article 2(4) of the UN Charter (on the use of force by states); subsequently, the Saudis blamed Saleh and the Houthi rebels for conspiring with neighboring Iran to overthrow a legitimate government and expand geopolitical influence in the region. Thus, war began as Saleh and the Houthi rebels, backed by the Iranian government were pitted against the Hadi government and Saudi coalition forces. In the chaos, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula made inroads in southern Yemen - driving the U.S. and Britain into the conflict in support of the Hadi government. Since 2015, conditions for Yemenis have only deteriorated with virtually all parties being accused of human rights violations and war crimes. The precipitating effects of the war, according to the United Nations, have left 80% of Yemen's population in need of humanitarian aid. The country is also home to the largest outbreak of cholera on the planet and mass famine seems inevitable. With no end in sight to the brutal conflict, the children and people of Yemen continue to suffer from the effects of the conflict, the economic crisis and the overall collapse in basic services. The Yemeni population is affected by the world’s largest food security crisis, with two-thirds of the population being food insecure. At present, Yemenis are more vulnerable and most food insecure than they have ever been since the escalation of the conflict in March 2015. An estimated 230 out of 333 districts in the country are at risk of famine. These districts are home to approximately 18.5 million people. As the war heads into its sixth year in 2020, Yemen must now deal with COVID-19. Experts on the ground warn that Yemen’s health system is in a state of complete collapse. With virtually no remaining infrastructure to combat COVID-19, Yemen is already estimated to have one of the highest coronavirus mortality rates in the world. If a crisis of such an unnerving magnitude could be summarized, it would be as follows:
No electricity
No fuel
No gas
No access to health facilities
No jobs
No education
No access to clean water
Destroyed infrastructure
Saudi war crimes
Profiteering of Western arms manufacturers
Inflation
Cholera
Famine
Malnutrition
Severe shortage of ventilators.
Not enough ICU beds.
Not enough medical equipment.
No official statement of the real number of coronavirus cases.
The deliberate cover-up of coronavirus cases by Houthi forces.
Withdrawal of UNICEF, UN funding
Failure of the international community to support Yemen
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