Thamil Ananthavinayagan draws our attention to the civil war and increasing humanitarian need unfolding in Yemen.
While the ferocious war in Syria casts its long and dark shadow, another human catastrophe is unfolding and goes largely unnoticed by popular discourse: the war in Yemen.
Background
Since the Yemeni state was formed in 1990 with the unification of Yemeni Arab Republic in the north, and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen in the south, the country has seen a number of uprisings. The military officer Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had ruled North Yemen since 1978, became leader and was eventually forced out of power during the Arab Spring in 2011.
There have been numerous uprisings against President al-Hadi and the new government. Though it is often presented as a two party conflict, the northern Shia Houthis and the Sunni Hadi government, in reality there are many parties involved including Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and southern secessionists, Hirak. Most Yemenis do not support either the president or the northern rebels; rather, they are part of much smaller groups with their own identity, ideology, grievances and political goals, from secessionists in the south to Salafists in Taiz and Aden and tribal leaders in the north.
“Yemen after five months looks like Syria after five years”
A UN-sponsored dialogue that started in November 2011 between the multiple stakeholders failed in 2014, leaving the country open to a brutal conflict which erupted at the end of March 2015.
Armed Houthis, supported by Iran entered Sana’a in September 2014 and gradually took over government institutions in early 2015. Shortly after, Mr.al-Hadi’s government, supported by the Saudi government, left the country. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of 10 Arab countries (with Western military supplies) initiated a military campaign to restore Mr. al-Hadi’s government, resulting in their return in November 2015. While pro-Hadi forces have made military gains recently, the conflict continues unabated.
The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International report that both, the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi rebels, have deliberately targeted civilians, while certain attacks could amount to crimes against humanity and a breach of international law.
Humanitarian consequences
An increasing toll of civilian deaths and casualties across the country, displacement, and severe destruction of civilian infrastructure are direct results of this conflict.
The statistics of this conflict are harrowing:
- Over 2.5 million individuals have been internally displaced
- 6,000 people have been killed
- Over 30,000 people have been injured
- 21 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance (80% of the total population)
United Nations agencies have warned of mass famine, brought on by the blockade of Yemen’s sea and air ports imposed by the Saudi coalition, which prevents vital food, fuel and medical supplies from entering the country. Aid agencies say Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is now the worst in the world. As the need continue to grow, agencies on the ground are struggling to cope. The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer has said, “Yemen after five months looks like Syria after five years.”
United Nations
In March the warring parties agreed to a cessation of hostilities, following confidence-building prisoner swaps, allowing the start of negotiations in Kuwait. The talks have been on the brink of collapse due to the rebel’s refusal to acknowledge the government’s legitimacy and remain fragile in light of recent Saudi airstrikes.
The war in Yemen is destroying the social fabric of the country, and the country risks becoming a permanently failed state. The only beneficiaries of the current war are al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, who have flourished as a result of the conflict. The United Nations must find ways to agree on the distribution of power, restriction of arms and a reconstruction scheme for Yemen’s post-conflict society.
Action from home
Charlie Flanagan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, recently announced that Ireland will contribute €2 million to the UN’s Yemen Humanitarian Pooled Fund. So far this fund has reached just 17% of the $1.8 billion required to reach the 21 million people in need.
Oxfam have a petition asking the UK government to stop supplying weapons and to use its influence to push for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, so that vital humanitarian assistance can be delivered to people in Yemen.
Time and time again we keep repeating: no more Rwandas, no more Srebrenicas, no more Sri Lankas. However, as Mark Twain once famously pronounced: “History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme”. It is time to act, otherwise the aftermath of our numbness will compel us to react.
Author: Thamil Ananthavinayagan
Thamil is a PhD researcher at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, Galway. His thesis concerns the Sri Lanka human rights infrastructure in its interplay with the United Nations human rights machinery. He did his undergraduate studies at the universities of Bonn and Marburg/Germany, followed by a LL.M. in Human Rights at the University of Maastricht/The Netherlands.
Photo credit: World Food Programme food distribution in Raymah, Yemen, Julien Harneis, Creative Commons license.
