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Yemen is
one of the poorest Arab countries in the world and is a spot for the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis until now. The reason behind this devastation is a
civil war going on since 2015.
According
to the Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2020, more than 20 million people are
experiencing food scarcity and 10 million among-st them are on the risk of
famine including children and pregnant women.
Most people
believe that war started in 2011 when the Houthi movement started against the
authoritarian government led by President Mr.Hadi but it has its roots dated
back to the 20th century. In 1918, Shia imams declared freedom from the
Ottoman Empire and formed the northern part of Yemen.
In 1967, the
British left Yemen and the People’s Republic of Southern Yemen, also known as
South Yemen was created which led to feuds between the leaders of both regions.
Only after 1990, both the regions started coming together and unification
brought out a profound Yemen.
The peace
only lasted till 2004, when President Ali Abdullah Saleh launches brutal
attacks on northern Yemini Zayidi Shia fighters known as Houthis forcing
religious orthodox thoughts of their own on Zayidi people as Yemen’s 40-45% of the
population is made up of Zayidi Shia, rest majority is made up of Sunni Islam
and accusing them of separatism. These attacks were backed by the UAE.
The Houthis
always claimed of being discriminated against and disenfranchisement under
Saleh’s rule. Hence, a rival group was formed known as the Houthis movement to
fight against the wrongdoings of the Saleh’s autocratic military. In 2011,
Ansar Allah actively participated in National dialogue against Saleh which led
to the fall of him.
After that
dialogue in the spring of 2011, Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to hand over his
duty to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Haidi, who struggled with various problems
of the Yemen such as attacks by jihadists, a separatist movement in South,
unemployment, food scarcity and corruption.
The conflict between Houthis and Sunni in northern
spread to Sana’s in 2014 due to the government’s decision of lifting fuel subsidies
aggravated the Yemini public and sparked massive protests against the government
to step down. The protest included all the groups who were against Haidi’s
government.
Soon the
protest turned into a full-fledged war that lasted a few days and Houthis took
control of Yemen’s capital Sana with the help of former President Saleh, who
provided all the army strength needed for the movement of Houthis from North.
In January 2015, a decision was taken to divide the
country into six parts, unhappy with this decision Houthis seized the
presidency in Sana’a and the government announced its dissolution and formation
of the Revolutionary Committee to rule Yemen.
But, the Houthis had more in mind, and exactly one
month later, the Houthis militants confined Haidi at its residence which leads
to the fleeing of Haidi to Aden, where he conveyed the message through
telecommunication that Houthis takeover was illegitimate and he remains
constitutional President of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia and eight mostly Sunni dominated
countries saw the uprising of a group as power backed up by Shia Iran, started
air-bombings on Sana’a to deploy the Houthis and establish the government of
Haidi. Meanwhile, Haidi declared Aden as the temporary capital of Yemen but
failed to compensate for the basic needs of the people.
Meanwhile, The Houthis had taken full control over
the northern region of Yemen and were growing stronger continuously. The civil
war in this country is not two-sided as it seems. Many local groups play an
important role in the formation of future Yemen.
Various key players in the political map of Yemen are:
1. The Houthi-Saleh Alliance
The alliance was seen between former foes in 2014
with one common agenda to throw the government of Haidi. Most people in this
alliance are not pro-Houthi rather they are anti-Haidi.
2. Pro Houthi External Actors
The founder of the Houthis group, Hussain al-Houthi believed in having
his own Islamic Revolution based on Zayidi principles, mostly inspired by the Iranian
Revolution. Iran influences the Houthis group albeit small and also Russia made
its contribution towards the northern part of the town which made Iran and
Russia against Saudi-Arab.
3. Anti-Houthi Bloc
This bloc
consists of three different groups including Southern Separatist, Sunni
Islamists, and Fighters with Regional or Tribal motivations. The Southern
Separatist group mainly captured the Southern part with no apparent leader to
guide them. But, anti-bloc was heavily dependent on the aid provided by the Saudi-Arab
and UAE.
4. Al-Qaeda and ISIS
Yemen has
always been a home for terrorism due to its ongoing conflicts and not having
any legal actions backed up by the government known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP). These have mostly emerged as an anti-Houthi as they captured Mukalla in
2015, backed up by the Saudi-Arab. The
ISIS also claimed to form a new Yemeni branch of theirs in December 2014 and
played their role in the civil war.
The irony
lies in the fact that on one hand, west claims to be fighting Al-Qaeda but on
the other hand, dealing with them directly by supplying ammunition and finances
to it.
The Civil War
On 22nd
March 2015 the Houthi-Saleh alliance took over to Taiz, which is the third’s
largest city in Yemen and they were advancing towards the South an eastern part
of the country.
The Houthis
also tried to take over Dali and seized their administrative buildings but were
clashed with pro-Haidi soldiers; also it was closer to Aden. By 25th
March the Houthis were clashing with Haidi soldiers from 5-different key points
and on 29th March, they captured the temporary base of President
despite the airstrikes led by Saudi and UAE.
On 2nd
April with the help of various alliances Haidi’s troops regained the Aden and
deployed Houthis from that area.
The US and
UK have been accused of supporting these inhuman acts by providing ammunition,
finances, and different resources. These were confirmed when, after the
bombings, people found out the parts of bombs that were made in the US.
Who is Suffering?
The civil people of Yemen are the bearers of this
Shia-Sunni, Saudi-Iran combat. To date, United Nations has verified the death
of 7,700 civilians due to air-bombings done by Saudi-led airstrikes but
according to the report of The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data
Project (ACLED), more than 100,000 fatalities were recorded.
The charity Save The Children has said more than
85,000 children with acute malnutrition might have died between 2015 and 2018.
About 80% of the population needs humanitarian protection and help.
In August 2018, there was a bomb dropped by Saudi
–led coalition nearby the village of Dahyan, northern Yemen in which 54 people
were killed and 44 among-st them were school children as their school bus had
stopped nearby for juice break. The JIAT later described it as necessary
military action against the Houthis who have trained children young children
for war.
The women in Yemen face all kinds of abuse which
starts with rape to illegal human trafficking to other countries as sex slaves.
Young children are admitted to the military against a strict International law.
The Cholera outbreak in 2017 is the worst epidemic until
COVID-19 and affected almost 1 Million people with 2,500 deaths. The people don't
have access to clean water and hygienic sanitation facilities.
The war has displaced more than 3.65 million people
from their homes.
What is Being Done?
In March 2018, the UN adopted a Presidential
Statement on the Humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Its objective is to hold each
party in the war accountable for their obligation under International Law and
to impose a ban on selling and buying arms. Later, in September this peace talk
was broken down.
Even in April 2015, the UN adopted for Resolution
2216 asked Houthis to surrender and then lead to political talks.
In December 2018, the UN-led talks resulted in an
agreement of Hudaydah port which gave a new direction to end the crisis in
Yemen which was led by UN special envoy Mr. Martin Griffith, who said that
people are tired now due to a long fighting period and they want peace. He also
added both the parties agree on the peace treaties, it is the additional groups
that are a hindrance to the peace.
However, there are many round table meetings are yet
to be held.
What Has Happened Since Then?
In November 2017, alliance between Houthi and Saleh
dissolved over control of Sana’a biggest mosque and Houthis launched an
operation to take full control of the capital and former President Saleh was
killed.
In June 2018, the coalition led an operation to
capture the port of Hudaydah, which is a lifeline for two-thirds’ of the
population of Yemen till UN got involved warning that this could lead to a
bigger famine in Yemen and hence, after fighting for six months, both the sides
signed the Stockholm deal in Sweden to release the prisoners and redeploy their
forces.
In August 2019, a feud erupted in the Southern
region between the Saudi-backed government and the Separatist Transition
Council backed by UAE, as they accused Mr. Haidi of mismanagement and seized
the full control of Aden. The UN intervened in the hope to regain the peace but
in January 2020, hostilities escalated with air-raids, missile strikes, and
fights on several fronts.
In April, STC broke the peace deal signed with the internationally
recognized government and declared the self –rule in Aden with port and
southern provinces.
Due to Corona virus, the condition of Yemen has
only worsened. The relief aid is not able to reach up to people leading to more
deaths than before.
Hence it is rightly said that wars’ take more power
than they could provide at the end.
Written By - Chavi Goel
Edited by – Adrija Saha
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