For many years, Yemen has suffered from one of the most brutal civil wars in history. An already deficient economy was ripped apart by conflict and after five years, the country is facing arguably the worst humanitarian crisis in history.
Image via New York Times
In October of 2018, a heartbreaking image of Amal Hussain, a severely malnourished seven year-old girl circulated the internet. Peoples’ shock and horror at the frail and abhorrent state of a young girl flooded social media for a few days. But just as quickly as the reaction came, the heart-shattering symbol of a war-torn country faded away. But people are still suffering-- now more than ever.
In 1990, the Yemen Arab Republic, North Yemen, merged with the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, South Yemen, to create modern-day Yemen, the Largest country on the Arabian Peninsula. Despite the unification agreement, the two different regions had drastically differing histories: South Yemen is a product of a long period of British colonialism and North Yemen’s history lacks Western or European influence. The differences in history and development of the two regions provided an already unstable structure for the country-- one that would continue to be burdened by tribalism, corruption, and political tension.
Even before the start of the civil war in 2015, Yemen’s economy left much to be desired. With an economy centered around relatively small oil and gas reserves and trade ports on the Red Sea, the country was already one of the poorest in the world-- especially when oil prices started to go down in 2002. Food insecurity, youth unemployment, and uneven regional development burdened the country’s economy, which was hit extremely hard by the financial crisis in the years of 2007-2009. The country has been deemed the poorest on the Arabian Peninsula for a number of years.
2011 marked the year of the historic Arab Spring, which involved multiple coups resulting in the overthrow of corrupt regimes all across the Middle East. The event arguably created more instability within the Middle East, but it resulted in the transfer of power from Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leader Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who trouble combating food insecurity, unemployment, jihadist attacks, and government corruption.
It is worth noting that Yemen has been governed by members of the Sunni sect of Islam, which make up an ethnic majority of the country right now. A large majority of the world’s Muslims are Sunni, but 10-13%, the second-largest group, of Muslims identify as Shia. The differences between the belief systems of these groups is intricate and extremely complex, but one of the most significant variations between the two belief systems is that Sunni Muslims believed that Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law, was Muhammad's rightful successor, while Shiites believed that Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law was his rightful successor. Ultimately, the Sunni majority got its way and Abu Bakr received the position of the Prophet Muhammad’s successor. But what was a political movement by a minority with a different belief evolved into a religious movement, and thus the Shiites were distinguished from the Sunni majority.
The Sunni-Shia divide has been at the root of many conflicts in the Middle East throughout history. Thus, for many, it seems like a never-ending religious war and source of tension because of the nature of many Middle Eastern states governed by religious (Sharia) law. And though Yemen is not an Arab state, the tension between the two religious groups was still extremely prevalent within the country. Seeing the weakness of newly-implemented President Hadi, the Shia minority started to advance their efforts to overthrow the Sunni regime. From late 2014 to early 2015, rebels took control of the Northern Saada province and areas around it.
The movement at hand was led by a Shia rebel group called the Houthis, who even gained some backing from Sunnis who expressed discontent at the disorganized nature of the regime. After a Houthi attempt to gain control over the entire country in 2015, President Hadi fled Yemen.
The Houthi uprising was perceived by Saudi Arabia as an attempt made by Iran (a predominantly-Shia state) to gain control of another nation through the use of a proxy. In fear of Iran gaining too much regional power, Saudi Arabia deployed troops within Yemen to crush the rebels with the backing of the US, UK, and France.
But what was once perceived by Saudi intelligence to be a war that would last only a few weeks continues and its five-year course has had devastating impacts on citizens. From the years 2015-2019, over 91,000 people were left dead or injured by the chaos and instability within the country. As of March 2020, 2 million Yemeni people have been displaced and more than 22 million citizens are in need of assistance in order to survive. 130 children die every day and 400,000 children are at risk of death from severe malnutrition. A drastic resurgence of Cholera has also been cited within the country, with 800,000 cases reported.
The widespread impact of the war is not only attributed to the country’s internal conflict. The US and Saudi Arabia have imposed blockades on ports all over the country in efforts to stop foreign arms from getting into the hands of the Houthis, but with this effort came the blocking of food and medical supplies to Yemeni citizens as well. The lack of supplies coming in, paired with the airstrikes executed by Saudi Arabia and the US on markets and hospitals has led to an absolutely devastating impact on the lives of millions. Yemen currently is in the worst humanitarian state in all the Middle East. Despite US Congress voting in dissent of the blockades and the war, President Donald Trump vetoed their decision and has continued to provide US assistance to Saudi initiatives in the country. In 2017 alone, the deaths of more than 50,000 children were attributed to the blockades imposed by the US-Saudi Arabia coalition.
The crisis has only been exacerbated by the current COVID-19 pandemic. 50% of the population does not have access to clean drinking water and the UN has documented only 675 intensive care beds and 309 ventilators to help those infected.
Amal Hussain passed away shortly after she made national headlines. I urge you to look into her big, glassy eyes-- to see and hear her. I want you to imagine the coldness of her skin and the slow beating of her heart against her protruding ribcage. Feel the emptiness of her stomach and the constant, piercing pains that have become her normal. Think about how her translucent skin exposes her skeleton and how frail her bones must have been. And then think about the hundreds of thousands of other children that look just like Amal, whose innocent eyes beg us for help through the lens of a camera. Ask yourself how many more Amals there need to be for us to instigate change. Consciousness is the first step.
-- Jessica Gold
How to Help:
Donating to NGOs that are actively working on the field has proven to be the most effective way to put your money directly towards bettering the lives of Yemeni people in crisis.
Donate to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) provides clean water, emergency aid, medical supplies, and women’s protection to those in need https://www.rescue.org/country/yemen
Donate to the UN World Food Program, which provides food to 12 million people in need, as well as malnourished women and children. They are in desperate need of funding. https://secure.wfpusa.org/donate/save-lives-giving-food-today-donate-now-7?ms=2000_UNR_wfp_redirect_EX&redirected=US
Donate to Baitulmaal, which provides meals, hygiene kits, and antibiotics to those in need. https://baitulmaal.org/donate/?utm_source=top-menu&utm_medium=website&utm_content=redbutton
UNICEF is also doing groundwork within Yemen, especially pertaining to combatting malnutrition within children. https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/yemen-crisis#what-unicef-is-doing
Write letters to your local congressmen to try and make this a topic of discussion again
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Yemen
https://www.yemenpeaceproject.org/blog-x/2018/7/16/before-2014-yemens-economy-before-the-war
https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2020/06/18/the-yemen-crisis-civil-war-starvation-and-now-a-global-pandemic