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Yemen: The Forgotten War

  • Writer: Shanaz
    Shanaz
  • Jul 24, 2020
  • 4 min read

Or shall we call it the ignored war?


The United Nations (UN) stated that Yemen is at the heart of the biggest humanitarian crisis in 100 years. Yemen is suffering from near famine, a cholera crisis and the recent coronavirus epidemic that has surged internationally. The Yeminis are at risk of extinction due to the death toll. Amongst the worst suffering from the crisis are women and children. According to Save the Children:


· 93% of children are in need of humanitarian assistance

· Almost 1/5 of children have lost their homes

· 70% of children don’t have access to clean water and sanitation

· 7.4 million children are in need of child protection assistance

· 2 million children are out of school

· 10.3 million children don’t have enough food to eat





You may ask how this has happened …


Let me give you a summary:


· Saleh was the authoritarian president during the Arabian uprising. There was a political transition that had many tensions. Saleh was forced to hand over his power to his deputy Hadi in 2011.

· Hadi struggled to deal with many problems, including attacks by jihadists, a separationist movement in the south, the continuing loyalty of security personnel to Saleh, corruption, unemployment, and food security.

· The Houthis are a group of anti-government fighters who preyed on the president’s weakness and took control of the northern heartland of Saada and other neighbouring areas. The Houthis were loyal to Saleh and attempted to take control over the entire country. This forced Mr Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia in March 2015.

· The Houthis are believed to be backed by Iran. The Yemini government forces are backed by Saudi Arabia, the US, UK, and France.

· Both sides have committed immoral acts in war. For example, Saudi Arabia’s air strikes and the Houthis sexual abuse upon both men and women.

· The UN has attempted to intervene, but the war is ongoing.


This is the result of a preventable man-made ongoing war. Yemen has become a home for terrorist groups. Children are becoming child soldiers and forced out of education. Medical care is at an all-time low, but the need for proper healthcare is necessary. If women and children are not naturally ill and in need of healthcare, the likelihood of a child admitted to hospital as a result of the ongoing war is extremely high. The workers at hospitals have been unpaid for years because of the economic pressures in the country. All these factors have contributed to Yemen’s destruction in only a couple of weeks.


What should we do?


We must carry on donating to charities, but this is only decorating the cracks. We must work towards political peace in Yemen. Many Yemenis are looking towards people in the Western world for an intervention, as shown by the BBC. However, we are choosing to not make this a priority. We must take inspiration from the pressure placed on Governments in the Western world evident with the Black Lives Matter campaign and do the same thing for the Yeminis.


How do we do this?


1. We must educate ourselves on what is happening in Yemen.

2. The Western world must hold moral accountability for the situation in Yemen. The UK, US, and France are supplying weapons to be used in war to Saudi Arabia. This is contributing to the continued destruction in which hundreds of women and children are dying.

3. We must spread awareness of what is happening. Our western media may not be broadcasting this, but we must hold enough moral accountability to make this our problem.

4. Sign petitions to put pressure on the government. We have seen from the Black Lives Matter movement that this works, and we should follow in these footsteps.

5. We must place pressure on our government by writing emails, demanding the discontinuation of imported weapons to Saudi Arabia that have sparked further deaths in Yemen.

6. Of course, we should continue to give to charities to help those in need right now. They need it more than ever, as the coronavirus has killed thousands in Yemen.


If there has been anything I have left out or unintentionally misrepresented the facts, please let me know. I've attached ways to help belong. Again thank you so much for reading!


Love,

Shanaz Xx


Charities:


Save the Children:

Islamic Relief:

Unicef:


Petitions:



Email letter to MP templates:



References:


Yemen Crisis: Why is there a war? BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29319423. 2020.

What’s happening in Yemen? BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/38317367. 2019.

Yemen explained: What is happening in Yemen? Express. Henden. https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1298608/Yemen-explained-What-is-happening-in-Yemen-crisis. 2020.

Yemen Events of 2019. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/yemen.

The largest humanitarian crisis in the world: What is happening in Yemen right now. MamaMia. Mclaughlin. https://www.mamamia.com.au/what-is-happening-in-yemen/. 2020.

War in Yemen. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-yemen. 2020.

Yemen civil war: the conflict explained. The Guardian. Wintour. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/20/yemen-civil-war-the-conflict-explained. 2019.

Mapping the Yemen Conflict. European Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.ecfr.eu/mena/yemen.

Yemen: Civil War and Regional Intervention. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R43960.pdf. 2020.

Keep a child safe in Yemen. Unicef. https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/yemen-crisis/.

Crisis in Yemen: how to help. Project Hope. https://www.projecthope.org/crisis-in-yemen/09/2019/

How you can help people trapped in Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. Wuwf. Synder. https://www.wuwf.org/post/how-you-can-help-people-trapped-yemens-humanitarian-crisis#stream/0. 2020.

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