Adam Sauer

Professor: Syretta, Massey

ENC 1101 M/W/F – 1:00pm-1:50pm

Yemen’s Humanitarian Crises

Whether or not you may agree with a war, WE can all agree those who suffer the most

are the people caught in the middle of the warring factions. While most of the world focuses on

the conflicts in the Middle East, such as the Syrian Civil war, the War on ISIS, the Israeli-

Palestine conflict, little attention is given to the Civil War in Yemen and its average citizen who

suffers at the hands of Big Politics and Religious idealism. In these next few paragraphs I will go

into detail why Yemen is in its current crises and why we (as the world) should take notice.

To begin to understand the conflict and humanitarian crises facing Yemen, I will give a

brief introduction of Yemen’s history. Yemen was a former British colony, until the 1960’s in

which it is was given independence, as two separate states; north and south Yemen. With peace

and occasional conflicts between the two states up until May 22nd, 1990, when they formed a

unified country. But this did not stop the inter-ethnic conflicts between them, which is why today

the country is still involved in yet another Civil war. That started in March of 2015.
 The two Sides fighting for control are the Houthis, a Shia Muslim group backed by Iran,

Then the Yemeni government backed by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Region neighbors (Qatar,

UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait). These are mainly Sunni Countries, which view an Iranian Shia presence

on their border as a threat. As you can see the conflict is viewed as a larger proxy war between

the two dominant countries in the Middle East. Yemen’s Demographics will be explained in the

next paragraph, and how they tie into the current conflict.

Yemen is already the poorest country in the Middle East, with an average annual per

capita income of $2,213 USD, which is well into the lower range of low-income countries.

Before the start of the civil war, 30% of Yemen’s population lived on less than $1.50 USD a day.

The majority of Yemen’s population is young, over half are under the age of 25 and unemployed

(32% as of 2017). The economic hardship faced by the country has only been exacerbated by the

ongoing humanitarian crises

The ongoing conflict in Yemen has led to food insecurity for about 17 million (60 per

cent of the population) who do not know where their next meal is coming from. This is in

addition to the 7 million considered extremely food insecure and at risk of starvation. Since the

start of the conflict, more than 2.8 million people have been internally displaced and 14 million

are unable to obtain basic health care. Severe acute malnutrition is threatening the lives of almost

400,000 children under the age of five.

The country is currently under a Famine caused not by a drought or a poor farming

season, but by man. Mainly Due to the blockade by the Saudi Arabian government, A brutal air,

land and sea blockade. Both sides are using food as a weapon of war. The Houthi Rebels
monopolized cultivation of Khat. Khat is a very popular plant-based drug grown in Yemen. With

this control of a lucrative trade, the Houthis prevent vital growth and production of basic food

supplies.

To add insult to injury, the country of Yemen is currently facing a cholera outbreak. The

cholera epidemic that has infected about 1 million people. Due to poor sanitation and lack of

basic health care and infrastructure. Which is being blamed on the Saudi led Airstrikes against

water and sewage plants, as well as power stations, In order to bring the Houthi rebels to back

down. As of 17th of January 2018 the World Health Organization (WHO) has said over 2,300

people have been killed because of cholera and over 1 million infected. Which to date is the

worst cholera outbreak in terms of infection in modern times.

To date the United Nations (U.N) estimates over 9,500 people have been killed, with

5,000 of them being civilians since the start of the conflict in March of 2015. And over 55,000

have been injured. Though these pale in comparison to other regional conflicts mentioned earlier

in this report, the humanitarian crises affecting Yemen is more pressing than other areas in the

region. It’s a crisis we have not seen in over 70 years, since pretty much world war two. With

starvation being used as a tool for geo-political means, it’s a crime against humanity and should

be something we all take note and protest.