Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

Humanitarian crises have been targeting different areas of the world since the beginning. They

always result in crippling the once-wealthy countries to their core. There are many causes for

countries to be struck with a crisis of such sort. Where some areas of the world become

sufferers of political unrest the others fall prey to environmental and healthcare emergencies

all resulting in long-lived humanitarian crises. This time the victim became a relatively smaller

country of the Arabian peninsula, Yemen.

Yemen, a beautiful little country that was once known for its ancient architecture, unknowingly

and unwantedly became a middleman of the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The

country that was already striving to somehow stand up on its feet has been brutalized by its

brother countries who under the layers of veil named it as yet another sectarian war all-in-all

exposing the country to the humanitarian crises.

From Where It All Began

Yemen has always had a poor fate. With its neighbor Suadi Arabia, it shares a long history. Saudi

Arabia being the largest Muslim country when it comes to land fought with a way smaller

country Yemen over a minor issue of the boundary in 1934. It resulted in a war, and Saudi

Arabia ended up victoriously annexing three territories of Yemen. This war made the two

countries

rivalries.
What we now know of Yemen is all because of the political differences that led to a civil war.

The country is segregated into two communities. One is the Houthis, the Shia rebel movement

backed by Iran, and the other are unbiased communities of Yemen that are backed by the

Saudiled government. War officially spurred in the country with Saudi Arabia-led intervention in

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 2015. What previously was just a cold war turned into an actual conflict when the then

president of

Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi asked for military assistance after being overthrown by the

Houthi community over failed negotiations.

Saudi Arab, in order to help by putting a halt to the ever-growing Houthi movement, which to

this day seems inevitable. They planned to isolate Yemen economically and also launched

airstrikes for which it got support not just from Gulf countries but also U.S., France, and the U.K.

Ever since the Houthis have been in a constant battle to gain control over Yemen. That is why

the war is still on, and the two countries are unable to reach a lasting ceasefire. With the war

showing no signs of ending, the Yemenis are almost on the verge of giving up.

Currently, Houthis have succeeded in becoming the majority in the country. The rebels have

control over the most populated areas of Yemen as well as their economic resources and

industries. Being an armed movement they fund their military using the revenues they generate

from the occupied industries and resources.

The Outcomes
The clash among politicians and influential figures of the country has made the innocent

Yemeni public live under the never-ending war zone circumstances for an extraordinarily

prolonged period. Constant deprivation of resources has led them to a humanitarian crisis.

Being exposed to such conditions has squeezed the spark out of their people. The humanitarian

crisis that Yemen has been undergoing for more than five years is now the worst of its type.

According to a survey, every ten minutes, an innocent Yemeni child loses his life.

Stages
Reaching the pits of the humanitarian crisis Yemen went through different stages. In the course

of six years, the Yemeni nation has seen the worst of the worst. Around 1 lac Yemeni people

have died as a result of the war since 2015. It means 1 lac different Yemeni families have been

destroyed.
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 Cholera
By the end of 2016, due to a lack of basic resources, an outbreak of cholera took place in the

country. Yemeni health experts said that it is deadlier and spreads more rapidly. In the five

years, around 2 510 806 cholera patients have been reported, and roughly 4000 die each year.

In 2020 the United Nations called it the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

Famine
Just like any other war-stricken country, Yemeni people also started to use their reserves which

hardly lasted for six months and then came the famine. Until now, Saudi Arabia is succeeding in

isolating the country.

So far, after the constant suffering of five years, Yemenis have fallen to the pits of the worst

humanitarian crises. Every two out of three people in Yemen require some sort of humanitarian

or protection assistance to let alone live a life. Children under the age of five are deprived of

essential nutrition leading to malnutrition and poor growth. Thousands of schools and health

care facilities are demolished. Out of 25 million total Yemenis, 20 million are in dire need of

resources to survive. The country is suffering from the first large-scale acute famine. Food,

water, clothes, medicine, and shelter everything have been taken from them. This generation of

Yemenis is facing epidemic, pandemic, famine, and war altogether. How can we expect them to

survive through this?

Covid-19
In 2020, another addition to the never-ending misery took place. After bacterial infection

cholera, a viral infection came into the lives of Yemeni people. Despite covid cases rising in

number, people could not stay at home because of the fear of unemployment. Though land

ports from Saudi and Oman ceased to control the spread, so was the only airport.

The Houthi regions surprisingly reported the lowest infection figures. Some people believe that

they were deliberately under-reporting the cases to save economical aids, which are crucial to

them for their security. The Houthis are in control of the areas that are mostly populated in

Yemen that have great economic activities. If they disclose the actual number of cases that will
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 lead to fear among the people and they will have to impose a lockdown. It means a blockade to

all the resources, and they will no longer be able to fund their military, which threatens their

control. So to avoid the pandemic from paralyzing the income, they kept the actual numbers to

themselves. This shows the helplessness of the Yemeni people and how human life is

considered worthless over worldly interests.

Humanitarian Response Plan 2021

At the onset of 2021, Yemen was at the risk of descending deeper into the crisis because the

whole world was locked down during 2020 and the economy was not so much in the flow. The

humanitarian crisis did not seem to improve much, and the covid contributed to making it

worse thus, Yemen requires more than what was being previously provided. A principled

response to the humanitarians was planned and sealed. According to the plan they made a goal

to at least help 16 million humanitarians out of the needy 21 million. For which the estimated

required amount for annual activities was calculated to be 3.85 billion dollars. The amount is

required to reduce the disease and prevent potential outbreaks. The rapidly growing morbidity

and mortality rate are objected to curbing. The plan also includes the point of restoring

livelihood to its normal as much as possible. The unique thing about this plan is that it is the

first in Yemen to be based on the enhanced Humanitarian Programme Cycle strategy, which

authorizes for tougher links between needs and response, enhanced focus on multi-sector

challenges, and the prioritization of exclusivity.

Ray of Sunshine
Saudi Arabia has finally decided to end the torturous invasion and is ready to make a peace deal

if and only if the Iran-supported Houthi rebels agree. They proposed a nationwide cease-fire

with the idea of opening the air route between the two countries. The United Nations itself is

done with backing up the worst humanitarian crisis. Imagine what would be the condition of

those going through it. The newly elected president of the United States has also pledged to put

this prolonged crisis to an end and give space to as many Yemeni refugees as they can. This
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 news has arisen as a ray of sunshine for innocent Yemeni civilians. They have started to dream

again of leading a peaceful and normal life just like all the other humans in the world, but only if

the Houthis agree to the deal.

Yemeni deserve better; they are suffering the agony that none of them deserved. The innocent

Yemenis have been facing this for more than six years. After every attack, they come out of the

rubble, dust the dirt off and start with their new life all on their own, which clearly depicts their

courageous behavior and brave hearts. The nation is very patriotic and hardworking. None of

them has ever lost hope and they are looking forward to moving on and rising as the strongest

country on the map of the world yet again.

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