Five Years of War in Yemen; Devastated Land, Displaced and Sick Citizens

A war that, according to Saudi Arabia’s claims, was supposed to end in a matter of weeks has lasted five years and its end is still unclear. The Yemen war has displaced millions of people and left many citizens struggling with disease, hunger, and homelessness.

Millions of Yemeni citizens have lost their homes and are struggling with food and medicine shortages; cholera is rampant, and while the United Nations describes this country as facing the world’s most catastrophic crisis, the prospects for an end to the war remain uncertain.

In March 2015, when Saudi-led coalition forces first bombed the positions of the Shiite Houthi insurgents in Yemen, officials in Riyadh predicted the war in this neighboring country would last no more than a few weeks.

On March 24, German news agency DW reported on the situation in Yemen, stating that Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a war for five years with no prospect of emerging victorious.

The Shiite Houthis, taking advantage of the chaos that the so-called “Arab Spring” had engulfed much of the region in, capitalized on the situation and took control of vast areas of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. Saudi Arabia says the most important objective of its military operations is to reclaim the occupied territories.

The Saudi-led coalition forces hoped to push back the Houthi militias, who are trained and equipped by the Islamic Republic, through rapid ground and air strikes.

Five years after the start of attacks on insurgents supported by the Islamic Republic, Yemen has turned into ruins, and 80 percent of its 30 million population cannot manage without humanitarian aid from abroad.

While state institutions are increasingly collapsing due to internal war of attrition, service delivery networks to citizens have almost completely failed, and Yemen’s economy, which was already one of the world’s poorest before the war, has come to a standstill.

According to UN estimates, by the end of 2019, approximately 233,000 people in Yemen have been killed in military clashes or due to poverty and shortages of food and medicine caused by the war. Access to drinking water is severely limited and thousands of people have been infected with cholera.

According to a German news agency report, it appears the international community has gradually become accustomed to Yemen’s critical situation; apparently violent confrontations in northern Syria, ongoing conflicts in Libya, the dire situation of refugees at Europe’s gates, and finally the coronavirus pandemic crisis have diverted world attention from the internal war in Yemen.

Four Million Yemeni Displaced

Meanwhile, insurgents supported by the Islamic Republic and Yemen’s government forces in the north of the country and in an area with a population of about 800,000 are preparing for a new confrontation, and these clashes could force thousands more to leave their homes. The United Nations estimates the number of Yemeni displaced at four million people.

Under such circumstances, the outbreak of coronavirus in Yemen could be catastrophic because only half of the country’s hospitals are still able to accept patients, and their facilities are very limited for treating patients with severe respiratory problems.

Nevertheless, although cases of COVID-19 have been identified in more than 190 countries worldwide, no official reports have yet been published about the entry of coronavirus into Yemen.

One resident of Sanaa sarcastically told the French news agency in a phone interview that being under siege at least has its advantages and could prevent coronavirus from entering. The communication routes of the northern regions of Yemen, which have been under the control of Houthi militias since the beginning of the conflict, have been closed by Saudi Arabian and allied military forces ever since.

The Nightmare of Coronavirus Outbreak in Yemen

Nevertheless, it seems the arrival of coronavirus in Yemen is almost certain, with only the timing unclear. Lisa Grande, coordinator of UN emergency assistance, speaks of the “possible nightmare” of a coronavirus outbreak in Yemen.

Referencing years of internal war, displacement, food shortages, and the spread of cholera, she says Yemen’s citizens and health system have been severely weakened and its resilience against crises like a coronavirus outbreak has been reduced to the lowest possible level.

The UN emergency assistance coordinator told the French news agency that Yemeni people, due to water shortages, lack even the most basic preventive measures against coronavirus, which is hand washing.

It is estimated that approximately 24 million people in Yemen need humanitarian assistance, and it is said that in areas controlled by Yemeni insurgents there are at most a few dozen hospital beds suitable for treating coronavirus patients.

On this basis, it is predicted that if coronavirus spreads in Yemen, the ratio of deaths to infections will be several times higher than the global average, and this could lead to a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe in this crisis-stricken country, which for the past five years has been the scene of a bloody proxy war between Tehran and Riyadh.

Source: DW