[In German above, in English scroll down]
Auf Deutsch / In German:
(* B H)
INTERVIEW MIT UNICEF-KOLLEGIN MERITXELL RELANO IM JEMEN
Die Lage der Kinder bleibt extrem düster. Die Kinder zahlen einen hohen Preis für den Konflikt im Jemen. Sie werden immer wieder Gräueltaten ausgesetzt, die sie niemals erleben sollten. Hunderte von Kindern werden in diesem Konflikt getötet und verletzt. Immer mehr Kinder werden durch bewaffnete Gruppen rekrutiert. Sie werden von den Rebellen benutzt, um Checkpoints zu besetzen oder Waffen zu tragen. Ungefähr zehn Millionen Kinder im Jemen brauchen humanitäre Hilfe. Mehr als zwei Millionen von ihnen leiden an Unterernährung. Noch dazu sterben viele Kinder im Jemen an vermeidbaren Krankheiten.
Kinder leben im Jemen unter extrem schwierigen Umständen. Für manche Kinder fängt der Tag damit an, dass sie durch das Geräusch von Bomben oder Schüssen geweckt werden. Dann essen sie das wenige, was sie haben, und müssen danach lange anstehen, um Wasser zu holen. Für einen Jungen ist die Gefahr besonders groß, dass er von bewaffneten Gruppen als Kindersoldat rekrutiert wird. Ein Mädchen wird mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit jung verheiratet.
Als Folge des Krieges sind fast 2.500 Schulen nicht mehr nutzbar. Die Schulen sind beschädigt oder komplett zerstört, werden von bewaffneten Gruppen zu militärischen Zwecken oder von Flüchtlingen als Unterkunft genutzt. Mehr als zwei Millionen Kinder im schulpflichtigen Alter gehen momentan nicht zur Schule. Viele von ihnen müssen arbeiten, um ihre Familien zu unterstützen.
Mädchen sind die ersten, die die Schule abbrechen. Kinderheirat nimmt im Jemen immer stärker zu und stellt für die Mädchen eine echte Bedrohung dar. Heutzutage werden mehr als zwei Drittel der Mädchen schon vor ihrem 18. Lebensjahr verheiratet – verglichen mit 50 Prozent vor der aktuellen Krise.
Durch den schon drei Jahre andauernden Konflikt sind die Ersparnisse der Menschen aufgebraucht. Über 80 Prozent der Familien sind verschuldet oder darauf angewiesen, sich Geld zu leihen. Die Menschen essen dadurch weniger, müssen billigere Lebensmittel kaufen oder ganze Mahlzeiten ausfallen lassen. Fast 16 Millionen Jemenitern fehlt der Zugang zu sauberem Trinkwasser – die Hälfte davon sind Kinder.
https://www.unicef.de/informieren/aktuelles/blog/jemen-interview-meritxell-relano/168142
(* B H K)
SAUDI-ARABIENS ROLLE IM KRIEG:Der Jemen am Abgrund
Seit drei Jahren führt Saudi-Arabien im Jemen einen Krieg gegen die Houthi-Rebellen. Ein Ende ist nicht in Sicht – und die humanitäre Lage ist katastrophal.
Gravierender sind die menschlichen Kosten des Krieges im ärmsten Land der arabischen Welt. Mehr als 10.000 Menschen wurden getötet, vier von fünf Jemeniten sind auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen, von den 28 Millionen Jemeniten hungern acht Millionen. Nach Angaben des UN-Kinderhilfswerks Unicef sind 400.000 Kinder lebensgefährlich und akut mangelernährt. Die Hälfte der Gesundheitseinrichtungen ist zerstört, und mutmaßlich sind eine Million Jemeniten mit Cholera infiziert. Wenn die Regenzeit in wenigen Wochen beginnt, droht eine neue Cholera-Welle. Alle zehn Minuten sterbe ein Kind unter fünf Jahren an Ursachen, die vermieden werden könnten, teilt die Hilfsorganisation International Rescue Committee mit.
Verschlechtert wird die Situation durch die Sperrung des Luftraums und die Blockade der Seehäfen, etwa von Hudaida, durch Saudi-Arabien. Die Blockade erschwert zwar die Lieferung von Waffen an die Houthis, aber auch von lebensnotwendigen Gütern für die Zivilbevölkerung – von Rainer Hermann
[Überblick]
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/saudi-arabien-und-der-jemen-am-abgrund-15515708.html
(* B H K)
Der vergessene Krieg im Jemen
Die humanitäre Lage im Jemen, gegen das Saudi-Arabien einen erbarmungslosen Krieg führt, ist katastrophal. [Kurzer Überblicksartikel]
https://www.swp.de/politik/inland/der-vergessene-krieg-im-jemen-24771468.html
(** B H K)
Zwischen Cholera und Hungersnot: Der humanitäre Alptraum des Jemen-Kriegs
Seit März 2015 wird der Jemen von einem brutalen Krieg beherrscht, in dem eine von Saudi-Arabien geführte Koalition einen erbarmungslosen Bombenkrieg gegen die Aufständischen der Houthi-Bewegung führt, dem bereits weit über 10.000 Menschen zum Opfer fielen, über 3 Millionen sind auf der Flucht. Der Krieg wird dominiert von brutalsten Kriegsverbrechen der Saudi-Koalition. Eine „vollständig menschengemachte“ Folge ist die größte Cholera-Epidemie in der Geschichte und die größte Hungersnot seit Jahrzehnten mit potentiell „Millionen von Opfern“ - von Jakob Reimann
http://justicenow.de/2018-03-04/zwischen-cholera-und-hungersnot/=https://www.freitag.de/autoren/jakob-reimann-justicenow/zwischen-cholera-und-hungersnot=https://diefreiheitsliebe.de/politik/zwischen-cholera-und-hungersnot/
(** B K P)
Die Houthis und das Haus Saud: Die Wurzeln des Jemenkriegs
Saudi-Arabien beteuert, die Houthi-Rebellen wären eine Marionette Teherans und rechtfertigt damit den erbarmungslosen Krieg im Jemen, da dieser die Expansion des Iran auf die Arabische Halbinsel verhindern würde. Die tatsächlichen Gründe sind jedoch wesentlich banaler: Riad will die Grenzen seiner 1934 annektierten Provinzen schützen und seinen jahrzehntelangen Einfluss auf die jemenitische Regierung wiederherstellen - von Jakob Reimann
http://justicenow.de/2018-03-07/die-houthis-und-das-haus-saud/=https://ffd365.de/2018/03/07/die-wurzeln-des-jemen-kriegs/=https://www.freitag.de/autoren/jakob-reimann-justicenow/die-houthis-und-das-haus-saud#1520529803902904=https://diefreiheitsliebe.de/politik/die-houthis-und-das-haus-saud/
(*** B K P)
Die Houthi-Iran-Connection
Krieg im Jemen: Die Verbindungen Teherans zu den Houthi-Rebellen werden von den Saudis massiv übertrieben. Ein regionaler Krieg wird so zum globalen Kampf gegen den „Schurkenstaat“ Iran.
Daher malt Riad das Bild der Houthis als hörige Marionetten Teherans, der Kampf gegen sie wird so zum Kampf gegen einen feindseligen Iran. Und westliche Politiker wie Medien übernehmen dieses Narrativ größtenteils, ohne es zu hinterfragen oder gar zu überprüfen. Ist der „Schurkenstaat“ Iran das eigentliche Ziel, so ist das bittere Elend der jemenitischen Bevölkerung offensichtlich akzeptabler – Collateral Damage.
Im Jemen-Kontext wird diese Strategie der sektiererischen Aufheizung geschickt mit Macht- und Geopolitik verknüpft. Der Iran als Kernland der Schiiten wird bezichtigt, als Drahtzieher hinter den schiitischen Houthis zu stehen, die von den Saudis und ihren Verbündeten als Werkzeuge Teherans dargestellt werden, um einen Fuß auf die Arabische Halbinsel zu bekommen. An Paranoia grenzend wird von Saudi-Arabien das Schreckgespenst eines „vom Iran dominierten Jemen“ bemüht, der saudische Angriffskrieg gegen die Houthis wird so zur Selbstverteidigung gegen den Erzfeind Iran umgemünzt.
Doppelstandards und die offenkundige Heuchelei westlicher Staaten im Jemen-Kontext: Der Iran wird aufgrund einer nicht zweifelsfrei nachgewiesenen Waffenlieferung an die eine Kriegspartei verurteilt, während eben diese vier verurteilenden Staaten zusammengenommen seit dem Jahr 2000 für jeweils 86 Prozent der Waffenimporte der zwei treibenden Kräfte der anderen Kriegspartei – Saudi-Arabien, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate – verantwortlich sind.
Mit der „Iranisierung“ des Jemen-Krieges spielt Saudi-Arabien ein geschicktes PR-Spiel. Indem der iranische Teufel in Übergröße an die Wand gemalt wird, konnte die westliche Welt überzeugt werden, dass es sich keineswegs um einen lokalen Konflikt handelt, sondern um einen, der mit der indirekten Bekämpfung eines vermeintlich feindseligen Iran gar globale Kreise zieht. Wer würde schon für einen Grenzkonflikt mitten in der arabischen Wüste die faktische Vernichtung eines bettelarmen Landes tolerieren? – von Jakob Reimann
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/jakob-reimann-justicenow/die-houthi-iran-connection=http://justicenow.de/2018-03-11/die-houthi-iran-connection/=https://diefreiheitsliebe.de/politik/die-houthi-iran-connection/
Mein Kommentar: Dieser Artikel zeigt sehr schön die saudische Propaganda auf, wie sie auch, mehr oder weniger deutlich, die Berichterstattung fast aller Mainstream-Medien durchsetzt hat.
(** B K P)
Das Achte Emirat Südjemen
Krieg im Jemen: Die Emirate wollen zur globalen Energiesupermacht aufsteigen und nutzen dafür den Krieg zur Errichtung eines Vasallenstaats am strategisch so wichtigen Golf von Aden.
Die Emirate verfolgen über die Kontrolle strategisch wichtiger Knotenpunkte auf energierelevanten Handelsrouten den Aufbau überregionaler Strukturen im Nahen Osten und darüber hinaus, um so ihren Handel mit fossilen Rohstoffen nach Europa und Nordamerika zu konsolidieren und weiter auszubauen.
Hierzu drängt sich Abu Dhabi im Eiltempo in die Energie- und Sicherheitsinfrastruktur der Region hinein
Seit gut einem Jahr gewinnen die sezessionistischen Kräfte im Inland mehr und mehr an Einfluss und erhalten dabei tatkräftige Unterstützung aus dem Ausland: von den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten, die auch auf diesem Gebiet aus der Linie der Saudi-Koalition ausscheren, was mittlerweile als offener Bruch mit den Herren in Riad betrachtet werden sollte.
Die VAE verfolgen ambitioniert das Projekt eines geteilten Jemen
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/jakob-reimann-justicenow/das-achte-emirat-suedjemen=http://justicenow.de/2018-03-14/das-achte-emirat-suedjemen/=https://diefreiheitsliebe.de/politik/das-achte-emirat-suedjemen/
(** B K P T)
Der Westen als treuer Al-Qaida-Verbündeter
Krieg im Jemen: Die vom Westen unterstützte Saudi-Koalition hat engste Verbindungen zur Al-Qaida im Jemen. Vertraute des Exil-Präsidenten Hadi sind hochrangige AQAP-Funktionäre.
Im gemeinsamen Kampf gegen die Houthi-Rebellen wurden Allianzen geschlossen, die nicht nur die „War on Terror“-Logik zum Einsturz bringen, sondern auch die Restglaubwürdigkeit des US-geführten Westens hierin: Die Houthis werden neben den Truppen des pro-westlichen Exilpräsidenten Hadi ebenso erbittert auch von den radikalen Dschihadisten im Jemen bekämpft. Hierdurch entstand die absurde Situation, dass die westlichen Alliierten der Saudi-Koalition Seite an Seite mit IS- und Al-Qaida-Terroristen gegen die Houthis kämpft.
Die Associated Press bezeichnet Al-Qaida daher vollkommen zutreffend als „de-facto-Alliierten” der Hadi-Regierung und der Saudi-Koalition – was Al-Qaida im Jemen damit zum „de-facto-Alliierten“ des Westens macht.
„Wir“ kämpfen im Jemen gleichzeitig für die Vernichtung und den Aufstieg Al-Qaidas. Das permanent kolportierte „War on Terror“-Narrativ bricht vollständig in sich zusammen – von Jakob Reimann
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/jakob-reimann-justicenow/des-westen-als-treuer-al-qaida-verbuendeter = http://justicenow.de/2018-03-18/des-westen-als-treuer-verbuendeter-der-al-qaida/ = https://diefreiheitsliebe.de/politik/des-westen-als-treuer-verbuendeter-der-al-qaida/
(*** B K P)
Die Blutspur der USA: Die Gewalt des US Empire im ärmsten Land der Arabischen Welt
Krieg im Jemen: Auf sämtlichen Ebenen unterstützen die USA den Bombenkrieg der Saudis und ziehen mit Massakern und Drohnenmorden seit Jahrzehnten ihre eigene Blutspur durch das Land.
Washington steht felsenfest an Riads Seite.
Seit Beginn des Jemen-Kriegs stammt mit zwei Dritteln der Mammutanteil des nach Saudi-Arabien verschifften Kriegsgeräts aus den USA, einzig Großbritannien hat mit einem Fünftel noch einen signifikanten Anteil, die anderen Staaten bewegen sich im untersten Prozentbereich.
Obwohl Waffenlieferungen die zentralste Form sind, geht die US-Unterstützung der Saudis in ihrem Krieg gegen den Jemen weit darüber hinaus.
Halten wir fest: Ohne die USA wäre der erbarmungslose Bombenkrieg der Saudi-Koalition im Jemen undenkbar. Würde Washington die Unterstützung heute einstellen, wäre der Krieg morgen beendet.
Warum diese bedingungslose Unterstützung?
Um den umfassenden Support der Saudis durch die USA zu verstehen, muss neben allgemeingültigen Erklärungen wie der historischen Saudi-US-Allianz und die für US-Rüstungskonzerne höchst lukrativen kriegsbedingten Waffendeals ein weiterer zentraler Punkt berücksichtigt werden, um den sich für die Saudis im Nahen und Mittleren Osten letztendlich alles dreht: der Iran. Insbesondere der so wichtige Iran-Nukleardeal von 2015.
Die Saudis wollten das Zustandekommen des Iran-Deals um jeden Preis verhindern und waren am Ende wutentbrannt über das historische Abkommen. Obamas Entscheidung, den Krieg der Saudis gegen die Bevölkerung des Jemen überhaupt erst zu ermöglichen, ist als Geste der Wiedergutmachung zu verstehen, als Beschwichtigung eines wegen des Iran-Deals aufgebrachten Hauses Saud.
Die Bevölkerung des Jemen war der Bauer auf Obamas Schachbrett, der für das Zustandekommen des Iran-Deals geopfert wurde. Komplizenschaft in Kriegsverbrechen als Geste der Wiedergutmachung – so zynisch wie nur Geopolitik sie sein kann.
Donald Trump steht treu an der Seite der faschistischen Diktatur Saudi-Arabien. Die Leidtragenden dieser unheilvollen Allianz sind die geplagten Kinder, Frauen und Männer im Jemen – von Jakob Reimann
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/jakob-reimann-justicenow/die-blutspur-der-usa=http://justicenow.de/2018-03-21/die-blutspur-der-usa-im-jemen/=http://justicenow.de/2018-03-21/die-blutspur-der-usa-im-jemen/
(* B H K P)
Amnesty: JEMEN 2018
In dem 2017 weiterhin andauernden bewaffneten Konflikt verübten alle Beteiligten Kriegsverbrechen und andere schwere Verstöße gegen das Völkerrecht; unzureichende Maßnahmen im Rahmen der Rechenschaftspflicht verhinderten, dass Opfer Gerechtigkeit und Wiedergutmachung einfordern konnten. Die von Saudi-Arabien geführte Militärallianz, welche die international anerkannte Regierung des Jemen unterstützte, bombardierte erneut zivile Einrichtungen und verübte wahllose Angriffe, bei denen Zivilpersonen getötet oder verletzt wurden. Die bewaffnete Gruppe der Huthi und ihre Verbündeten, darunter Armeeeinheiten, die dem ehemaligen Präsidenten Ali Abdullah Saleh die Treue hielten, beschossen Wohnviertel in Taiz mit Granatwerfern und feuerten Artilleriegeschosse wahllos über die Grenze nach Saudi-Arabien. Dabei gab es Tote und Verletzte unter der Zivilbevölkerung. Die jemenitische Regierung, die Huthi und mit ihnen verbündete Armeeeinheiten des ehemaligen Präsidenten Saleh sowie jemenitische Streitkräfte, die sich den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten unterstellt hatten, griffen auf rechtswidrige Haftpraktiken wie Verschwindenlassen, Folter und andere Misshandlungen zurück. Frauen und Mädchen wurden nach wie vor Opfer von Diskriminierung und anderen Menschenrechtsverstößen wie Zwangsverheiratung und häusliche Gewalt. Die Todesstrafe blieb in Kraft. Es gab jedoch keine öffentlich zugänglichen Berichte über Todesurteile und Hinrichtungen.
https://www.amnesty.de/jahresbericht/2018/jemen
(* B H K P)
Der vergessene Krieg
In dem Bürgerkriegsland nehmen Leid und Elend abseits der globalen Aufmerksamkeit kein Ende. Nicht nur Bomben und Raketen, sondern auch Hunger und Epidemien setzen der Zivilbevölkerung zu.
Die Waffen in diesem Krieg kommen überwiegend aus den USA und Grossbritannien. Ohne amerikanische Tankflugzeuge könnten die saudischen Jets längst nicht so häufig und lange über dem Jemen operieren. Im militärischen Einsatzzentrum der Saudis in Riyadh helfen amerikanische und britische Spezialisten bei der Zielsuche für die Raketen.
Gleichzeitig hat der Krieg tiefe Wurzeln im Jemen. Bereits sechsmal zuvor führten die Huthis in den Jahren 2004 bis 2010 gegen die eigene Regierung in Sanaa Krieg, weil sie sich von der Machtzentrale unter dem damaligen Dauerpräsidenten Ali Abdullah Saleh diskriminiert fühlten. Nach dem Arabischen Frühling 2011 und 2012 kam erstmals positive Bewegung in den Dauerkonflikt – und es sah zunächst gut aus für die Anliegen der Huthis.
Entsprechend ideologisch-apokalyptisch ist die Rhetorik. Man führe einen gerechten Krieg, der einem aufgezwungen worden sei, verteidigte Saudi-Arabiens Aussenminister Adel Al-Jubeir kürzlich das Vorgehen seines Landes.
Doch seine hochgerüstete Armee erweist sich bisher den Stammeskriegern der Huthis nicht gewachsen – von Martin Gehlen
http://www.tagblatt.ch/nachrichten/international/der-vergessene-krieg;art120098,5282498
Auf Englisch / In English
(*** B H K P)
PBS reporting on Yemen, by Jane Ferguson
Film: Yemen's spiraling hunger crisis is a man-made disaster
One of the poorest countries in the Middle East, Yemen's war has pushed it to the brink of famine. A Saudi blockade has slowed the flow of food and helped push prices up. Markets and businesses are ruined from airstrikes. Millions are destitute. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson smuggled herself across front lines to report on what's happening inside the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
Jane Ferguson:Life is slipping away from Maimona Shaghadar. She suffers the agony of starvation in silence. No longer able to walk or talk, at 11 years old, little Maimona’s emaciated body weighs just 24 pounds.
Watching over her is older brother Najib, who brought her to this remote hospital in Yemen, desperate to get help. The nurses here fight for the lives of children who are starving.
Mariam Al-Fakih (through translator): Because of the war, she is suffering from malnutrition. Her father is jobless. Most of the families in Yemen are jobless.
Jane Ferguson: Every day, she says she sees these sorts of cases. People have lost work. Therefore, they have no money. Therefore, there’s just no food in the house.
You were never supposed to see these images of Maimona. A blockade of rebel-held Northern Yemen stops reporters from getting here. Journalists are not allowed on flights into the area. No cameras, no pictures.
The only way into rebel-held Yemen is to smuggle yourself in. And for me, that means being dressed entirely as a Yemeni woman with a full-face veil just to get through the checkpoints.
I traveled across the embattled front lines to see what’s actually happening inside what the United Nations is calling the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
The Houthis cautiously welcomed me in and, once I was there, watched me closely.
The hunger here and this human catastrophe is entirely manmade. Yemen was already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, and the war has pushed an already needy people to the brink of famine.
In the midst of political chaos in Yemen after the Arab Spring, Houthi rebels from the north captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, before sweeping south and causing the country’s then president to flee. Neighboring Sunni, Saudi Arabia, views the Houthis, from a Yemeni sect close to Shia Islam and backed by rival Iran, as an unacceptable threat along their border.
So it formed a military coalition of countries in 2015, determined to defeat the Houthis and reinstate the old president. Crucial military support for the campaign is provided by the United States, a longtime ally of Saudi Arabia.
After three years of aerial bombardment and fighting on the ground, the coalition has so far failed to dislodge the rebels. What the campaign has done is devastate the economy, leaving two-thirds of the population relying on food aid for survival, and over eight million people on the brink of starvation.
I traveled across this country to see for myself what that looks like. Since ancient times, Yemenis have lived securely in villages perched high up on mountaintops. But now they can’t hold off the hunger, like in Rafeah village.
Because most of the people in these areas are so desperately poor, they cannot afford to transport their children into the towns to the hospitals whenever their malnutrition gets so bad their lives are in danger. And so many of the worst cases are in small villages scattered all around these mountain ranges just like this.
Hannah and her little brother Ali are frighteningly thin. Their grandma tells me food prices shot up beyond their reach when the fighting started.
Dhabia Kharfoush (through translator): One month after the war started, we were starving. We are dying from hunger, and we don’t know what to do.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/yemens-spiraling-hunger-crisis-is-a-man-made-disaster = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQsjM_dfU9Y
and
Film: American-made bombs in Yemen are killing civilians, destroying infrastructure and fueling anger at the U.S.
War rains down from the sky in Yemen, where an aerial bombing campaign by Saudi-led and American-backed coalition hammers much of the north. The U.S. military supports the campaign against the Houthi rebels with logistics and intelligence, and sells the Saudis many of the bombs it drops on that country. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson smuggled herself across front lines to report this series.
Inside rebel territory in Yemen, the war rains down from the sky. On the ground, front lines have not moved much in the past three years of conflict.
Instead, an aerial bombing campaign by the Saudi-led and American-backed coalition hammers much of the country’s north, leaving scenes like this dotted across the capital city, Sanaa, and beyond.
A few weeks before I arrived, this gas station was hit. Security guard Abdul Al Badwi was in a building next door when it happened. He says six civilians were killed.
Why did they target here?
Can’t explain why they would have targeted something like this.
Elsewhere in the city, a government office building was recently hit. Another pile of rubble, another monument to the civilian deaths of this war.
When this building was hit, it was mostly clerical workers in offices who were injured. And you can still see their blood smeared all over the walls as they were evacuated after the airstrike – By Jane Ferguson
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/american-made-bombs-in-yemen-are-killing-civilians-destroying-infrastructure-and-fueling-anger-at-the-u-s = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWuomLDdGr8
and
How we got the images you weren’t meant to see in Yemen
My fixers and I had considered many different ways of getting into this city from hopping on a bus to traveling with a camel caravan, even taking a snaking route from the east with Bedouin smugglers. In the end, we settled on driving north dressed in a full Islamic face veil. We would simply hope that the soldiers did not ask about my ID papers. Traditional custom in Yemen often prevents officials from personally addressing women they don’t know. There was no way I could bring my male cameraman, so I would have to hire a local crew once inside.
Crossing the front lines was a simple, silent drive. A slight hum of tension gripped the inside of the car as everyone fell quiet watching the surrounding countryside. As the more formal, uniformed checkpoints ended, some heavy weaponry and a tank could be seen tucked into the hillsides around us before we reached the rebel checkpoint. Questions were asked and answered and we drove on. We had crossed over. I would now have to wait for my Sana’a contacts to arrive and drive me north.
In Sana’a’s streets, there are beggars everywhere. Thin hands paw at car windows and children with dirty rags pretend to clean cars before making eye contact with drivers and raising their hands to hungry mouths. Yemen was always poor, but now it has fallen off a cliff.
The beggars continue when you drive out into the countryside. The winding roads that snake through the mountains are dotted with ragged children holding their hands out. Groups of them carry shovels and dump dirt into potholes until coins are tossed out of cars and they scramble through the dirt shoulder-to-shoulder to collect them.
The hospitals do have a presence of Houthi rebels. Rebel posters were pasted onto the walls of Hajja’s main government hospital, and permissions were needed to enter. Every doctor was closely watched when doing interviews. They looked nervous and exhausted. Many of the doctors had stopped receiving their government salaries back in 2016, but the United Nations’ UNICEF organization stepped in, keeping the malnutrition wards staffed at least.
Once inside, there is an unnerving quiet to the children’s ward. The healthier babies cry, but many just stare blankly. It’s not immediately clear if their eyes look too big or their faces too small. Malnourishment can have very few tell-tale signs to an untrained eye — perhaps just a paleness, a smallness. As the scale continues, some children have lost hair or had their hair turn orange, some have swollen bellies, or no belly to speak of, or bones sticking out through wilted skin. Some of them have aged faces, with skin that wrinkles when they cry.
Their parents have exhausted all “coping mechanisms” as the aid organizations would say. To you or I, that’s anything we would turn to if a salary suddenly stopped: savings, relatives, a cow or some chickens in the backyard, a line of credit at the local grocery store. After three years of war, most people have exhausted all of those. Sweet tea and bread is keeping an untold number of people here alive, barely. It’s especially tough on the babies as mother’s cannot produce enough high nutrient milk when they themselves are not eating nearly enough. – by Jane Ferguson
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/reporting-in-yemen-the-city-that-has-fallen-off-a-cliff
and
An Excellent Report on the War on Yemen
Jane Ferguson’s first report from last night was very well done, and I expect that the next two reports will be as well. Media coverage of the war on Yemen and the U.S. role in it is rare and often leaves out important details, but I am pleased to say that Ferguson’s reporting does an excellent job of explaining the origins of the conflict and highlighting the destructive effects of the Saudi coalition bombing campaign and blockade on the civilian population.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/an-excellent-report-on-the-war-on-yemen/
(** B H K)
Film: Yemen's civil war: children on the brink of starvation | Unreported World
Yemen: Britain's forgotten war: Yemen an extremely distressing place. Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, fight the Yemeni President, who is backed by a Saudi led coalition of countries. The fighting, and in particular, the bombing of key transport links has led to severe food shortages and malnutrition. Krishnan Guru-Murthy went to see the extent of it last year, and be warned there are distressing images of starving children in this report.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfCCNREjzGY
(* B H K)
Yemen cannot wait for aid any longer
Global actors must urgently provide assistance as the war-torn country grapples with a shattered healthcare system
Once labelled "the forgotten war" for its lack of international attention, Yemen's conflict has led to a humanitarian crisis so vast it is now impossible to ignore. Due to its rapid growth and devastating nature, there is an urgent need to contain it.
In response to an increased awareness of Yemenis' suffering, aid groups have been bravely operating amid battle lines, aiming to relieve the suffering of those in desperate need, despite various obstructions.
Before the war, Yemen was already the poorest Arab country, with the three-year conflict plunging it into further anguish. Its unprecedented cholera outbreak - with more than a million cases - surpasses all other known epidemics of the disease in history, a sign of Yemen's collapsed healthcare system. Around half of the country’s health facilities have stopped working or are dysfunctional.
Other diseases, such as diphtheria, are spreading rapidly. Abdulaziz al-Sabri, a Taiz-based journalist, said that since cleaners have gone unpaid and stopped working, public health has further deteriorated.
Millions are malnourished, including nearly two million children under five who are acutely or severely acutely malnourished - yet those suffering cannot receive vital aid. Saudi Arabia's blockade prevents essential goods from freely entering the country, while the war atmosphere prevents aid within the country from reaching civilian areas.
International crisis
Yemen's war is international, and it therefore requires an international solution.
An outright victory for either side is nearly impossible. The Saudi-led coalition has relentless military support from the US, the UK and France, while rebel forces remain surprisingly strong. Neither side wants to concede ground.
While the UK should take a leading role in the crisis, as Yemen's penholder in the UN Security Council, it has neglected this duty. Its most recent use of its power was a UNSC resolutionaimed at condemning Iranian influence in Yemen, rather than focusing on a ceasefire or on the unrestricted entry of aid. The UK government alone will not solve Yemen’s healthcare crisis.
Greater lobbying from activist groups and politicians is crucial to pressuring regimes, such as the UK and the US, from ending weapons sales and political consent to the Saudi-led coalition.
Global actors must address this chaotic episode of history as urgently as possible to minimise further suffering and prevent a tsunami of deaths. Yemen cannot wait any longer by Jonathan Fenton
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/yemen-cannot-wait-aid-any-longer-689063344
(* B H K)
UNICEF: 8 Things You Need to Know About the Yemen Crisis
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is worsening by the day. More than 22 million Yemenis – that’s three-quarters of the population – need humanitarian assistance and protection. More than 11 million of them are children. The conflict has made Yemen a living hell for its children
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is worsening by the day. More than 22 million Yemenis – that’s three-quarters of the population – need humanitarian assistance and protection. More than 11 million of them are children. The conflict has made Yemen a living hell for its children.
The war in Yemen today: the battle for the Red Sea port city Hodeidah endangers the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in the city.
Key developments in the Yemen crisis: what the battle for Hodeidah means for Yemen's children
The city and surrounds of Hodeidah are one of the most densely populated areas in Yemen. There are around 600,000 people in Hodeidah, including 300,000 children, caught in the fighting.
The United Nations fears that as many as 250,000 people – more than 100,000 children – may lose everything, even their lives, if the current situation escalates.
Hodeidah is the single most important point of entry for the food and basic supplies to Yemen. Close to 70% of the country’s imports, including commercial and humanitarian goods, enter through Hodeidah and Saleef to the north. Suspension of port activities will have a catastrophic humanitarian impact on children across the country.
More than 11 million children in Yemen are already in need of humanitarian assistance.
More than half the health facilities in Yemen are not functioning due to damage or a lack of operating budget and staff. Many health workers have not been paid for over a year.
In 2018, an estimated 1.8 million children are acutely malnourished across the country, including nearly 400,000 severe acutely malnourished children fighting for their lives.
Collapsing water and sanitation systems in Yemen have cut off 8.6 million children from regular access to safe water and sanitation, increasing the risk of diseases spreading.
Nearly 2 million children are out of school across the country. The education of another 4.5 million children is at risk due to teachers not being paid for over a year.
https://www.unicef.ca/en/blog/8-things-you-need-know-about-yemen-crisis
and film: https://twitter.com/UNICEF/status/1014139197744140288
(** B H K P)
YEMEN: The State Sanctioned Mass Murder that Nobody Wants to Talk About
Children are dying every day in Yemen. They are dying from starvation, from treatable diseases, from Saudi bombs. They are dying because the UK Government does not care if they live or die. They are dying because corporate media in the west is so linked to state foreign policy, it has lost all humanity. They are dying because the UN tacitly supports the Saudi imposed blockade and humanitarian siege.
Every day we see images of twisted, broken, mangled limbs of children on social media. We become inured to this slaughter of innocents. We see the skin-stripping effects of the cluster bomb supplied by the U.S and the UK according to reports from inside Yemen. We see children clinging to life in the decimated, ruined medical sectors of Yemen. Children who simply do not deserve to die or to suffer in this senseless, heartless way.
We have seen wedding halls, markets, schools, hospitals, residential areas obliterated. Journalists have been deliberately targeted in a campaign reminiscent of the Zionist assassinations of Palestinian reporters who are the only voices able to transmit to the outside world. Since March 2015 this senseless war has waged even after UN Envoy, Jamal Benomar, made his departing statement:
“When this campaign started, one thing that was significant but went unnoticed is that the Yemenis were close to a deal that would institute power sharing with all sides, including the Houthis”
Professor Francis Boyle has many times described Yemen as a “genocide”. John Pilger, distinguished journalist and documentary filmmaker speaks on behalf of all thinking, breathing, empathic human beings when he says:
“If those who support aggressive war had seen a fraction of what I’ve seen, if they’d watched children fry to death from Napalm and bleed to death from a cluster bomb, they might not utter the claptrap they do.”
Yet our governments still ‘utter claptrap’. They talk about “aid” as if aid will be enough to repair the shattered lives and deliberately traumatised nation. As Hussain AlBukhaiti, a Yemeni activist and journalist based in Sanaa, said on RT’s Going Underground – ‘The U.K government sells billions of arms to Saudi Arabia to murder Yemeni people and then considers £ 10,000 in aid to be a sufficient offer to assuage their guilt’. I have paraphrased but the interview can be seen here.
While U.K politicians and U.S congress representatives pay lip service to “humanitarian” values they eschew at every turn, Yemenis die under a rain of death endorsed by those same representatives. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer puts jobs and resources provided by the U.S military industrial complex above the human misery in Yemen in a conversation with Rand Paul, one of the few genuine represenatives of the U.S people who speaks truth to power.
The fact is, the U.K and U.S administrations do not care about human suffering unless it is of benefit in providing public consent for their criminal foreign policies or is profitable for their corporate establishment mafia.
The hypocrisy must end. People must stop believing in the whitewash of evil that is conveyed to them by the state-sanctioned media and fraudulent NGOs that provide protection for their government crimes. Our governments do not care. They don’t care about the poor, the needy, the homeless, the “undesirables” in our own countries, they certainly dont care about the abject suffering they impose upon Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Palestine, Libya and so many more.
This is mass murder by criminal states who cover their crimes with counterfeit “humanitarian” platitudes. It is a pyrrhic victory for the war vultures who feed on the corpses of mankind, too weakened to withstand their rapacious intent – by Vanessa Beeley
(** B H K)
Desperation, hunger mark trip through war-torn Yemen
Across Yemen, there is a landscape of desperation.
People driven from their homes by war live in tents made of rags and sticks. Hungry mothers beg in markets full of food that few can afford. Families that were once comfortably middle class have been reduced to grinding poverty, unsure where their next meal will come from. Scrawny, underdeveloped children run through unpaved streets.
Yemen’s 3-year-old civil war has pushed the country into near starvation as a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the government tries to drive back Shiite rebels known as Houthis. Thousands of children are already believed to have died, though there are no solid statistics. Aid agencies warn the worst is potentially still to come.
The Associated Press drove more than 700 kilometers (400 miles) across southern and western Yemen to look at the lives of people in areas that are most at risk of famine. The team’s path took them from the urban center of Aden to isolated mountain valleys, through plains where the mountains sweep down to the Arabian Sea, to towns on the Red Sea coast cut off by the shifting front lines in the civil war.
All along the way was a population in chaos.
Aden
The hallmarks of starvation are clear on 7-month-old Ahmed Rasheed Moqbal. His face is like an old man, the skin on his buttocks sags. He cries constantly, with almost no tears. He weighs only 3.3 kilograms (7 pounds).
His mother, Aisha Mohammed, is also severely thin. At Aden’s Al-Sadaqa Hospital, she steps on the scale: 39 kilograms (86 pounds)
She and her family were driven by fighting from their home, 160 kilometers (100 miles) to the west in the district of Mowza. Here in Aden, her husband works hauling bricks at a construction site. But he hardly makes enough to feed them. Mohammed’s two other children are also malnourished.
Aden’s Al-Sadaqa is the main hospital serving the worst malnutrition cases from around southern Yemen. It’s the best supplied, from aid coming into Aden’s port. Struggling hospitals around the south send their worst malnutrition cases here, since they can’t handle them.
But the large majority of families with starving children can’t afford the trip to Aden. So they sit at home and their children get worse.
And six other places, with photos – Text by Maggie Michael and Lee Keath
https://apimagesblog.com/blog/2018/5/3/desperation-hunger-mark-trip-through-war-torn-yemen-main
Comment: This is from AP considered to be the most reliable western news agency. It makes horrific reading. How can the UN consider it is doing an adequate job when this happens? Men in work not able to earn enough to feed their families. Soldiers unpaid with their children starving. Mothers not eating so that the meagre bits they do have can go to their children. The UN has allowed this. UK and USA are allowing this. Appalling. What is the UNSC for if it is not to prevent this from happening?
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156652206353641
(A K P)
A Beginners Guide To The Conflict In Yemen
Written specifically for my pal Francis Marion, a great thinker and learner who is always looking to increase knowledge, but who said he just doesn’t have the time to do research on the Yemen conflict. So, here ya go, as brief as I can make it. Brother, can ya spare 7 minutes?
— Yemen is functionally two countries, or governments; the Houthis in Sanaa, and Hadi in Aden.
— all the various brokered peace talks have gotten nowhere
— the Trump administration is siding with the Sauds, and wherever possible blaming the various war atrocities on Iran. But, it is the coalition with bombs and airplanes, and there is zero doubt, as evidence exists, that coalition armaments have struck schools, hospitals, and civilian areas.
— 75% of Yemenis need some kind of humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs, about 8 million are at risk of starvation, cholera is becoming an epidemic, Riyadh is even preventing fresh bottled water from entering the country … the country meets every definition of a failed state.
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2018/05/12/a-beginners-guide-to-the-conflict-in-yemen/= https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-13/beginners-guide-conflict-yemen
My comment: Quite simple, somewhat too simple.
(* B K P)
Yemen, As Simple as Possible
Yemen is a tough place to explain, let alone understand. It is a proxy war, a civil war, an anti-terrorist operation, and a politically-driven humanitarian catastrophe all taking place side by side, one on top of the other.
We’re going to try anyway. In 1200 words or less, let’s explain Yemen.
https://geopoliticsmadesuper.com/2018/06/20/yemen-as-simple-as-possible/
My comment: In the beginning (explaining the local actors) quite serious. The second part is quite bad and repeating propaganda, giving a great role to Iran and totally neglecting the role of the US and the West.
(* B H K P)
It’s been called the forgotten war — and with good reason.
The war in Syria gets clicks and shares, and the fight to defeat Islamic State is never far from the headlines. But Yemen, a top contender in the devastation and suffering index, often goes unmentioned.
With more than enough global conflict and misery to go around, why should you care about Yemen, a country roughly the size of Texas and tens of thousands of miles away? Here’s why:
—It’s the world’s worst humanitarian disaster
It’s true. In a donor conference in April, Antonio Guterres, the U.N.’s secretary-general, described Yemen as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
To understand why, it’s worth knowing that Yemen was long a place where millions were never certain when and from where they would get their next meal or drink of clean water. And that was before the three-year civil war now raging through the country.
These days, Yemen’s woes sound like a modern-day biblical tale.
http://gazette.com/yemen-is-the-worlds-forgotten-war/article/feed/572909 = https://www.stripes.com/news/yemen-is-the-world-s-forgotten-war-1.533431
My comment: A well to read short introduction.
(* B K P)
Where did the #Yemen war spring from? And who's in power? Here are my answers in a 2 minute nutshell for BBC Radio today.
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1008334805002539009
(* B K P)
Factbox: Who is fighting in Yemen's messy civil war?
Each of the parties to Yemen’s messy civil war has its own agenda, making the conflict harder to resolve. This factbox looks at some of these groups and what they want.
My comment: Quite serious, but two important parties are totally missing here: The US and the UK. This lack is almost whitewashing.
(* B H K P)
Explainer: Why Yemen is at war?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-explainer/why-yemen-is-at-war-idUSKBN1JB1TE
My comment: Some basic information and backgrounds. This article is realistic as it does not put much attention to Iran. But, the role of US and UK is totally neglected.
(B H K P)
Timeline: Yemen's slide into political crisis and war
My comment: Search: “US”; “Obama”, “Trump”: 0 matches each. The role of the US is totally neglected.
(* B H K P)
AP News Guide: What to know about Yemen's yearslong war
Yemen's yearslong war between Shiite rebels and a Saudi-led coalition backing its exiled government has escalated with an assault on the insurgent-held port city of Hodeida.
Here's a look at Yemen, its tangled history and the combatants involved in a war that's sparked what is now the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ap-news-guide-yemens-yearslong-war-55884373 = https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/what-to-know-about-yemen-s-yearslong-war-1.532732
My comment: Overview and Introduction.
(* B H K)
What Is Really Happening In Yemen?
A look into one of the most horrific humanitarian crises in modern history
In March-April, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Muhammad Bin Salman ordered airstrikes on Yemen that continue to be carried out today. These strikes are ruthless, hitting schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, ports, bridges, and roads. With blocked access to basic supplies, 2.9 million people were forced from their homes, 17 million people face famine, and 7 million people do not know when they will get their next meal.
Yemen is dependent on maritime imports for more than 80 percent of its annual staple food supply. According to theFamine Early Warning Systems Network(FEWS Net), “a prolonged closure of key ports an unprecedented deterioration in food security to Famine (IPC Phase 5) across large areas of the country.” FEWS Net also predicted that this would occur in three to four months if the blockade is not resolved.
Here are some brief statistics on how children are being affected by the Yemen Famine, as provided by Save the Children:
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/what-happening-yemen
(* B H K P)
Key facts about the war in Yemen
The ongoing war in Yemen, which has displaced millions of people, is far more complex than a Sunni-Shia conflict.
For three years, Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has been wracked by a bloody war between the Houthi rebels and supporters of Yemen's internationally recognised government.
[Overview]
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/key-facts-war-yemen-160607112342462.html
(** B K P)
What kind of a war is the Yemen war?
This short note poses three questions central to understanding the nature and meaning of the Yemen war. These concern the strategy of the Coalition war itself, the structure of legal reference, and the forms of information concerning the war. The three fields intersect.
Strategy
The Yemen war is about to enter a fourth year; thus the strategy of the Coalition, which controls Yemen’s airspace and sea-space (alongside the Combined Maritime Forces and from May 2016 the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism), has moved through several stages. [1]
The war began in late March 2015 with considerable aerial bombardment, deploying implosion and high kinetic weapons around Sanaa in what appeared an experiment in shock-and-awe. Many strikes focused on the Yemeni armed forces loyal to the government in Sanaa and civil heartlands of the Houthi movement. The bombing likewise hit road networks, gas and petrol stations, electricity generation plants, camps of internally displaced persons, and buildings said to belong to Houthi leaders, in a manner reminiscent of attacks by Israel on Lebanon in 1996 and 2006. It may be that the strategists planned for a quick war; they seem to have told other agencies that Yemeni resistance should be swiftly broken and to plan for reconstruction. USAID and the UN prepared damage assessment maps of Saadah, Sanaa and Taizz and night light countrywide survey maps after a few months of the war [2]. A first round of peace negotiations was then to lead nowhere, thanks to the terms enshrined in UNSCR 2216 that the forces of the Yemeni army loyal to ex-President ʿAli ʿAbdullah Saleh and the Ansarallah (Houthis) surrender as precondition for political settlement. From mid-August through October the Coalition again intensified aerial bombardment, in particular in Sanaa and Saadah Governorates. Civilian and economic targets, not least the port of al-Hudayda, formed a more important proportion of the targets. Over the following year, although the intensity of bombardment fluctuated, many government and educational buildings having already been damaged, the same broad patterns of targeting continued. Civilian and economic targets included food production/processing, and storage and distribution facilities, notably, across the country the major food importer and distributor, the Yemen Economic Cooperation (YEC). This pattern continued through late summer of 2016. But no surrender followed.
From the autumn of 2016 the kinetic assault having failed to produce Yemen’s “collapse”, [3] in reverse order to that of the long war on Iraq, economic war came to the fore: move of the central bank to Aden, quasi-exclusion from the international banking system, refusal of ships’ passage and attacks on fishing boats, detachment of oil-producing regions under governors affiliated to the Coalition powers, and attacks on all elements of life in the northern border regions (houses, farms, transport, markets, public institutions, medical facilities). All the tactics and more that have been deployed in Gaza time and again were put into effect in a much larger-scale experiment of punishment of a people in the name of internationally recognized political legitimacy.
Law
There are two aspects of legal reference especially prominent in the Yemen war.
The first aspect is the post-facto legitimation of war by the world’s highest legal institution through a technique that Joy Gordon has termed deliberate ambiguity. [4] The UNSCR 2216, which placed sanctions on five individuals and called for the restoration of a president (ʿAbd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi) whose term had already expired, has been taken to permit the attack and blockade of Yemen. The permanent members of the UNSC wield enormous powers of collective action and its delegation to their allies. Constructive ambiguity is constantly fine-tuned so as to devolve legal responsibility from those who delegate to the agents they empower.
Information
With the destruction of airports, repeated suspension of flights, and vetting of travellers by Saudi Arabia, it became difficult for non-Yemeni journalists to enter the country. The work of Yemeni ministries assessing damage to infrastructure and health and of Yemeni journalists logging the targets of aerial bombardment was not regarded as reliable information. [10] Thus, for most of the first two years of the war, while the occasional voice from inside Yemen might be raised and heard above the official press briefings of the Coalition military spokesman al-Asiri and the able hasbara ofthe Saudi foreign minister al-Jubayr, Western media coverage was for long periods absent. [11] But from late 2016, as the health and diet of the Yemeni masses became critically impaired, international agencies were allowed to return to Yemen so long as their purpose was humanitarian. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator began to issue strong appeals for aid and an end to the blockade.
When this information regime is challenged as it has been by the UK Campaign against the Arms Trade (CAAT), the government response, translated through senior judges, was to argue that as the government knows what others do not (and cannot), there is no case to be answered. [14] Parallel arguments are advanced against attempts in the US Senate to challenge that government’s role in the war.
The governments are not mistaken in their claim to absolutely finer knowledge. Given the enormous data bank of the military, and the exceptionally clear skies and hence clarity of satellite imagery of Yemen, their knowledge of the war and its effects is detailed, formidable and subject to continuous study. [15] Analyses drawing on sources from inside Yemen by contrast produce artisanal results if set against the machine power of imperial government knowledge – by Martha Mundy
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero032718
(* B K P)
All sides deepen the conflict in Yemen
Over the past three years, the civil war in Yemen has expanded internationally. Most recently, the Houthis have increased missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, and though Saudi air defenses have neutralized these launches, they propagate further escalation of the conflict in Yemen.
With the three-year mark on Saudi intervention in Yemen being punctuated by an increase in attempted Houthi attacks on Saudi cities, the likelihood of a quick end to the conflict is low. The Saudi coalition has only made modest gains of territory, and talks to end the fighting are not going well. The Houthis have shown that they still possess the ability to threaten Riyadh, although the Saudi Patriot missile defense system intercepts almost all of the Houthi rockets. Riyadh views these attacks asacts of war orchestrated by Iran, which further pushes the Saudis to retaliate. Their conditions for peace in Yemen are victory along with the complete disarmament of Houthi rebels, a condition that is unacceptable to the latter.
Given both sides’ refusal to alter their demands, it is unlikely that a compromise can be reached soon. This does not bode well for the humanitarian catastrophe, especially given the heavy toll Saudi tactics have on Yemeni civilians – by Myriam Maalouf
https://globalriskinsights.com/2018/04/sides-deepen-conflict-yemen/
(* B H K)
'Forgotten War' in Yemen has the country on the verge of man-made famine
The deadly conflict in Yemen, which has been raging for the last three years with no signs of letting up, is being called the "Forgotten War" because most of the world's attention has been focused on Syria.
A bombing campaign by Saudi Arabia and its allies against Shia rebels has left around 2.2 million Yemeni children malnourished -- 80 percent of them severely -- and the country is on the verge of a man-made famine.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC), a U.S. aid organization, says one child younger than 5 dies in Yemen every 10 minutes from preventable causes.
Much of Yemen's infrastructure has been decimated, including schools, bridges, marketplaces, hospitals and health facilities, making 79 percent of the population dependent on humanitarian aid, according to figures compiled by the IRC.
[Overview]
(* B H K)
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Yemen Humanitarian Fund - Annual Report 2017
A deepening humanitarian crisis
The year 2017 was marked by a steady deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The unabating conflict, the steady economic decline and the resulting collapse of basic social services further aggravated the vulnerability of millions of people whose coping mechanisms had been under pressure for two years. Displacement, food insecurity, disease and malnutrition continued to be the primary drivers of needs. As the year unfolded, a cholera outbreak, the worst recorded in history, spread across the entire country affecting more than one million people. By the end of the year the number of people in need had increased by 2 million, resulting in 20.8 million people requiring some form of humanitarian assistance and protection, 11.3 million of whom were in acute need.
Violations of IHL threaten the protection of civilians
The conduct of hostilities continued to be brutal, air strikes and fighting continued to inflict heavy casualties, damage public and private infrastructure, and impede delivery of humanitarian assistance. Serious concerns regarding the conduct of the conflict, in which all parties appeared to have committed violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law continued to be raised.
Forced displacement and returns
Conflict continued to be the main driver of displacement. Since the escalation of the conflict in March 2015, more than 3 million people were displaced within Yemen, including 2 million who remained displaced by the end of 2017.
Collapse of basic services and institutions
Essential basic services and the institutions that provide them continued to collapse under the weight of conflict, displacement and economic decline. As the public budget deficit grew by more than 50 per cent salaries for health facility staff, teachers and other public sector workers were paid erratically, often leaving 1.25 million state employees and their 6.9 million dependents – nearly 30 per cent of the population – without a regular income at a time of shortages and rising prices. The ability of public institutions to provide services contracted at a time while needs were surging. The inability of the health services to contain localized cases of cholera will result in the unfolding of an unprecedented outbreak.
Economic decline and access to markets
Economic decline and import restrictions continued to impact the availability and price of basic goods in markets.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-fund-annual-report-2017
(** B H K)
The violence of daily life in Yemen
This week’sDateline film,‘Yemen’s Children of War’explores the violence and danger of everyday life in Yemen through the eyes of three young children.
The filmmaker Khadija Al-Salami wrote a brief reflection of her time reporting the story, and what she witnessed
Making this film was a real nightmare.
When the war started I was devastated and all I wanted to do was going back to Yemen and be with my family. I felt so hopeless in the face of a war where cluster bombs were killing civilians despite being prohibited by international law. The worst aspect is that this war is carefully hidden from the rest of the world.
It took me two years to reach Yemen as Saudi Arabia imposed a total blockade on the country by air, sea and land, which caused the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
Finally, I was able to go with theUN humanitarian flight.
When I arrived I saw 11-year-old Ahmed by the window of his house trying to shoot down the bomber planes with an old rifle belong to his grandfather.
I was intrigued by the boy and I went to talk to his mother who told me that her son has been traumatised by this war. This conversation gave me the idea to make the film through the eyes of children, because they are the first victims of this unjust war and don’t understand why they are killed, and why millions of children are deprived from going to school and living their childhood in peace.
This week onDateline, we follow three young Yemeni kids as they report on the violence and war around them.
Filming much of the footage on mobile phones, young reporters Rima, 8, Ahmed, 11 and Youssef, 9, record remarkable interviews showing the everyday reality of life for Sana’a’s residents who live under constant airstrikes.
“I don’t like to play war” explains Youssef, “If I survive this war, I want to be a dentist.”
On the outskirts of Sana’a, the young reporters meet an orphan child – just 4 years old - whose entire family has been killed. Amongst the rubble of her home, they find the belongings of her dead mother, father and brothers.
“With their weapons they killed your whole family. And now you no longer have a future,” says Ahmed, crying.
With no end to the war in sight, what does the future hold for Yemen’s children? (film)
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/article/2018/05/01/violence-daily-life-yemen
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/yemens-children-war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8lRci_oVkE(promo)
and excerpt:
(** B H K)
Film: She Lost Her Whole Family By An Airstrike
In an interview carried out by children, a little girl hugging her teddy-bear, recalls being on a swing when a missile hit her home changing her life forever.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/videos/1728182353901454/
and also
(* B H K)
Al-Anod Al-Hakmy, alone against a war
I met Al-Anod Al-Hakmy today and she told me how her family was killed at the beginning of this month, February 1, 2017 .
Al-Anod said: "I was playing around our home when Saudi warplanes came to target our home and killed my entire family "
(* B H)
Film: Children in Yemen are starving to death as civil conflict rages on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR0bY8mO8Us
(** B H K)
Film by ABC News: Inside Yemen's civil war where 8 million people are on the brink of starvation
"Nightline" gets an exclusive ground report from war-torn Yemen, which has left nearly three million homeless and 22 million in need of humanitarian aid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axzUyM6pl6o = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/videos/1693661554020201/
and a 2 minutes cutting: https://twitter.com/DMiliband/status/979371326120001536
(** B H K P)
Film: Three years of hell: Inside Yemen's civil war
Three years this week since a Saudi-led coalition stepped into Yemen's civil war and what have we got? The Arab World's poorest nation on the brink of the world's worst famine. Contrast the reality inside Yemen with the abstract game of geopolitical chess unfolding abroad with the Saudi crown prince drumming up support in the US, France blaming Iran for arming rival Houthi militias, Iran blaming the UK for arming the Saudi-led bombing campaign and no headway in UN peace efforts.
http://newsvideo.su/video/8541986 = https://www.msn.com/en-gb/video/other/three-years-of-hell-inside-yemens-civil-war/vi-AAvg6Gj
(** B H K)
Film: For those new to #Yemen here's a 25 minute doco we made 2016 explaining how this UK & US backed war has already killed tens of thousands of civilians in airstrikes, from famine & lack of medical care
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CxiNMN5EsM
(* B H K)
Film: It's the third anniversary of the war in Yemen. Here's why you should care:
https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/978331996479893504
(* B H K)
Film: Yemen Millions of children and families are on the brink of starvation UNICEF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT9jRp2Z1K4
(* B H K)
Film: Yemen crisis closes in on third anniversary
More than 10,000 Yemeni civilians have died as a Saudi Arabia-led coalition – with critical support from the US and UK – wages war against the powerful Houthi rebel group. The UN has called the nearly three-year-old war the worst humanitarian crisis in the world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKp_QhRAZq4=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLSb4ayUSVc
(** B H K)
Eleven facts about the Yemen Crisis
- The humanitarian situation in Yemen is still the worst in the worldNow in its fourth year of conflict, more than 22 million people—or three-quarters of the population—need humanitarian aid and protection, making Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
- Some 8.4 million people in Yemen don’t know where they’ll get their next meal.Last year, humanitarians scaled up dramatically to provide emergency food assistance to more than 7 million people per month. But this year we need to do even more. Ensuring families have the food they need to survive is the top priority for humanitarians.
- Every ten minutes, a child under five in Yemen dies of preventable causes.
- Civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence.
- Women and children are subject to widespread protection violations
- Some 3 million people have been displaced.
- Ending the conflict is the only way to resolve the humanitarian crisis.
- Half of all health facilities are damaged or unable to function.
- Millions of Yemenis do not have access to safe drinking water and cholera could resurge.
- Humanitarian response faces a nearly $2 billion funding gap.
- Keeping the ports and other access channels open is crucial to deliver aid. (photos)
https://unocha.exposure.co/eleven-facts-about-the-yemen-crisis
(* B H K P)
What the Saudis Have Wrought
The US claims to have no direct involvement in the coalition. Yet in addition to selling billions of dollars’ worth of weapons and ammunition, it supplies operations-room targeting and other advisory services to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Most importantly and crucially, the US provides in-flight refueling to coalition aircrafts, a technical exercise that, if ended, would put a stop to the air strikes in short order.
Over the course of the war, an anti-Iranian discourse has overtaken the initial justification for the intervention. The Saudis and the US loudly claim that Huthi missiles are of Iranian origin, and use this as a reason to intensify their anti-Iranian rhetoric. There is indeed limited evidence that some missile components are of Iranian origin, but other components are of US manufacture. More than anything, these accusations are part of a mounting propaganda campaign, designed to rationalize hawkish decisions like Trump’s likely withdrawal from the Iran deal.
Focus on the proxy war also allows the international community to ignore the Yemeni roots and nature of the original conflict (as well as its disastrous impact and exacerbation as a result of international intervention).
Full-scale war erupted in Yemen in 2015. Following the 2011 popular uprisings — longer and more widespread than anywhere else in the Arab world — the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, alongside the US, UK, and other Western powers, had assisted in the formation of a transitional regime. Given two years to bring about a “new” Yemen, it was to make some concessions to the demands of the popular uprising for a “national” equitable economy, providing employment for millions of women and youth and remaking the political system so it would generate something other than mass inequality.
But the transitional regime turned out to be little different from its predecessor, effectively replacing Ali Abdullah Saleh’s kleptocratic elite with a similar one dominated by the Islah Party
That isn’t to say these areas are under the Hadi regime’s rule. In what was formerly the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen — otherwise known as South Yemen — UAE-trained, -equipped, and -paid security forces, composed mainly of local Salafi elements, provide “security,” supposedly fighting al-Qaeda and Daesh while in practice prioritizing arrests and attacks on Islahi elements. In the past year the southern separatist movement has been on the rise.
The machinations of various actors, foreign and domestic, have produced a hellscape for the average Yemenis.
while Oman, the UN, and the EU and some member states are actively striving to bring the war to a close, the Saudi-led coalition seems to be increasing its anti-Iranian rhetoric and its attacks on Yemen – by Helen Lackner
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/03/yemen-war-saudi-arabia-trump-bin-salman
(** B K)
Yemen's skies of terror: Three years of war in Yemen
More than 10,000 people have died in the Yemen war which has now entered its fourth year.
"Most of the bombings in al-Hodeidah have targeted innocent civilians. Most of the victims are women and children," said Manal Qaed Alwesabi, a Yemeni journalist from Hodeida who documented Abu Bakr's story.
"People were sure that if the bombings targeted and destroyed a populated area like this, no person or city will be exempt. Nothing was left untouched, not even the narrow alleyways that even cars cannot get through."
There are similar stories of indiscriminate bombings from within Yemen's capital Sanaa.
"All of us fear the raids and shelling," said 15-year-old Akram who was woken up and rocked by a large explosion on September 18, 2015.
His neighbour's house was hit, killing 10 members of the family.
"If the Saudis want to defeat the Houthis in Sanaa like they say, they should target the military. They don't have to bomb civilian houses or destroy our infrastructure. There is no excuse to bomb civilians," said Sanaa-based Yemeni journalist Ahmad Algohbary.
"Children are scared of the bombing and the sound of the jets. It's difficult for them to study with the sound of Saudi jets hovering above the capital."
https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/middleeast/2018/03/yemen-skies-terror-years-war-yemen-180325085542567.html and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qhQKRXtSAM = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/videos/1691827687536921/
(* B H K)
Yemeni women reflect on war in a city ravaged by air strikes
As the war on Yemen enters its fourth year, women in Sanaa say death and destruction stalks every family.
As the conflict enters its fourth year on Monday, residents and activists told Al Jazeera the fighting has extracted a grave toll on the civilian population, with women suffering disproportionately.
"The war has humiliated women," Afaf Al-Abara, a Yemeni journalist focusing on humanitarian issues, told Al Jazeera.
"Women have been displaced, traumatised and even killed. They've been exposed to the highest forms of cruelty and targeted by both parties."
More than 18 million civilians were currently hemmed in by the fighting, with at least 10 million - a number greater than the entire population of Sweden - requiring immediate humanitarian assistance.
Getting accurate information on the death toll is difficult, but Save The Children estimated at least 50,000 children died in 2017, an average of 130 every day.
According to residents, the cost of food and fuel had skyrocketed, with soaring inflation leaving the poorest most vulnerable.
[Overview]
(* B H)
MORE THAN 21 MILLION YEMENIS LACK ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER
More than 21 million Yemeni citizens lack access to clean drinking water and need urgent assistance, 17.8 million of whom are unable to meet their food needs, Minister of Agriculture Othman Majali said on Thursday.
This comes during a speech at the fortieth session of the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Rome, noting thatabout 19.4 million people lack access to clean water and sanitation services, 9.8 million people can not access the water because of the war.
According to Saba news agency, about 8.4 million Yemenis are threatened by famine, an increase of 24% compared to the data of 2017.
He pointed out that about 14.1 million citizens live without adequate health care, in addition to the fact that at least 2.7 million people have fled their homes to other areas within Yemen or to other countries.
(* B H K P)
Amnesty International: YEMEN 2017/2018
All parties to the continuing armed conflict committed war crimes and other serious violations of international law, with inadequate accountability measures in place to ensure justice and reparation to victims. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized Yemeni government continued to bomb civilian infrastructure and carried out indiscriminate attacks, killing and injuring civilians. The Huthi-Saleh forces indiscriminately shelled civilian residential areas in Ta’iz city and fired artillery indiscriminately across the border into Saudi Arabia, killing and injuring civilians. The Yemeni government, Huthi-Saleh forces and Yemeni forces aligned to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) engaged in illegal detention practices including enforced disappearance and torture and other ill-treatment. Women and girls continued to face entrenched discrimination and other abuses, including forced and early marriage and domestic violence. The death penalty remained in force; no information was publicly available on death sentences or executions.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/yemen/report-yemen/
(* B H K)
"1- The humanitarian crisis in#Yemenis the most important story in the world,but it rarely receives the coverage that such a massive crisis ought to have.
2- Ongoing blockade by#Saudiand willingness to impose collective punishment on the civilian population.
3- suffering from the largest famine the world has seen 4 decades .
4- struggling with an acute hunger crisis that has effected at least 17M ppl ,third of them considered close to famine.
5- Diseases r spreading like a wildfire,the closure of Yemeni ports will worsen the epidemics.
6- There is a gas and fuel crisis ,people are without salaries for 18 months ,the #Saudi bombardment has really scared our children .
7- Almost daily massacres by #Saudi bombs made in#UK&#US.
8- Poor sanitation,famine,malnutrition,water crisis and etc...
9- The delay to the restoration and expansion of humanitarian access will cost the life of innocent people .
10- The only way to stop the war is if people put pressures on #UK & #US governments to stop selling arms to #Saudi and to find a sustainable peace solution. "
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/967827245212602368(thread) =https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1659463720773318
(* B H K)
Ten things you need to know about#Yemen:
1-Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
2-The number of#UK&#USmade bombs, &missiles sold to#Saudisince the start of its bloody war on Yemen has risen by 500 %.
3-There are 1.8 million acutely malnourished children.
4-The war has decimated Yemen's economy, 2 million people are displaced, 3,000 children killed and 2000 injured, 1.5 million born into war zone.
5--No electricity, no salaries, no fuel, no gas, no access to health care, no access to clean water, no jobs, and Famine.
6- 70 % of Yemeni infrastructure have been destroyed, the number of causalities is devastating, 12k civilians killed, and 21k civilians wounded.
7-The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water. In Yemen, collapsing health, water & and sanitation systems have cut off 14.5 million people from regular access to clean water and sanitation, increasing the ability of diseases to spread.
8-1085 days of : Aerial bombing, merciless war, terrorizing children, and living under siege.
9-The incalculable suffering of#Yemeni's people has been a mark of shame for humanity and the failure of world's leaders.
10- Yemeni people call for peace and humanitarian access to every woman, man & child in need.
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/974357308162695169(thread)
(** B K P)
Film: Dr Judith Brown speech at the “Yemen Media Blockout” event.
Analysis British press narrative on Saudi-led war on Yemen.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/fstwc/permalink/1863605336996267/
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Was ist Ihre Meinung?
Kommentare einblendenDiskutieren Sie mit.