... Jemeniten in Saudi Arabien: Weniger Geld für zuhause – Huthis haben 810 Häuser gesprengt – Verbesserung der Kompetenz der Behörden in Marib – Riad-Abkommen Nr. 3? – US-Kriege führten zu 37 bis 59 Millionen Flüchtlingen – und mehr
Sep. 10, 2020: UN report: Violations of human rights in Yemen – Yemen Review July–August 2020 – The Safer tanker emergency –Yemenis in Saudi Arabia: Less money for sending home – Houthis blew up 810 houses – How to improve Marib authorities’ skills – Riyadh agreement no. 3? – US war on terror caused 37 to 59 million refugees – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-678b-yemen-war-mosaic-678b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavitrus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12b Sudan
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Older introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
Neue Artikel / New articles
(* B H K P)
Yemen: The World’s Largest Humanitarian Crisis Takes a Turn for the Worse
Yemen currently faces the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation has become markedly worse.
Since 2015, Yemen has faced a humanitarian crisis of grave proportions. An estimated 24 million people, 80% of the population, need some form humanitarian assistance with the severity of needs constantly deepening. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 14.3 million people are in acute need of assistance, a figure that has increased by 27% since last year. To make matters worse, COVID-19 has entered the country at a time when the UN and many other donors have cut back on aid.
http://masspeaceaction.org/yemen-the-worlds-largest-humanitarian-crisis-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/
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Financial Interests Are Valued More than Blood of Innocents in Yemen: Activist Radhya Almutawakel
Yemeni human-rights campaigner Radhya Almutawakel on the humanitarian crisis created by global powers instigating the Yemen war
A small country of 28 million, and a brutal proxy war between regional and global powers being fought on its soil – Yemen and its people have seen the worst possible human-rights violations in the past few years and continue to face unimaginable hardship.
Even before Ansar Allah and military units loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh (the Houthis) took control of the capital Sana’a by force in September 2014, Yemen had been a hot spot of political intrigue in the Middle East.
From March 2015, things only went further downhill due to military intervention by coalition forces led by Saudi Arabia and UAE, armed by US, UK and European powers.
Radhya Almutawakel: It is important to highlight that it is not a Sunni versus Shia conflict. It is a proxy war among local powers and two regional powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran. We stand against the war as principle and against its horrible human-rights violations that are committed by all parties to the conflict.
We are documenting these violations through our field investigative research methodology all over Yemen. We publish all our reports and other publications in Arabic and English on our website Mwatana.org because we believe that information is a power and it is our responsibility to build a human-rights memory that can be used for advocacy and accountability.
We also have a team of lawyers who follow the cases of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. They provide legal support and have assisted in the release of many victims.
Mwatana is also doing a lot of advocacy work internationally and working with its international human-rights partners to protect civilians, end impunity and enhance accountability.
The role of humanitarian agencies is crucial at the moment particularly with the absence of a state that can provide people with basic services. All parties to the conflict have contributed to the worst man-made humanitarian crisis and engaged in the obstruction of humanitarian supplies, including food and nutritional supplements, which has a particularly acute impact given the millions of Yemenis already living under the threat of famine.
Mwatana has documented dozens of incidents of obstructing humanitarian access and humanitarian supplies by all of them.
Yemenis are not starving; they are being starved. All parties to the conflict – the Saudi/UAE-led coalition, Ansar Allah armed group (Houthis), the internationally recognised government and other armed groups – have violated the right to food and used starvation as a weapon of war. They have impeded and blocked humanitarian supplies including food and nutritional supplements, blocked and closed ports and airports, conducted airstrikes and shelling on food warehouses.
Besides this, many Yemenis have not been receiving their salaries for years. This is one of the things that broke the back of Yemenis. Yemenis don’t want to keep depending on humanitarian aid; they want to be able to work and feed themselves but parties to the conflict have made this normal choice very difficult.
Because of this man-made crisis, humanitarian conditions in Yemen continue to deteriorate, increasing the risk that Yemen will sink into the world’s worst famine in 100 years if the war continues.
https://eshe.in/2020/09/05/radhya-almutawakel/
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
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UN-Experten: Alle Parteien verüben Kriegsverbrechen im Jemen
Saudi-Arabien und alle anderen Parteien im Konflikt im Jemen verüben laut einer UN-Expertengruppe ungestraft Kriegsverbrechen. Es gebe "keine sauberen Hände" in dem rund sechs Jahre dauernden Konflikt, heißt es in einem am Mittwoch in Genf veröffentlichten Bericht der Expertengruppe.
Keine Partei zeige Respekt für das Völkerrecht sowie das Leben, die Würde und die Rechte der Bevölkerung, schreiben die Fachleute in ihrem dritten Report, der den Zeitraum von Juli 2019 bis Juni 2020 abdeckt. Der Sicherheitsrat der UN müsse den Fall Jemen an den Internationalen Strafgerichtshof überweisen. Die Täter müssten zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden.
Konkret beschuldigen die Experten die Luftstreitkräfte der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Militärkoalition, wahllos zivile Ziele anzugreifen und unschuldige Menschen zu töten. Auch die Huthi-Rebellen attackierten zivile Einrichtungen. Die Saudi-Militärkoalition unterstützt die Regierung in ihrem Kampf gegen die Rebellen. Gemäß den Experten werden etliche weitere Kriegsverbrechen verübt: Mord an Zivilisten, Folter, Verschleppungen, willkürliche Inhaftierungen, Vergewaltigungen und andere Formen sexueller Gewalt, Rekrutierung von Kindern unter 15 Jahren als Kindersoldaten.
Die UN stufen die Lage im Jemen als die schlimmste humanitäre Krise weltweit ein. Durch Gewalt, Hunger und Krankheiten wie Cholera starben in den vergangenen Jahren Zehntausende Menschen. Zudem breitet sich Covid-19 immer stärker im Jemen aus. Von den rund 30 Millionen Jemeniten sind laut Schätzungen mehr als 24 Millionen auf Hilfe zum Überleben angewiesen.
und auch https://www.pressreader.com/austria/der-standard/20200910/281578063071419
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UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen releases their third report Yemen: A Pandemic of Impunity in a Tortured Land
After six unremitting years of armed conflict, all parties continue to show no regard for international law or the lives, dignity, and rights of people in Yemen, according to the third report of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen, which has been released today.
The Group of Experts has released its third report, titled ‘Yemen: A Pandemic of Impunity in a Tortured Land’ on the situation of human rights in Yemen, covering the period from July 2019 to June 2020, the official version of which will be presented to the Human Rights Council in its 45th session, on 29 September 2020. Besides this report, the Group of Experts will also release a Conference Room Paper, which is a longer and more detailed document, detailing its investigations and findings. The report investigated a number of incidents during the period covered, and also took a longer temporal scope, going back to as early as the beginning of the conflict in 2014, when deemed necessary for investigations and establishing facts for some categories of the investigated violations.
In its report, the Group of Experts has established that all parties to the conflict have continued to commit a range of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, noting a consistent pattern of harm to civilians that not only occurs in the context of hostilities, but also away from the front lines.
The Group of Experts stressed that there are no clean hands in this conflict. The responsibility for violations rests with all parties to the conflict. In its findings, the report concluded that violations have been committed by the Government of Yemen, the Houthis, the Southern Transitional Council, as well as members of the Coalition, which is led by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
The verified human rights violations include arbitrary deprivation of life, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, gender-based violence, including sexual violence, torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the recruitment and use in hostilities of children, the denial of fair trial rights, violations of fundamental freedoms, and economic, social and cultural rights.
The Group of Experts has concluded that some of the airstrikes conducted by the Coalition appear to have been undertaken without proper regard to principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution to protect civilians and civilian objects. It also concluded that indiscriminate attacks have been carried out by both the Coalition and the Houthis, inflicting harm on civilians and civilian objects. It notes that disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks constitute war crimes under customary international law. The Group of Experts also investigated the effects of landmines that were unlawfully planted by the Houthis.
Moreover, the Group of Experts concluded that parties were responsible for other violations of international humanitarian law, in particular the murder of civilians, torture, cruel or inhuman treatment, rape and other forms of sexual violence, outrages upon personal dignity, denial of fair trial, and enlisting children under the age of 15 or using them to participate actively in hostilities, that may amount to war crimes.
“Yemen remains a tortured land, with its people ravaged in ways that should shock the conscience of humanity,” said Kamel Jendoubi, the Chairperson of the Group of Experts.
The Group of Experts reiterated the urgency for the parties to reach a comprehensive ceasefire and achieve a sustainable and inclusive peace, urging the parties to immediately take steps to cease the ongoing violations and prevent new ones. The Group also stressed that all measures should be taken, by the parties as well as by the international community, to ensure accountability for perpetrators of the violations committed in Yemen, and the realization of victims’ rights to reparations.
amel Jendoubi said “the international community has a responsibility to put an end to this pandemic of impunity, and should not turn a blind eye to the gross violations that have been committed in Yemen. After years of documenting the terrible toll of this war, no one can say ‘we did not know what was happening in Yemen’. Accountability is key to ensure that justice is served to the people of Yemen and to humanity.”
he Group of Experts expressed concern about the continued transfer of arms by third States to the parties of the conflict. Chairperson Kamel Jendoubi stated that “the continued supply of weapons to parties to the conflict is only perpetuating the conflict and prolonging the suffering of the Yemeni people.”
he report urged the Human Rights Council to ensure that the situation of human rights in Yemen remains on its agenda by renewing the mandate of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts; and ensuring that the resources provided to the Group allow for the effective delivery of its mandate including collecting, preserving and analysing information related to violations and crimes. The Group of Experts further suggested that the Security Council integrate the human rights dimensions of the conflict in Yemen more fully into its agenda; and ensure there is no impunity for the most serious crimes by, inter alia, referring the situation in Yemen to the International Criminal Court, and expanding the list of persons subject to Security Council sanctions.
Kemal Jendoubi stated, “In referring the situation in Yemen to the International Criminal Court, and in expanding the persons subject to sanctions, the UN Security Council would send a powerful message to the conflicting parties that there will be no impunity for serious violations of human rights.”
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26218&LangID=E
Full report: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/GEE-Yemen/2020-09-09-report.pdf
Film of press conferernce: http://webtv.un.org/%D8%9B/watch/group-of-eminent-experts-on-yemen-press-conference-launch-of-human-rights-report-geneva-9-september-2019/6189124144001/?term=
Short surveys: https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1072012
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemen-coalition-likely-committed-war-crimes-experts/1967864
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-war-us-uk-france-iran-arms-transfers
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Geistertanker vor Jemens Küste: Im Roten Meer tickt eine Zeitbombe
Seit Beginn des Bürgerkrieges erlebt der Jemen menschliches und wirtschaftliches Elend - nun könnte es noch schlimmer kommen. Ein Tanker vor der Küste droht zu sinken. Doch die Kriegsparteien streiten ums Öl, statt die Katastrophe zu verhindern.
Mitten im Roten Meer, etwa 60 Kilometer nördlich der jemenitischen Stadt Al-Hudaida, spielt sich unter dem öffentlichen Radar ein Umweltdrama ab: Seit Jahren rostet dort die "Safer" vor sich hin - ein jemenitischer Tanker, der 2015 von den Huthi-Rebellen gekapert wurde. Mehr als eine Million Barrel Rohöl liegen seither im Bauch des Schiffes. Das Öl sollte eigentlich exportiert werden. Doch dann kam der Bürgerkrieg. Nun könnte es zur Bedrohung für die gesamte Region werden, denn die 45 Jahre alte "Safer" droht zu sinken. Mehrere Lecks soll das Schiff nach Angaben der Vereinten Nationen (UN) mittlerweile gehabt haben. Ende Mai lief Meerwasser auch in den Maschinenraum. Die Reparatur erfolgte eher provisorisch. Und jederzeit kann ein neuer Defekt auftreten. Denn gewartet wird die "Safer" nicht.
Umweltexperten warnen eindringlich vor den ökologischen und humanitären Folgen, die eine Ölpest für die gesamte Region haben könnte.
Auch deshalb versuchen die Vereinten Nationen seit einem Jahr, ein Expertenteam an Bord der "Safer" zu schicken, um notwendige Reparaturen vorzunehmen. Doch die Huthis sperren sich. Sie wollen die Kontrolle über den Tanker - aber vor allem über seine Ladung - nicht abgeben. Denn der Verkauf würde ihnen viel Geld in die Kriegskasse spülen. Schätzungsweise 40 Millionen Dollar - rund 34 Millionen Euro - ist das Öl wert. Den Vorschlag der UN, das Öl zunächst abzupumpen, dann zu verkaufen und die Summe zu gleichen Teilen an die Huthis und Jemens Regierung auszuzahlen, lehnen die Rebellen ab. Sie erheben den alleinigen Anspruch auf das Öl. Und damit auch auf die Erlöse aus dem Verkauf.
Nach Ansicht von Greenpeace ist die Gefahr aber allein durch ein paar Reparaturen nicht gebannt. "Dieser Tanker ist komplett veraltet und überhaupt nicht auf dem Stand der Technik", sagt Chemie-Experte Santen – von Judith Görs
https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Im-Roten-Meer-tickt-eine-Zeitbombe-article22022830.html
(** B E H K P)
Hostage on the Red Sea – The Yemen Review Summer Edition, July-August 2020
The Sana’a Center Editorial: FSO Safer: Why Are We Still Waiting?
The devastating explosion at the port of Beirut, Lebanon, in August should instill a sense of urgency among all stakeholders in Yemen regarding the gigantic floating bomb just offshore of Hudaydah governorate, officially known as the FSO Safer oil terminal. Like the thousands of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate that had been stuffed into a warehouse at the east end of the Mediterranean in 2013 and silently loomed as a threat against the Lebanese capital for more than six years, the estimated 1.15 million barrels of crude aboard the derelict Red Sea oil terminal, 7.5 kilometers offshore of Ras Issa, have been left unattended for more than five years. During that time, seawater has leaked into the vessel while highly combustible off-gases have likely built up in the holding chamber, risking explosion and an oil spill of historic proportions.
Should the vessel rupture and large amounts of oil spill into the sea, there would be wide-ranging and interrelated environmental, economic and humanitarian impacts. Immediately at risk would be the Red Sea’s 2,000-kilometer-long coral reef system, one of the most significant in the world and home to an estimated 1,100 fish species. This ecosystem feeds and provides livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of Yemenis, through fishing and related activities. In the event of an explosion and the crude catching fire, the westerly winds could expose millions inland to toxic fumes. An oil slick could also force the closure of Hudaydah and Saleef ports along Yemen’s western coast roughly 50 kilometers from where the FSO Safer is moored, with these ports serving as the entry point for most of the country’s commercial and humanitarian imports, representing a lifeline for millions of people. Meanwhile, the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the south end of the Red Sea is the gateway between the Indian Ocean and Europe and one of the busiest waterways in the world, meaning the impacts of an FSO Safer disaster would likely spread far beyond the region, given the potential disruption of global trade.
It is the enormous scale of what is at risk that has created such a valuable hostage for the armed Houthi movement. The hostage game is one the Houthis have refined during the ongoing conflict, having used the threat of denying aid agencies access to populations at risk of famine as leverage to silence those agencies while they pillaged vast sums of money and supplies from the relief effort. With the FSO Safer, well within range of Houthi artillery onshore, the group controls access to the vessel – control that repeatedly has allowed its leadership to rebuff United Nations’ efforts to carry out even a status assessment of the oil terminal. The seriousness of the threat, and the Houthis’ intentional delays in having the situation addressed, have raised it to the highest levels of policy making in the world, including discussions at the UN Security Council. This, however, has only reinforced the Houthi leadership’s belief that the oil terminal is a card they can leverage for concessions in other matters during any prospective negotiations regarding the wider armed conflict.
As recently as August, the group reneged on a commitment to allow UN inspectors onboard. In a subsequent media interview, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a senior figure in the group, explained that they had denied the inspectors access because the UN did not agree to a list of Houthi conditions. These included a demand that the inspectors should be accompanied by personnel and equipment to carry out any needed repairs there and then. In reality, the Houthis are paranoid that the outcome of the assessment has already been predetermined and will call for the removal of the oil from the terminal. For its part, the UN, while it agreed to carry out any light repairs that were immediately possible, could not agree to the Houthi conditions, given that major fixes to the vessel are likely necessary and the UN would need to know the type and extent of these repairs before it could even issue the tender to carry out the work.
Additionally, given the age of the FSO Safer – originally a single-hulled oil tanker built in 1976 and retrofitted for the Yemeni government in the mid-1980s to be a “Floating Storage and Offloading” terminal – and the length of time it has gone without maintenance, safely securing the crude onboard is likely impossible. What to do with the revenues from selling the oil were it removed, however, has also been a sticking point. The Houthis’ principal rival in the ongoing war, the internationally recognized Yemeni government, still officially owns the oil terminal and the crude in its bowels. Various estimates had pegged it at between US$50 million and US$80 million in value, which inspired bickering between the warring parties over what to do with the money and scuttled previous UN-led attempts to broker a deal regarding the oil terminal. However, time has almost certainly degraded the crude, which in concert with slumping global oil prices would mean its value today would be only a fraction of previous estimates.
Contents
Refocused Attention on Potential FSO Safer Oil Terminal Disaster
The Struggle for the South Continues
New Aden Governor and Security Chief Appointed
The STC, Citing Govt Intransigence, Pulls Out of Implementation Talks
On the Yemeni Government-STC Frontlines
Commentary: The Yemeni Government’s Triangle of Power
Other Political Developments in Brief
In Focus: The Yemeni Rial’s Widening Exchange Rate Disparity Between Sana’a and Aden
Economic Uncertainty in the South Complicates Govt-STC Standoff
Yemeni Banks in Aden Face Increased Intimidation
Fuel Standoff in Hudayah Eases
Long-Running Ponzi Scheme Defrauds Hundreds of Thousands of Yemeni Investors
Military and Security Developments
Commander of Saudi-Led Coalition Forces in Yemen Dismissed for Alleged Corruption
Taiz Infighting: Pro-Islah Forces Put Down Challenges from Within Restive 35th
Al-Mahra Tribesmen Clash with Saudi Forces
Al-Qaeda and Islamic State Developments
Fighting Continues in Hudaydah, Al-Dhalea, Lahj
Humanitarian and Human Rights Developments
Amid Lack of Hard Data, Expected COVID-19 Surge Not Shown by Indicators
Deadly Flooding Wrecks Homes, Communities Across Yemen
Other Humanitarian and Human Rights Developments in Brief
In Focus: Yemenis in Saudi Arabia Have Less Money to Send Home, More Pressure to Leave
Regional Developments in Brief
Democratic Party Pledges to Pull US Support from Saudi-led Coalition
Senate and House Try Again to Limit US Assistance to the Coalition
Other Developments in the United States in Brief
Commentary: The United States in a World Without Friends
UN Envoy Faces Deadlock in Search for a Nationwide Cease-Fire
Other Developments at the United Nations in Brief
European Developments in Brief
Developments in Yemen
Hostage on the Red Sea: Refocused Attention on Potential FSO Safer Oil Terminal Disaster
Focus on the threat of an environmental disaster related to the FSO Safer, the decrepit oil terminal offshore of Yemen’s west coast, increased for the United Nations and other stakeholders in Yemen in the first six months of 2020 and continued to sharpen through July and August. International attention was raised earlier in the year with United Nation Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2511 in February calling for UN officials to be given access to “inspect and maintain” the 45-year-old oil terminal which, with more than 1.1 million barrels of crude on board, has gone with almost no maintenance since 2015. Yemen’s armed Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, controls access to the FSO Safer – the terminal being within range of its artillery onshore – and it has repeatedly blocked UN attempts to inspect it.
In March, the governments of Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen followed up with a joint letter to the UNSC calling for an “immediate solution” to prevent the “widespread environmental damage, a humanitarian disaster and the disruption of maritime commerce” that an explosion or spill would cause. This warning gained urgency in June following a report by The Associated Press that seawater had damaged ship pipelines and increased the risk of the vessel sinking. A diving team was dispatched in June by Safer, Yemen’s national oil company, to seal holes in the ship where seawater was leaking in, though it was unclear how long the patchwork solution would hold.[1]
On July 12, AFP reported that the Houthis had agreed to allow a UN assessment and repair team to access the tanker.[2] Three days later UNSC held its monthly meeting on Yemen with the sole topic of discussion being the FSO Safer. UN humanitarian affairs chief Mark Lowcock said the UN mission to the tanker would hopefully take place in the coming weeks. “We have, of course, been here before,” he noted, referring to August 2019 when the Houthi movement had made similar promises before canceling permission for the UN mission to board the vessel.[3]
Lowcock’s skepticism was warranted
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/the-yemen-review/11477
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Yemenis in Saudi Arabia: Less Money to Send Home, More Pressure to Leave
Yemeni workers in Saudi Arabia have long been used to making trade-offs to save money and send remittances that support their families in Yemen and prop up their country’s underdeveloped economy. But 10 Yemenis who live and work in the kingdom — in Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif and Dammam — spoke in interviews with the Sana’a Center during the kingdom’s coronavirus crisis about how pressures have piled up in recent years and months. They spoke about the struggle to pay for the rising costs of permits and expenses, the elimination of available jobs under Saudization policies, about dodging crackdowns on foreign workers that sometimes sweep up legal residents along with those residing in the country illegally and, most recently, about worries that COVID-19 measures and fallout will put them out of work and leave their families back home without financial support. All asked that their names not be used out of concern that speaking openly could jeopardize their work or stay in Saudi Arabia.
Earning in Saudi riyals provides a degree of financial security that local employment in Yemen, where the Yemeni rial has lost more than two-thirds of its value since 2015, cannot. At the same time, prices in Yemen are unstable, rising as warring parties struggle for economic advantages, seeking to control key imports and monetary policy.[2] As the fabric retailer said he reminds himself each day, the exchange rate from Saudi riyals to Yemeni rials is good — and makes trying to ride out the hardships, even as they multiply, worth it: “We for sure know that prices have risen in Yemen, but it’s still good for us.”
Nearly six years of war in Yemen has resulted in countrywide economic collapse, as indicated by an estimated 45 percent cumulative loss in real gross domestic product from 2015 to 2019.[3] Consequently, millions in Yemen count on remittances wired from Yemenis working in Saudi Arabia and other countries. With many of these remittances handled outside the formal banking system, precise figures are uncertain. In February 2020, Mohammed al-Adil, Yemen’s deputy minister of expatriates, valued annual remittances at US$8 billion and said expatriates support half of Yemen’s population. With remittances a key external factor in mitigating economic collapse, the subject is an essential consideration in Yemeni relations with Gulf Arab countries that host large numbers of Yemeni expat laborers. Al-Adil said then that of the 7 million Yemenis scattered among 50 countries, more than 2 million live in Saudi Arabia.[4] The World Bank has estimated remittances have largely held steady since 2016 at $3.77 billion a year,[5] of which 61 percent — or $2.3 billion annually — are sent from Saudi Arabia and 29 percent ($1.1 billion) from other Gulf Arab countries, particularly the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.[6]
Beyond supporting individual families, these billions are the primary source of foreign currency in the local market since large-scale oil exports were halted in 2015, making them vital for financing imports — such as food and other essentials — and mitigating downward pressure on the Yemeni rial.[7] Substantial losses in remittances could be devastating – by Ali Al-Dailami
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/11448
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Report: Houthis blew up 810 houses across 17 provinces
A new human rights report by the Civil Organization of Victims to Damaged Houses, said on Sunday that the Houthis have blown up 810 houses in 17 provinces since they rebelled against the government in late 2014.
Executive Officer of the organization, Khadija Ali, said that the Iran-backed Houthis militia continue implementation of their criminal approach by detonating houses.
The latest incident of chains of blowing up houses was the Friday’s explosion of three houses in Al-Zoob village of Al-Qariysha district of Al-Baid province, central Yemen and other several houses in Wadi Al-Dhaiq, west of Marib Province.
Taiz came on top list of provinces that witnessed blowing up of houses whereby 149 houses were reported have been blown up by the Houthis militants, according to the report.
The Houthis were also blamed for blowing up 124 houses in Al-Baida province, the report said.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-41824
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Improving Marib Authorities’ Skills, Capacities to Meet IDP Influx
With the Yemen war in its sixth year, the situation of public institutions in each governorate has changed in various ways. Marib governorate has become a destination for tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at a time from other areas, with the increase in population impacting the provision of public services. Marib also has become the site of some central government offices, which, like the families who have fled front-line areas, moved to the governorate because of its relative stability during most of the conflict.
In general, Marib has withstood the war better than other parts of the country, finding relative prosperity in its natural resources and its ability to secure claim to some of the revenues they provide that previously had gone to the central government. These revenues have helped Marib accommodate the 2 million to 3 million IDPs who have spent time in the governorate since 2014, according to the Central Statistical Organization in the governorate.[1] There are 126 IDP camps in Marib; the largest, Al-Juafainah camp in Marib city, houses more than 6,000 families.[2] Marib’s pre-war population was believed to be about 313,000 people.[3]
Structural adaptations and measures to develop the skills and capacities of employees of the governorate’s executive offices are needed to keep up with the needs of residents — permanent or transitory — as they arise. Such improvements are constrained, however, by the government budget, which has not changed since 2014 and does not include money for new hires in the civil service. Furthermore, most financial authority relating to the management of resources officially remains in the hands of the weak central authority. As a result, governorate- and district-level authorities and agencies have initiated some workarounds, but remain ill-equipped to function efficiently.
This study aims to provide a better understanding of the human resources currently available, their skills and capacities. It also considers the relationship between and designated roles of the local and central authorities. Information was gathered through field visits and interviews in February and March 2020 with members of local councils and public service employees at the governorate and district levels.
The author, a management development consultant, was hired by the Director General of the Civil Service Office to conduct training seminars in February and March 2020 with Marib’s general managers and executive offices. General managers and executive office employees spoke frankly about the challenges they face institutionally and in terms of trying to meet the needs of their communities, both permanent and temporary. Those interactions shaped the conclusions and recommendations outlined in this paper – by Saad Hizam Ali
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/main-publications/11466
(** B P)
Saudi Arabia plans Riyadh agreement 3 for Yemen
Saudi pressure is mounting on Yemen's president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi to accept the formation of a new government before implementing the military and security part of a Saudi-proposed mechanism for accelerating the Riyadh agreement between Hadi's government and the UAE-backed southern transitional council.
Hadi is annoyed with the way the mechanism is being implemented, a source at the presidency office said.
Saudi efforts have failed to deliver a breakthrough on tensions between the government and the STC in south Yemen.
The mechanism to accelerate the Riyadh agreement was announced in June, eight months after the two sides signed the agreement. It called for a ceasefire in Abyan province, pulling forces out of cities and forming a power-sharing government including the STC. The situation on the ground is still tense and sporadic clashes in Abyan are continuing.
Though prime minister Maeen Abdulmalik, who is tasked with forming the new government, has held what he called productive talks with all factions over the issue, there are no signs of progress. The timeframe for forming the government expired a week ago.
A source familiar with the talks has ruled out that a breakthrough would be made soon.
Long discussions have been focused on proposals to integrate ministries in order to form a small government of 24 portfolios, the source told Debriefer, adding that the discussions have not dealt with naming ministries or quotas.
The source, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it is very complicated because of the wide gap between the views of the government and the STC, especially over the importance of implementing the military and security part first. A deadlock is more likely to occur, the source added.
Meanwhile, the council, with UAE instructions, insists on forming the government and refuses to implement the military and security part of the mechanism, an attitude which pro-government factions considers as circumnavigation of the agreement. The STC's attitude opens the door for more complications amidst the unclear Saudi position towards what is happening.
Observers however argued that the Saudi position is clear but Saudi Arabia is working with its UAE partners to serve their special interests away from the objectives of their pro-government coalition. Saudi Arabia has been leading a military coalition against the Houthis since March 2015.
Jamal A-Baydani, a political activist, said Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been planning since the end of 2019 to weaken the government in order to share the legacy of the sick man through their proxies in Yemen.
There are no sincere intentions to implement the Riyadh agreement one, and the Riyadh agreement two which is the mechanism to accelerate the agreement, Al-Baydani said.
Saudi Arabia will focus in the coming period on putting more pressure on president Hadi and his government to make new concessions and then accept to sign a third Riyadh agreement under new circumstances, he said.
The only part of the mechanism which has been implemented was that the council rescinded self-rule of the south and Hadi appointed a new governor and police chief for Aden.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19685.html
(** B K P)
Brown University: US-Kriege haben seit 2001 bis zu 59 Mio. Menschen zu Flüchtlingen gemacht
Es gibt Meldungen, die sind schlimmer, als man es sich gedacht hat. Eine US-Universität hat die Folgen der US-Kriege seit 2001 analysiert und ist zu schockierenden Ergebnissen gekommen, über die die deutschen „Qualitätsmedien“ – wenig überraschend – nicht berichten.
Die Studie der Brown University aus Rhode Island, USA, erschien unter dem Titel „Flüchtlinge erschaffen: Vertriebene aufgrund der amerikanischen Post-9/11-Kriege“ und die dort genannten Zahlen sind schlicht schockierend. Ich will die in meinen Augen wichtigsten Zahlen und Angaben aufzeigen, lade aber jeden ausdrücklich ein, sich die Studie selbst anzuschauen, denn ich kann hier nur einen kleinen Überblick geben.
Gleich am Anfang werden die wichtigsten Erkenntnisse so zusammengefasst (Hervorhebungen wie im Original):
Die Kriege der USA nach 9/11 haben mindestens 37 Millionen Menschen in und aus Afghanistan, Irak, Pakistan, Jemen, Somalia, Philippinen, Libyen und Syrien vertrieben. Das übertrifft die Zahl Vertriebenen aller Kriege seit 1900, mit Ausnahme des Zweiten Weltkriegs.
Millionen weitere wurden durch andere Konflikte nach 9/11 unter Beteiligung von US-Truppen unter anderem in Burkina Faso, Kamerun, Zentralafrika, Republik, Tschad, Demokratische Republik Kongo, Mali, Niger, Saudi-Arabien und Tunesien zu Vertriebenen.
Die 37 Millionen sind eine sehr konservative Schätzung. Die Gesamtzahl der durch die USA nach 9/11 in Kriegen Vertriebenen könnte eher bei 48 bis 59 Millionen liegen.
25,3 Millionen Menschen sind nach ihrer Vertreibung zurückgekehrt, obwohl das nicht das Trauma der Vertreibung behebt oder bedeutet, dass die Vertriebenen in ihre ursprüngliche Heimat oder in ein sicheres Leben zurückgekehrt sind.
Keine Zahl kann etwas über die Schäden von Vertreibung vermitteln. Die Menschen hinter den Zahlen sind nur schwer zu erkennen und Zahlen können nicht vermitteln, wie es sich anfühlen muss, sein Zuhause, sein Hab und Gut, sein soziales Umfeld und vieles mehr zu verlieren. Die Vertreibung hat Einzelpersonen, Familien, Dörfern, Städten, Regionen und ganzen Ländern nicht-zählbares physisches, soziales, emotionales und wirtschaftliches Leid zugefügt.
Man beachte das: Kein anderes Land der Welt hat nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg so viel Unglück über Dutzende Millionen von Menschen gebracht, wie die USA in den letzten 20 Jahren.
https://linkezeitung.de/2020/09/09/brown-university-us-kriege-haben-seit-2001-bis-zu-59-mio-menschen-zu-fluechtlingen-gemacht/ = https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/2020/brown-university-us-kriege-haben-seit-2001-bis-zu-59-mio-menschen-zu-fluechtlingen-gemacht/
und auch
(** B H K P)
Creating Refugees: Displacement Caused by the United States’ Post-9/11 Wars
Since President George W. Bush announced a “global war on terror” following Al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the U.S. military has engaged in combat around the world. As in past conflicts, the United States’ post-9/11 wars have resulted in mass population displacements. This report is the first to measure comprehensively how many people these wars have displaced. Using the best available international data, this report conservatively estimates that at least 37 million people have fled their homes in the eight most violent wars the U.S. military has launched or participated in since 2001. The report details a methodology for calculating wartime displacement, provides an overview of displacement in each war-affected country, and points to displacement’s individual and societal impacts.
Wartime displacement (alongside war deaths and injuries) must be central to any analysis of the post-9/11 wars and their short- and long-term consequences. Displacement also must be central to any possible consideration of the future use of military force by the United States or others. Ultimately, displacing 37 million—and perhaps as many as 59 million—raises the question of who bears responsibility for repairing the damage inflicted on those displaced.
MAJOR FINDINGS
The U.S. post-9/11 wars have forcibly displaced at least 37 million people in and from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Libya, and Syria. This exceeds those displaced by every war since 1900, except World War II.
Millions more have been displaced by other post-9/11 conflicts involving U.S. troops in smaller combat operations, including in: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Niger, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia.
37 million is a very conservative estimate. The total displaced by the U.S. post-9/11 wars could be closer to 48–59 million.
25.3 million people have returned after being displaced, although return does not erase the trauma of displacement or mean that those displaced have returned to their original homes or to a secure life.
Any number is limited in what it can convey about displacement’s damage. The people behind the numbers can be difficult to see, and numbers cannot communicate how it might feel to lose one’s home, belongings, community, and much more. Displacement has caused incalculable harm to individuals, families, towns, cities, regions, and entire countries physically, socially, emotionally, and economically
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
(A H)
5 new cases of coronavirus reported, 1,999 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26044
(B H)
COVID-19 Movement Restrictions: Yemen Mobility Restriction Dashboard #11 (09 September 2020)
From 26 August to 08 Sep
73 new cases – 18 new deaths ~source (https://covid19.who.int/region/emro/country/ye)
Updates on numbers of new cases in areas controlled by Sana’a DFA are not available.
280 new migrants arrived to southern governorates (Shabwah and Lahj) in addition to 187 Yemeni returns from Saudi Arabia.
No IDP HH displaced due to COVID-19 fear during the reporting period (26th Aug to 07th Sep). Hence, so far the total number of households who have cited COVID-19 as the primary reason for displacement is 1,545 households (within Aden. Lahj, Al Dhale’e, Taiz, Marib, and Abyan governorate).
Stranded migrants: Around 3,089 Ethiopian stranded migrants were identified in southern governorates since the beginning of April till date.
Mobility Restrictions
In response to COVID-19 pandemic, local authorities of Yemen (Ye) declared a nationwide health emergency and introduced many preventive and mitigation measures adopted by rest of the world starting in March 2020 in order to avoid and reduce the transmission of COVID-19. These measures include the adoption of restrictions on movement countrywide, by fully closure or partially functioning of 5 International airports. Lately, 3 of 5 International airports were opened to facilitate return of stranded Yemenis in abroad and humanitarian staff. 2 of these 3 airports, 15 sea border points, and 3 land border points are partially open for movements. There have been 10 transit points for public movements between southern and northern governorates.
(B H)
Seven UN employees die from COVID-19 in Houthi-held areas
Informed sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that seven employees at United Nations agencies in Yemen have died from the novel coronavirus.
Three sources from UN offices said that two workers at an agency in the Saada province passed away from the disease. They had been transported to Sanaa for treatment, but doctors there could not save them.
Three other workers, stationed in Sanaa, also died. They included a driver and a doctor.
Two other UN agency employees in the central Ibb province also succumbed to COVID-19.
Ibb had emerged as the second cluster for the virus. The first is the capital Sanaa, which is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militias.
Another source said dozens of UN agency employees have contracted the virus.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26045
(B H)
Yemen: COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Monthly Report (August 2020)
Health partners remain concerned that under-reporting continues for various reasons and that the official epi-curve underestimates the extent of COVID-19 in Yemen. Precuationary measures have been eased though reports indicate that the virus is still spreading and many people continue to die of COVID-19-like symptoms.
Other factors that have had a negative impact on the COVID-19 response include a lack of adaptive behaviour by the population to reduce transmission, severe funding shortages for health workers and personal protective equipment (PPE) and long delays in importing COVID-19 response supplies. In order to pivot and improve the response, in August partners began working towards increasing surveillance; deploying dedicated COVID-19 staff within agencies; tracking the impact of the virus on routine priority health programmes; refining messaging to encourage behavioural change; and boosting intensive care unite capacity.
(* B H P)
Ganz auf sich allein gestellt: Der Jemen im Angesicht von Corona
Seit Ende März sind die Nachrichten über Tote im Zusammenhang mit der COVID-19-Pandemie ein ständiger Begleiter unseres Lebens. Mit täglich zunehmender Frequenz ertönen Koranrezitationen aus den Lautsprechern der Moscheen unseres bescheidenen Wohnviertels in Sanaa. Dann wissen wir, dass es neue Todesfälle im Umkreis der jeweiligen Moschee gegeben hat.
Zu all den Todesmeldungen infolge des Krieges ist nun die um sich greifende Corona-Pandemie als weiterer tagtäglicher Schrecken hinzugekommen und hält uns alle in Atem. Die sozialen Netzwerke im Jemen sind zu täglichen Schaufenstern des Sterbens geworden. In hunderten von Posts werden Freund*innen, Verwandte, Mitbürger*innen betrauert, die am Corona-Virus gestorben sind, manchmal ohne dass die Todesursache explizit genannt wird. Die Kriegsmachthaber begnügen sich damit, die Bürger*innen zum Händewaschen mit Wasser und Seife aufzurufen, während die meisten Jemenit*innen nicht wissen, wie sie über den nächsten Tag kommen sollen.
Diese Zahlen machen deutlich: Die Corona-Sterberate im Jemen ist eine der höchsten der Welt. Von 20 Prozent aller landesweit bestätigten Fälle in den ersten Monaten der Pandemie ist sie inzwischen auf 25 Prozent geklettert und liegt damit weit über dem weltweiten Durchschnitt von 7 Prozent (gemäß UN-Angaben). Daran lässt sich gut der kausale Zusammenhang zwischen dem ökonomisch-sozialen Verfall des Landes und einem geschwächten Immunsystem seiner Bewohner*innen festmachen — mit der Folge einer stark erhöhten Mortalität. Auch spiegelt sich darin die düstere Realität des jemenitischen Gesundheitswesens wider. Unter den bestätigten Todesfällen sind sämtliche Altersgruppen vertreten, und es sind auch viele ansonsten gesunde Personen darunter, nicht nur solche mit chronischen Vorerkrankungen. Das heißt, dass die Mehrheit der Jemenit*innen potentielle Todesopfer des Virus sind. Noch dramatischer wird das ganze durch die Tatsache, dass die bestätigten Zahlen der aktuell Infizierten, der Verstorbenen und der Genesenen nicht die wirkliche Ausbreitung des Corona-Virus im Jemen offenbaren. Laut einer Analyse der Todes- und Erkrankungsfälle in einzelnen Regionen des Landes könnten diese bis zu zehnmal so hoch sein wie die bestätigten Zahlen, denn die Kriegsmachthaber verschleiern die wahren Zahlen der an Corona Erkrankten und Verstorbenen in den von ihnen kontrollierten Territorien.
Die Kartografie der Ausbreitung des Corona-Virus im Jemen spiegelt die derzeitige Grenzziehung zwischen den Herrschaftsterritorien sowie militärische Frontverläufe wider. Zwar managen die Kriegsmachthaber in den von ihnen kontrollierten Gebieten die Corona-Krise auf jeweils unterschiedliche Weise. Doch eint sie die Tatsache, dass sie allesamt Missmanagement betreiben und sich jeder Verantwortung für den Schutz der Bevölkerung entziehen. Ihre Politik hat mit dazu beigetragen, dass sich die Pandemie von den großen Städten in die abgelegenen ländlichen Regionen verbreiten konnte, die zuvor relativ verschont geblieben waren. Ferner hat die Untätigkeit der Kriegsmachthaber beim Lösen der drängenden ökonomischen Probleme, unter denen die Menschen im Jemen leben müssen, dazu geführt, dass die Bürger*innen nicht in der Lage sind, selbst für Alternativen zu sorgen, um sich gegen die Pandemie zu schützen.
Durch die Abwesenheit einer gesamtjemenitischen politischen Autorität, eines Staates, der seiner Aufgabe nachkäme, die Jemenit*innen zu schützen, sind die Menschen der Corona-Pandemie hilflos ausgeliefert, welche nach Schätzungen der WHO möglicherweise bis zu 16 Millionen Jemenit*innen treffen könnte – von Bushra Al-Maktari
Mein Kommentar: Dieser Text ist wahrscheinlich schon etwas älter.
(B H)
Yemen _COVID-19 Mobility Restrictions 08 Sep 2020
From 26 August to 08 Sep
• 73 new cases – 18 new deaths ~source (https://covid19.who.int/region/emro/country/ye)
Updates on numbers of new cases in areas controlled by Sana’a DFA are not available.
280 new migrants arrived to southern governorates (Shabwah and Lahj) in addition to 187 Yemeni returns from Saudi Arabia.
No IDP HH displaced due to COVID-19 fear during the reporting period (26th Aug to 07th Sep). Hence, so far the total number of households who have cited COVID-19 as the primary reason for displacement is 1,545 households (within Aden. Lahj, Al Dhale’e, Taiz, Marib, and Abyan governorate).
Stranded migrants: Around 3,089 Ethiopian stranded migrants were identified in southern governorates since the beginning of April till date.
https://migration.iom.int/reports/yemen-covid-19-mobility-restrictions-08-sep-2020
(A H)
5 new cases of coronavirus reported, 1,994 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26037
(A H)
2 new cases of coronavirus reported, 1,989 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26026
(* B H)
Yemen struggles to deal with coronavirus outbreak
It's been nearly 6 months since coronavirus spread to Yemen. The BBC is the first international broadcaster to reach the country since it arrived to see how the country is dealing with the pandemic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnbF6QLWO9I = https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-54034803
(A H)
Kuwait opens Covid-19 field hospital in Hadhramaut
https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2920390&language=en
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/26022
(A H)
4 new cases of coronavirus reported, 1,987 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26020
(A H)
For the first time since April, no new #coronavirus cases recorded today in #Yemen
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1302332721256116225
(A H)
4 new cases of coronavirus reported, 1,983 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26000
(A H)
The Syndicate of Yemeni Doctors and Pharmacists: The doctor Abeer Al-Aghbari, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of #Taiz, is the 60th martyr of health staff who confront #coronavirus.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1301977518673715204
(* B H)
WHO: Cholera Claims the Lives of 47 Yemenis
More than 165,000 cholera cases were reported in Yemen with 47 deaths during the first seven months of 2020, the World Health Organization announced in a post published on its Twitter page.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=14856
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
Latest updates on Yemen, 9 September 2020 (map)
https://english.iswnews.com/15176/latest-updates-on-yemen-9-september-2020/
Sep. 9: Map Update: HOUTHI DRONES STRIKES AIRFIELD IN SOUTHERN SAUDI ARABIA
https://southfront.org/houthi-drones-strikes-airfield-in-southern-saudi-arabia/
sep. 5: MAP UPDATE: SAUDI-LED FORCES RETREAT FROM MORE AREAS IN YEMEN’S BAYDHA, MARIB
https://southfront.org/map-update-saudi-led-forces-retreat-from-more-areas-in-yemens-baydha-marib/
(* B H K P)
Violence alone cannot explain Yemen and Syria plights
The recent decade has witnessed unprecedented waves of violence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly in the Arab Spring countries. Erupted violence in these countries is characterised not only by violence against civilians and massive destruction of infrastructure, but also by the fragmentation of the sovereignty and legitimacy of the pre-existing administrations. Central governments have been replaced by non-state entities and warlords, who have taken over wide territories within the boundaries of the crumbling states. However, the emerging proto-states have not been officially recognised by the international community, making them less eligible to leverage the international humanitarian support.
Humanitarian partners are not always able to dig deep before drawing operational strategies, especially when the situation is as complex as it is in the Middle Eastern civil wars. Besides violence, there have been little academic efforts to analyse the other institutional factors which play a fundamental role in featuring these crises, such as poor leadership and governance, fragmented and politicised public institutions, economic decline, systemic corruption, and the involvement of regional and international players.
It is true that the ongoing violence has exacerbated the pre-existing vulnerabilities and fragilities in Yemen and Syria, however violence alone cannot explain all political, social, economic and humanitarian devastations. In Yemen, areas still relatively untouched by active warfare acutely lack adequate services, delivery mechanisms, and resources necessary to safeguard the public good. So-called “reconciliation agreements” in Syria could have succeeded to end violence and siege in many areas such as Douma, but in the subsequent years, these areas are still suffering critical shortages of essential resources and basic services.
Civil wars in Yemen and Syria provide important “in-vivo” platforms to analyse not only the impact of violence but also other institutional factors, and to better understand how they contribute together to shaping the extraordinary plights. Despite the fact that military operations have significantly declined in many areas in Yemen and Syria, the vulnerability and fragility are constantly and steadily intensifying. Additionally, violence has driven military attacks on health facilities and personnel, but it cannot alone explain the exodus of the healthcare workforce. In the same context, violence cannot explain why the health authorities in both countries are still so reluctant to share the real figures of COVID-19 related deaths.
While violence is still in the center of our focus, it is important to begin investigating the complex humanitarian situation from different perspectives, and accept the simple idea that the traditional approaches – including the UN mandate – are ineffective in at least some modern conflicts. It is an absolute necessity to develop resilient and comprehensive mechanisms to face the unpredictable interactions between all these factors.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2020/09/09/violence-alone-cannot-explain-yemen-and-syria-plights/
(B P)
Corruption … Another Face Of Saudi-Led Military Aggression Against Yemen
Corruption represents one of the main dilemmas in halting a development process in Yemen. It is similar the Saudi-led military aggression coalition against Yemen that has been carrying out airstrikes and committing war crimes since 2015.
The brutality of aggression and corruption affected the country and its institutions. Moreover, both of them hinder the wheel of development and stand as a stumbling block to any efforts to advance the realities of development and modernization.
Corruption has become a very serious social disaster everywhere it settles. The president of the Supreme Political Council said in his speech during his meeting with officials of the regulatory bodies recently that anything contrary to the nature of the human being is considered corruption and everything that is contrary to what Allah wants for the good of society is also corruption.
Today, the Republic of Yemen faces a major dilemma, which is represented by this corruption that undermines state institutions and obstructs all efforts to move forward in building and developing a modernization plan and building a modern state of Yemen.
Its danger is no less dangerous than the US-Saudi aggression, if not more severe and cruel, because it does not allow development to progress.
It frustrates every good effort to work in its presence and it is difficult to implement plans aimed at bringing about changes in the structure of society for the better.
President al-Mashat diagnosed the reality of the problem, the prospects for successful practical solutions to confront it, and the executive measures to besiege, combat and eliminate this scourge.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3108465.htm
My comment: A Houthi viewpoint. It seems the Houthis claim their rule is free of corruption. No, it’s full of it.
(* B)
Film: The largest cities agglomerations in Yemen (history + projection)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1umTFwqQ3U
(A K P)
This open letter by intellectuals & activists from #Yemen requires attention, whatever your politics. The language is (understandably) not neutral. But it's important as it spells out the imminent risk of #Marib's collapse & the devastating humanitarian impact this could have (text in image)
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1303334880198131713
and also https://twitter.com/afrah_alzouba/status/1303394010216755201
(* B H K P)
Bericht: Nahezu 3.500 jemenitische Kinder bei saudischen Luftangriffen getötet
Fast 3.500 jemenitische Kinder sind laut einer Menschenrechtsgruppe seit Beginn des 2015 von einer von Saudi-Arabien geführten Militärkoalition begonnenen verheerenden Krieges gegen das verarmte Land Jemen getötet worden.
Laut einem Bericht des arabischsprachigen Fernsehsenders al-Masirah teilte das jemenitische Menschenrechtszentrum am Montag mit, dass rund 7.200 Kinder im auferlegten Krieg entweder getötet oder verletzt worden seien. 3.468 von ihnen seien getötet worden, heißt es in dem Bericht mit dem Titel „Kindheit mit der Farbe des Blutes und dem Geruch des Todes“.
Das jemenitische Menschenrechtszentrum erklärte unter Berufung auf Berichte des Gesundheitsministeriums und der Medien des Landes, 91 Prozent der Toten hätten ihr Leben bei den unaufhörlichen Luftangriffen der Invasoren verloren.
(* B K pH)
Human Rights: 7250 Children Killed, Injured by US-Saudi Aggression Since March 2015
Yemen Center for Human Rights has reported that more than 7250 children, were killed and injured, as a result of the US-Saudi aggression since March 2015, while more than 5.5 million children are at risk of diseases due to the siege, which caused poor health conditions.
The Center for Human Rights released Monday its first report of the crimes of the Aggression against the children of Yemen since 2015-2020, under the slogan "A Childhood of Blood and Smell of Death."
The report indicated that the number of children who were killed as a result of the US-Saudi air strikes, from 2015 to 2020, reached 3468 children, while 3804 children were injured.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=14829
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=14839
(A P)
Yemeni abductee mothers reiterate call for release
Yemeni abductee mothers league (AML) on Sunday renewed call on the United Nations and rights groups to pressure warring parties into ending the abductions and forced disappearances, and unconditionally releasing the kidnaped and forcibly disappeared people.
In the first anniversary of the Arab coalition bombing of Dhamar Community College (used by Houthis as jail), AML said "137 abductees and forcibly disappeared people were killed and 45 others wounded.
"One year has passed, and the victims' mothers and children are still looking for justice, and bitterly remember the calamity," they added in a statement.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19666.html
(* B P)
Human rights organization documents 61 deaths among journalists in Yemen
A human rights report said on Saturday that parties to the conflict in Yemen committed over 1,586 abuses against human rights defenders and journalists during the past six years.
Sam Organization for Rights and Liberties which prepared the report said that it has documented violations against human rights defenders and the media professionals in collaboration with the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS).
It said that the report based its findings on data collected from the YJS, testimonies gathered by its reporters from the victims or their relatives and the targeted media outlets.
The organization said that despite the huge variation between the number of reported violations in 2015 and those reported in 2019, the violations volume continues to be significant.
Reported violations included death, physical assaults, torture to death, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and trials of prisoners of conscience as well as damage of the media institutions and tampering with their contents.
“2015 was the worst year in terms of abuses committed against the media as the organization documented 319 violations including ten deaths,” the organization said.
It reported 300 violations in 2017 including three death cases. 205 violations were recorded in 2016 among them ten death cases, according to the report.
The organization reported 135 violations in 2018 and almost similar number in 2019.
The Houthis have been blamed for most violations against the media and human rights activists with about 60 percent of the total reported violations. 25 percent of the total reported violations were blamed on the Saudi-led coalition.
The southern separation militants known as the Southern Transitional Council (STC) was blamed to ten percent of the total documented violations. Other parties including Al-Qaeda were blamed to rest of the reported abuses, according to the report.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-41778
and also https://samrl.org/l.php?l=e,10,A,c,1,76,79,3888,html
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/25357
and full report here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/0wp8mxrve875wod/Dangerous+career+EN.pdf/file
and https://samrl.org/pdf/1Dangerous%20career%20EN.pdf
(A K P)
Yemeni govt says Houthis create oil crisis to boost black market
The Houthi group deliberately creates oil crisis, the Yemeni government-run supreme economic council (SEC) said Saturday, accusing the militias of boosting the oil black market in Houthi-held areas, where fuel prices hiked up by 150 percent.
The Yemeni capital of Sana'a and other northern areas have seen fuel shortage for more than two months, with the Houthis blaming the Saudi-led coalition for detention of 20 oil tankers off Hodeida port in the Red Sea.
Yemen has this year imported oil enough to cover Yemenis' needs until the end of next October without any shortages, the SEC added in a statement.
Fuel imports increased by 13 percent (3,260,443 tons in total) in comparison to the same period of last year 2019, it said. "The Houthi-held areas' share made up 53 percent, or 1,742,991 tons of oil.
"73 percent of this quantity was delivered to Houthi-held areas via Hodeida port, 27 percent through land roads."
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19650.html
and also https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2491161/yemeni-report-houthis-are-creating-fuel-crisis
My comment: As claimed by the Hadi government. This sounds like conspiracy theory and already had been claimed before. The report does not state which period exactly is meant here. Januar to August, 8 months? Houthi areas for the whole year ca. 2,614 million t.
(B K P)
Put Yemen back together
America’s Saudi policy, to which Yemen is a subset, consists of endorsing whatever Saudi Arabia wants to do in the region, even if that means the widespread destruction of Yemen. America has involved itself enough in the conflict to take partial blame for the disastrous outcomes, but has not involved itself enough to break the stalemate.
This war, which has no strategy and no achievable end, could not go on without the support of the United States. It’s time that America and its allies stop exploiting the regional conflict for profit and work instead to put Yemen back together.
https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2020/09/05/Put-Yemen-back-together/stories/202008270120
(* B P)
Red Sea tanker disaster looms as Yemen's warring parties fail to act
Two weeks after the United Nations revealed an engine room leak nearly caused an economic and environmental catastrophe, the Safer has yet to be inspected
Two weeks after the United Nations admitted a leak in a rusting oil tanker's engine room nearly caused an environmental and economic catastrophe off Yemen's Red Sea coast, a UN team is yet to access the ship, with political infighting blamed for the delay.
Every day that passes adds to the risk that seawater could overwhelm the Safer or a chemical explosion may hit the vessel, causing it to spill the 1.1 million barrels of crude it holds into the Red Sea.
Yemeni and international officials and environmental activists have regularly warned of the danger for Yemen and the wider region.
An engine room leak on 27 May served as a wake-up call, with the UN saying a temporary fix succeeded in containing the leak, but is unlikely to hold for very long.
On 14 August, a statement from the office of UN Secretary-General Antonia Guterres urged Yemeni authorities to allow experts access as soon as possible.
"In 2019, both Yemeni parties approved the deployment of a UN technical team to assess the damage and conduct any feasible immediate repairs," it said.
"The de facto authorities granted the United Nations the travel authorisations to come to Hodeidah but did not provide the final clearances necessary to access the tanker by sea.
"They further raised several demands (including some unrelated to Safer) that eventually led to the cancellation of the mission. Since then, the United Nations has repeatedly attempted to obtain the required authorisations to deploy the expert team."
However, the Sanaa-based Houthi Oil Minister Ahmed Dares had four days earlier insisted that his administration was the first to alert the UN to the potential danger and ask for assistance.
A source in the Sanaa information ministry told Middle East Eye that required authorisation had been issued but the maintenance team was nowhere to be seen. He blamed the Saudi-led coalition backing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for spreading disinformation.
"The aggression [Saudi-led coalition] tries to deceive the world with fake news that Ansar Allah [the Houthis] prevent the UN from maintenance," the source said. "The purpose of this is that the aggression wants to blame us if a disaster happens in the Red Sea."
According to the source, the Ansar Allah oil ministry welcomed the UN's intervention and is working hard to provide the United Nations with all required approvals.
"If something happens in the Red Sea, millions will be affected, including Ansar Allah, and Ansar Allah won't get any advantage from the Safer's explosion or an oil spill, so it is irrational to say they are against the maintenance."
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-oil-tanker-disaster-warring-parties-un-bicker
and
(B P)
Safer and terrible figures portend a looming disaster
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19680.html
(B P)
Film: Crimes of enforced Disappearance are not time-barred.. Stop the suffering of the victims' families immediately
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1302262712844521478
(B K P)
Film: Yemen is fighting back!, by Caleb Maupin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-KZm1HblVo
On Caleb Maupin: https://www.rt.com/op-ed/authors/caleb-maupin/
(B K P)
The 8hadi gov.-affiliated] National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations to #HumanRights monitored and documented about three thousand violations and six thousand victims of violations committed by all conflict during 1 August 2019 to 31 July 2020.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1301903416042680323
(* B K P)
UAE plots on Marib defeat pave way for settlement with Houthis: Analysts
Grip is gradually tightened on the Yemeni UN-recognized government and its troops stationed in Marib, amid growing warnings that the northeastern city could be seized by the Iranian-backed Houthi group.
The warnings mostly imply a covert role played by the United Arab Emirates (key partner in the Saudi-led coalition backing the official government) to abandon a strategic province used by this government as main center for its military forces.
Yemeni activists and analysts believe there is an Emirati vicious plot to make the government kneel down and serve Abu Dhabi expansionism in Yemen, by handing Marib to Houthis after the Gulf state has apparently been given green-light by the UK to do so.
"The UAE thinks that enabling the Houthis to seize, or at least to make an advance toward, Marib would contribute to leveling the political ground for next deals through weakening the legitimate government and expelling the Islah party (seen by Abu Dhabi as the first enemy) from the Yemeni political game," analysts told Debriefer.
"The Saudi decision sacking the coalition joint forces' commander, Fahd Bin Turki, cannot be seen away from the developments in Yemen, particularly in Marib.
"Emirates saw if he stayed at the top of the command the Saudi Fahd would pose a stumbling block before Marib defeat plot. Thus, Abu Dhabi pressed the Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman to accelerate the sack decree.
"Riyadh perhaps doesn't feel the risk of passing such a plot that would more harm it than the Yemeni government and Islah party," they added.
A defeat of the Yemeni government in Marib will mean Saudi loss, the Yemeni resigned minister of transport, Saleh al-Jabwani, said Thursday, hinting at Emirati collusion to hand Marib to Houthis.
"It's not strange for the Houthis to attack Marib from seven fronts, in coincidence with the arrival of hundreds of new armored vehicles to brigades affiliated to the Southern Transitional Council [STC] in Abyan where fighting is underway.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19624.html
and
(* B K P)
Yemen in Focus: Houthi offensive on Marib could determine country's future
Hundreds of fighters have been killed in non-stop clashes in Yemen's embattled Marib and neighbouring al-Jawf in recent months, as Houthi rebels continue their attempts to capture the strategic cities from government-backed tribal forces.
The escalating military tensions in the desert region have seen power to and fro between the two camps for several weeks after the Sanaa-based rebels launched the offensive into the neighbouring Marib governate.
The Houthi military offensive is thought to be the largest since 2015 when the rebels penetrated into the southern coastal city of Aden, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene.
"Marib hosts almost 3 million civilians, of which almost 2 million are internally displaced persons [IDPs] that have moved to the governate because it has become safe and secure over the past few years," Nadwa Dawsari, Yemen expert and non-Resident Scholar at Middle East Institute told The New Arab, warning "this Houthi offensive puts the lives of 3 million Yemenis at risk - it is a major humanitarian disaster."
"If the Houthis do manage to capture Marib, it would solidify their total control of the north and they will not stop there. The next step would be for the rebels to push south towards Shabwah and Hadramawt and even further north to the Saudi border.
"A Houthi capture of Marib will tip the military scales in favour of the rebels - if this happens, we can kiss the peace process, negotiations and any potential for sustainable peace in Yemen's future, goodbye," Dawsari added.
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/indepth/2020/9/4/yemen-in-focus-the-battle-for-marib
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(* A K P)
Yemen's Houthis to suspend Sanaa flights from Wednesday: statement
Yemen’s Houthis will suspend all United Nations and humanitarian flights to Sanaa International airport over fuel shortage as of Wednesday, the group said in a statement on Monday.
and
(* A K P)
Suspension of UN Flights to Sana’a Airport
[Sanaa gov.] Yemen Ministry of Transport announced the suspension of all United Nations and humanitarian agency flights to Sana’a International Airport, due to fuel shortages, starting from Wednesday.
“Sanaa airport will stop receiving international and humanitarian relief planes due to lack of oil derivatives as a result of the Saudi-led unjust blockade on Yemen,” Minister of Transport, Zakariya al-Shami.
“Closure of Sana’a airport created humanitarian catastrophe, left tens of thousands of deaths, and threatened hundreds of thousands of patients,” he added. “Crimes of Saudis exposed the UN's lack of all values of humanity.”
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=14840
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-19714.html
and
(A K P)
[Sanaa gov.] Minister of Transport: Sanaa airport to be closed in coming days due to depletion of oil products
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3108127.htm
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=14812
and the Hadi governments comment:
(A P)
[Hadi gov.] Yemeni FM: Houthis closed Sana'a airport to cover oil revenues theft
The Yemeni caretaker government on Tuesday condemned the Houthi closure of Sana'a airport in the face of UN and humanitarian flights, accusing the group of trading in Yemenis' sufferings.
By closing Sana'a international airport, the Houthi group "desperately tries to cover its Hodeida theft of over YR50-billion-worth oil revenues that were allocated to pay civil servants' salaries in Yemen," the Yemeni foreign ministry said in a set of tweets.
While "the Yemeni government last May accepted the UN envoy's proposal to reopen Sana'a airport for international commercial direct flights via Yemenia airlines, the Houthis refused" the offer.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19713.html
and similar https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/yemen-real-reason-houthis-have-closed-sanaa-airport-1.73714762
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-41865
My comment: This sounds odd, even if the Houthis’ real reason for closing the airport remains unclear. There certainly could have been made a special deal for the airport.
and
(A P)
Houthis risk hampering COVID-19 efforts after closing Yemen’s Sanaa airport
Yemen’s internationally recognized government condemned the closure and strongly denied Houthi accusations that it, along with the Arab coalition, had obstructed oil shipments to militia-controlled territories.
Yemen’s Foreign Ministry said the Houthis were using the airport, along with a decaying oil tanker in the Red Sea, as cards for blackmailing the international community.
“We condemn the Houthi militia announcement to close Sanaa airport against relief and humanitarian flights, including those of the United Nations, and their continued trading on the suffering of Yemenis,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saba news agency.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1731526/middle-east
and as a reminder
(B H P)
Only 28 out of over 35000 sick Yemeni were allowed to medically evacuate from Sana’a airport after the fanfare about Saudi “Mercy Flights”. Saudi closed Sana’a airport which is a warcrime. Where is the outrage
https://twitter.com/AishaJumaan/status/1303037153597816832
referring to https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1303009490304933888
(A K P)
[Sanaa gov.] Transport Ministry, Civil Aviation Authority: Aggression’s Closure of Sana’a Airport Created Humanitarian Disaster, Violates All Int’l Covenants
The Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority held, on Sunday, an event for four years of air blockade on Sana’a International Airport.
“Today we utter a cry of defiance in the face of this aggression that closed Sana’a International Airport for four years in a row,” Minister of Transport, Major General Zakaria Al-Shami said during the event.
“The aggression’s closure of Sana’a airport has created a humanitarian disaster
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=14812
and also
(A H K P)
Due to Fuel Shortage First Governmental Hospital in Yemen Stopped
The Public Health Office in Hajjah Governorate announced Saturday, that the provision of medical services at the Martyr Dr. Yasser Wathhab Hospital, in Khairan Muharraq District, has stopped after fuel ran out. A statement issued by the Health office confirmed that the suspension of Wathhab Hospital is a humanitarian catastrophe that exacerbates the health situation in the governorate. It pointed out that the continued detention of oil derivative ships, by the US-Saudi Aggression, threatens to stop providing health services in the governorate and to stop ambulance and emergency operations.
The statement pointed out that the detention of oil vessels threatens the lives of citizens with inevitable death, including hundreds of thousands of children, women and patients, especially in light of the spread of epidemics.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=14806
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-19670.html
(B H K P)
[Sanaa gov.] Ministry of Health Warns of Complete Halt to Health Sector
The spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Dr. Youssef Al-Hadhri, warned of the total suspension of all health facilities due to the lack of fuel, as the US-Saudi aggression prevents fuel vessels from reaching the port of Hodeidah for more than 4 months.
“A number of hospitals are expacted to be closed during the coming period due to the oil derivatives crisis,” Al-Hadhri said.
“International organizations do not pay serious attention to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and are only concerned with collecting funds,” he added.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=14811
and
(B H K P)
[Sanaa gov.] Yemen's health ministry: Medical services could come to halt due to lack of fuel
The Saudi siege on Yemen is pushing all working health facilities in the impoverished Arab country toward total suspension due to the lack of fuel, the Health Ministry warns. In a Sunday statement, carried by Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network, spokesman of Yemen’s Ministry of Health Yousef al-Hadhri issued the warning, saying that Saudi Arabia had barred fuel vessels from reaching the port of Hudaydah for more than four months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8P1waLacOI
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
(A H)
Turkish charity distributes 2,250 food parcels in Yemen
Turkish Red Crescent gives food aid to people with disabilities
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-charity-distributes-2-250-food-parcels-in-yemen/1968379
(B H)
European Union helps WFP provide life-saving assistance to vulnerable Yemenis
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a EUR 45 million contribution from the European Union (EU) to provide vital food assistance to families in Yemen facing acute food shortages as conflict, economic collapse and now the coronavirus pushes millions of people to the brink.
The EU funds will provide Yemeni families with life-saving assistance, allowing them to meet their basic food needs. With the EU’s support, WFP is already providing food, vouchers and cash to millions of food insecure Yemenis.
WFP is making cash assistance available in areas where market conditions allow so that people can purchase food and other items locally. Cash can help strengthen local markets, encouraging smallholders to be more productive and build national capacity.
“With different crises converging to threaten the lives of people in Yemen, the humanitarian situation is more alarming than ever. The EU recently increased its support to enable partners such as WFP to continue providing life-saving assistance amid funding shortfalls,” said European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič. “Yemen cannot wait. Impartial aid organisations must be given the means and unimpeded access to reach the millions of Yemenis who urgently need help.”
The EU’s support comes at a crucial moment as WFP works to maintain the current level of assistance in Yemen – the agency’s largest operation in the world – to prevent the humanitarian situation from deteriorating.
https://www.wfp.org/news/european-union-helps-wfp-provide-life-saving-assistance-vulnerable-yemenis
(B H)
Aggression und Belagerung fügen 400.000 jemenitische Kinder zu den Analphabetenlisten hinzu
Der Jemen feierte den Internationalen Tag für Alphabetisierung und Erwachsenenbildung, der jedes Jahr am 8. September stattfindet, zu einer Zeit, in der aufgrund der anhaltenden Aggression und Belagerung jährlich noch etwa 400.000 Kinder auf die Liste der Analphabeten im Jemen gesetzt werden.
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3108440.htm
(B H)
Aggression, siege add 400 thousand children to illiterate lists in Yemen
Yemen has celebrated International Literacy Day (ILD) on September 8th every year, at a time when about 400,000 children are still being added annually to Yemen's illiteracy lists due to the ongoing aggression and the continued aggression and siege imposed on Yemen.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3108504.htm
(A H)
MONA Relief: Based on a donation sent by our partners Humanity First in Germany 200 families in Abs area of Hajjah governorate in northern #Yemen received today food aid baskets from @monarelief's team (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1303445828976209924
The third food aid distribution was funded today by @monarelief's fundraising campaign in Pateron to 70 families who were badly affected by heavy rainfall and floods in Bani Areige area of Abs in Hajjah in northern #Yemen (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1303445367908978697
(* B H)
The Power of The Sun: Solar Energy Helps Healthcare Facilities Deliver Essential Services
Since June, the conflict-effected communities of Yemen’s northern governorates have struggled under the crippling effects of the oil crisis. Depleted oil reserves have resulted in the limited operation and delivery of key public services – including healthcare. Coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, this highlights a critical need for alternative fuel sources to ensure healthcare facilities can continue to operate.
“Most of the medical machines dependent on electricity are life-saving. Their interruption for just a few minutes may mean the loss of someone’s life,” explains Dr. Abdulkareem Al-Jarmouzi, a health officer working with UNDP’s implementing partner, the Social Fund for Development (SFD).
With major health facilities now struggling to maintain their operations amid dwindling fuel and power supplies, healthcare services are being reduced, rescheduled, or stopped. So how can we fight COVID-19, meet the power demand, and boost the resilience of healthcare facilities?
With support from the European Union (EU), the Social Protection for Community Resilience Project (SPCRP) will rehabilitate 86 affected healthcare facilities, furnish them and provide the critical medical equipment required to return them to service. Once completed, SPCRP aims to achieve uninterrupted operations for the delivery of essential healthcare services to nearly 376,000 people by providing them with photovoltaic (PV) solar energy systems. To date, 70 of the 86 targeted healthcare facilities – including nine with COVID-19 isolation units – have been rehabilitated and supported, ensuring better access to healthcare for more than 136,500 people across 12 governorates.
In addition to the rehabilitation work, SPCRP’s integrated support for the installation of solar energy systems includes solar PV panels, new electrical networks, batteries, control units, external lighting, and replacement of existing electrical fixtures to ensure their compatibility with the provided systems
(* B H)
In a letter to members of the Security Council, Mr. Mark Lowcock warned that the "First Famines of Coronavirus Era Are at World’s Doorstep"
In a letter to members of the Security Council, the official, Mark Lowcock, said the risk of famines in these areas had been intensified by “natural disasters, economic shocks and public-health crises, all compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic.” Together, he said, “these factors are endangering the lives of millions of women, men and children.”
The letter, which has not been made public, was conveyed by Mr. Lowcock’s office to the Security Council on Friday under its 2018 resolution requiring updates when “the risk of conflict-induced famine and widespread food insecurity” occurs. A copy of the letter was seen by The New York Times.
United Nations officials have said before that all four areas are vulnerable to acute food deprivation because of chronic armed conflicts and the inability of humanitarian relief providers to freely distribute aid.
(* B H)
Hunger Pandemic
As it turns out, the worst affected are the chronically deprived conflict areas, notably Yemen, South Sudan, a swathe of Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The continent of Africa is on the cusp of what the UN has called a “hunger pandemic” in parallel to coronavirus. As it turns out, the worst affected are the chronically deprived conflict areas, notably Yemen, South Sudan, a swathe of Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The continental crisis calls for a concerted effort on the part of the comity of nations. News of people dying of hunger can be no less devastating than the awesome spread of the dreaded virus. Reports from the UN headquarters do suggest that the risk of famine has been intensified in these countries by what the UN team’s report to the Security Council calls “natural disasters, economic shocks and public health crises, all compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic”.
https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/hunger-pandemic-2-1502922759.html
(B H)
Al-Tawlaki Water Tank Saves Life and Facilitates Access to Clean Drinking Water in Milhan
Like the rest of the areas in the Yemeni countryside, women and children are responsible for fetching water, which makes them far more prone to danger. A girl suffered fractures and bruises in her limbs after she fell down off the winding, steep and narrow route. Another girl lost her memory because of her head hitting rocks while she was falling. Even worse, the route to Al-TawIaki water spring had plundered the lives of a man and two children in separate accidents. They died after falling from this steep route while going to fetch water. The challenge was how to facilitate access to clean water in an easy and safe way, and to rehabilitate the water source in order to protect it from pollution and any external factors that may cause it to be cut off.
During the intervention, YDN involved the local community to participate in choosing the appropriate and safe site to establish a collection tank
(B H)
Yemen: Monthly Organisations Presence Who, What, and Where (3W) June 2020
Yemen: Monthly Organisations Presence (3W) in December 2019
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-monthly-organisations-presence-3w-december-2019
(* B H)
Child labor rife in northern Yemen
Mohammed Mohsen, a 13-year-old Yemeni boy, washes cars from early morning to the sunset in Yemen's capital Sanaa to earn a little money for food.
His two younger brothers help him clean the cars' windows with soap and polish with wet cloth, to earn a living and support their family.
The three brothers are primary school students, but turned to washing cars after their family plunged into heavy debts due to the ongoing civil war and economic blockade.
Their father Mohsen, like many other government employees, has been left unpaid since September 2016, when the Central Bank was shifted from Sanaa to the government-controlled southern port city of Aden, which caused the stop of salary payments to over one million public sector employees, and halting remittances and disrupting imports.
He turned to daily-wage work which was not enough to afford the house rent. The continuing economic hardship has deepened the suffering of the family and many other families in the northern cities.
The father borrowed more money to start a small car-wash business in May. He bought a small water pump, a small water tank and installed them on a street corner near their home.
His three young children work on the car-wash project, while he continues to work for a daily wage elsewhere.
The five-year-long civil war and the de facto blockade have caused the economy of the impoverished country to collapse, leaving many families with no much choice.
"We are not like other children who go to play and enjoy at the parks, we should work to buy food for our family," the middle brother Mukhtar, 10, told Xinhua.
Likewise, many other children turned into the cheap child labor after the country slid into civil war.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-09/07/c_139349248.htm
(A H)
MONA Relief: Another food aid distribution was carried out by @monarelief's team in #Yemen and funded by our partners in UK Humanity First in Bani Areige area of Abs in Hajjah to 136 families who have malnourished children. (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1303068372763127816
(* B H)
Plenty of water, yet contaminated!
What to do when water pollution is the only solution! In remote areas, rural populations fully realize the grave danger behind contaminated water, yet they live with it!
Lacking access to safe & clean drinking water is a major health issue which the majority of rural population suffers from throughout their day-to-day life.
Qutuf is an affected area where almost 500 vulnerable families of host community and 273 HHs of affected IDPs are settled in. The high population density comes as a result of the countless displaced families from neighboring districts such as Mustaba, Kushar, Haradh and Maydi. It is situated in Gharbi Al Khamisayn sub district, Khairan Al Muharraq district of Hajjah governorate. People living there greatly suffer from all basic necessities of life. They have contracted cholera as a result of environmental pollutants and contaminated boreholes. Tragically, there are no health facilities around as the nearest health center is 35 km away. In addition, this area contains four collective sites of IDPs (Bani Dahesh compound, Bani Nayef compound, Qayim Qutuf compound, and Bani Al-Thumani compound), all of which depend on open wells as a main source of water.
Among all contaminated wells in the area, there is unfortunately one well which constitutes an imminent threat for an estimated number of 400 vulnerable households – more than two thirds of the population. Qutuf water well has become a grave danger for hundreds of lives due to its contaminated water. Every day, tens of people, including children walk for nearly 2 to 3 km in order to fetch contaminated drinking water. As a result, some children have had acute watery diarrhea, and others have contracted cholera. However, this water pollution, despite the abundant cases of cholera and diarrhea in children, remains their only solution.
Clean water is an absolute necessity of all human basic needs. Let’s make sure people who live in remote areas with poor sanitation facilities have easy and adequate access to safe drinking water.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/plenty-water-yet-contaminated
and full report: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Plenty%20of%20water%2C%20yet%20contaminated%21.pdf
(* B H)
Yemen: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (May - June 2020)
Humanitarian partners reported 564 access incidents in May and June across 36 districts in 14 governorates in Yemen. This represents nearly a 50 per cent decrease in reported access incidents from the previous reporting period in March and April, because of reduced humanitarian operations following restrictions imposed by the authorities in response to the threat of COVID-19.
Restrictions on the movement of humanitarian organizations, personnel and goods within Yemen continued to be the primary operational constraint reported by partners, with 216 incidents reported during the reporting period. These incidents mostly pertained to arbitrary delays/denials of travel permits and associated activity permits for all types of activities, with additional reports of delays and blockages at checkpoints during movements. These restrictions continued to affect efforts to maintain regular programmes as well as to scale up the COVID-19 response.
Moreover, 37 restriction incidents were reported on travel to Yemen. This is mainly due to a reduction in delays and denials associated with visa and residency requests as some partners have temporarily suspended applications and reduced staff presence in response to COVID-19. The reported incidents related to the movement of cargo into the country, which continued to be disrupted by quarantine regulations imposed by authorities in the north and the south. In the north, this exacerbated pre-existing constraints around customs clearances and cargo ground movements, particularly in and around ports in Al Hudaydah. Meanwhile, by mid-June, the international airports in Aden and Sana’a had resumed operations, including for humanitarian operations.
Interference in humanitarian operations by local authorities remained a major constraint, with over 163 separate incidents reported across the country. The incidents almost exclusively pertained to delays and denials of NGO project sub-agreements, along with arbitrary attempts to interfere in project and activity design.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-access-snapshot-may-june-2020
(B H)
Yemen: Access Constraints as of 05 September 2020
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-access-constraints-05-september-2020
(* B H)
12 Organizations Combating Food Insecurity in Yemen
Despite the immense unrest, many organizations are still trying to help Yemeni communities through this period of turmoil. Food Tank is highlighting 12 organizations providing food aid to communities in Yemen.
https://foodtank.com/news/2020/09/12-organizations-combating-food-insecurity-in-yemen/
(B H)
Yemen: Second Reserve Allocation (2020)
The Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF) launched a 2nd Reserve Allocation on 21 August 2020 to provide life-line funding for the critical elements of COVID-19 response and to support the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM). The allocation injected US$16.8 million into the COVID-19 response, which will enable payments of hazard allowances to health workers and provision of Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCM). In addition, the allocation provided $3 million for the distribution of emergency kits to newly displaced people in hard-to-reach locations.
The allocation comes at a critical time when COVID-19 is threatening to further contract the accessible health services and exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-second-reserve-allocation-2020
(* B H)
Film: Jemen: Je weniger Hilfe, desto mehr Kinderarbeit
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=323168132131587
(A H)
You will not believe that Luay committed suicide because of the miserable conditions that our youth are going through today in Yemen due to a futile war that left behind millions of innocent people in the most conditions of poverty and destitution (photo)
https://twitter.com/faizahsulimani/status/1302688316836454402
(B H)
Fadhl’s New Stage in Life: Success Story
Fadhl Saleh Fakhr-Aldeen, a 43-year-old man, used to live a miserable life in Bani Aiwa, Utmah District, Dhamar Gov. There was a war in his district that collapsed everything beautiful in there. Since the war, he used to be unemployed, and his economic situation was too complicated to bear. It was too difficult for him to provide food and drink for his beloved family to survive.
To support Fadhl and other jobless people in Utmah District, Building Foundation for Development (BFD), funded by the World Food Program (WFP), has been conducting several interventions related to building resilience at household and community levels support as well as contribute to strengthening capacities for better adaptation.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/fadhl-s-new-stage-life-success-story
(B H)
Yemen ‑ USG Response to the Complex Emergency (Last Updated 09/04/20)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-usg-response-complex-emergency-last-updated-090420
(B H)
An Elderly Man Struggles for Survival: Success Story
Sinan Ahmed Abbas, a 51-year-old man, accustomed to live well with his 17 family members in Qaeda Bani Masoud Sub-district before the conflict started. He worked as a shepherd, which he tended and reared livestock of other people to gain money. However, when owners' livestock began selling their own ones due to the cut of salaries, Sinan's situation started to deteriorate gradually. Not only did he suffer alone in his life, but also his 17 family members endured the same pain, in which getting victuals was his only dream to make his family happy and satisfied.
To assist those in need including Sinan and his family, Building Foundation for Development (BFD), funded by the World Food Program (WFP), has been a crucial move forward in taking steps to alleviate hunger in all its aspects and dimensions
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/elderly-man-struggles-survival-success-story
(B H)
Bringing sustainable livelihoods and community infrastructure to vulnerable households in Al Hudaydah and Dhamar Govs.
During the Food Assistance for Assets (FFA) Project, BFD coordinated with the local authorities in Al Hudaydah and Dhamar Govs, aiming to provide livelihood opportunities to 4,706 vulnerable people through the short-term cash-for-work (CFW) activities. The FFA activities under the resilience project include; repair and light construction of roads, construction and rehabilitation of rainwater harvesting tanks/reservoirs, fodder production, terraces rehabilitation, and land regeneration through control of soil erosion.
(B H)
Yemen: Health Cluster Achievements (July 2020)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-health-cluster-achievements-july-2020
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
Siehe / Look at cp1
(B H)
Yemen Fact Sheet: Cash assistance for IDPs in Yemen, August 2020
UNHCR implements the largest Cash-Based Interventions programme (CBI) for displaced families (IDPs) in Yemen. The country is now in its sixth year of conflict that continues to displace hundreds of thousands of families a year while the economy is dwindling, and discrimination patterns are reinforced by fears related to COVID-19. UNHCR provides cash to ensure access to a multiple range of support, from paying rents to buying food, medicines or winter clothes, and paying back debts.
Cash is also a lifeline for thousands of displaced families and their host communities. Cash provides immediate support to families or individuals at risk of having their rights abused or in need of restoring their rights. By providing beneficiaries with a choice, cash help restore their dignity and foster social cohesion with the host community by injecting much-needed cash into the local market.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-fact-sheet-cash-assistance-idps-yemen-august-2020
(B H)
Yemen Fact Sheet - Emergency distributions in Yemen, August 2020
Nearly 5,500 houses have been destroyed by fighting in the past 12 months. There are now 43 frontlines across 11 out of 22 governorates in Yemen. More than 21,000 families have been forced to flee fighting, heavy rain, and floods in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The extreme weather has had a particularly severe effect on the families in Yemen, affecting more than 500,000 individuals this year alone, mostly in need of shelter.
So far this year, UNHCR distributed 37,530 emergency shelter and basic household items, a large portion in Hudaydah, Hajjah and Sana’a governorates to displaced, returning and vulnerable host community families. Furthermore, UNHCR, as the Lead Agency for the Shelter Cluster and provider of last resort, supported families effected by both natural disasters and COVID-19 in addition to those displaced by the conflict.
UNHCR adopted prevention measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 during distributions.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-fact-sheet-emergency-distributions-yemen-august-2020
(B H)
Yemen Fact Sheet - Protecting displaced families in Yemen, August 2020
Women, children and individuals with specific needs, such as persons with disabilities, are particularly affected because of discriminatory social norms, poverty, physical barriers in accessing services and social isolation resulting in neglect, isolation and negative coping strategies.
So far this year, more than 21,000 families have been displaced by the conflict and 74,000 families have been affected by the heavy rain and floods, severely undermining their resilience and selfsufficiency. For those identified as vulnerable through UNHCR’s and its partners’ monitoring and assessments, a range of protection services including psychological first aid and counselling, legal assistance and other support to persons with specific needs are offered through eight community centres across the country and mobile teams. All activities had adapted to the COVID-19 measures, including adopting a remote modality.
Challenges related to the reduction of physical mobility and of face-to-face activities due to COVID-19 slowed down household-level protection assessments.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-fact-sheet-protecting-displaced-families-yemen-august-2020
(B H)
Fulfillment of Basic Needs: Success Story
Yet, when the conflict reached their hometown (Nihm) and destroyed their small house, the lives of them changed badly. No roof protects them from the sun’s heat, and no walls protect them from the cold wind. They took the sky as a roof and earth as a carpet to lay on.
Qadria Sadiq decided to flee with her family, where they ended up at Al Gufainah Settlement for IDPs in Marib Gov. Luckily, they found a tent to live in; still, it was a dilapidated one. Qadria and her family lived a miserable life in that tent, where they suffered from the wind that entered from every opening in that worn-out tent.
However, Building Foundation for Development (BFD), funded by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH), reached Qadria, in which she received the cash assistance in the first distribution round
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/fulfillment-basic-needs-success-story
(A H)
Houthi attack on Marib forces hundreds of families including IDPs to re-displace
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-41863
(B H)
Flow Monitoring Points | Migrant Arrivals and Yemeni Returns in August 2020
The migration has witnessed a significant decline since the emergence of the Corona virus pandemic From 1 to 31 of August 2020 IOM-DTM estimates that 316 migrants entered Yemen and no Yemeni returns from Saudi Arabia or Horn of Africa. The migrant caseload has been primarily Ethiopian (83%) and Somalis (17%), with 59% of those tracked heading for Saudi Arabia and 41% towards Yemen. The migrants are predominantly male (75%), with 15% women and 8% boys and 2% girls also among the travellers. Through the August 2020 reporting period, the highest arrivals were observed at Shabwah governorate with 186 migrants entering at Eyn Bamabad monitoring point.
(B H)
Yemen — Rapid Displacement Tracking Update (30 August - 05 September 2020)
From 01 January 2020- 5 Sep 2020, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 22,342 Households or 134,052 Individuals have experienced displacement, at least once.
Between the 30th Aug 2020 and 5th of Sep 2020, IOM Yemen DTM tracked 543 Households or 3,258 individuals displaced at least once, the highest number of displacements were seen in:
(* B H)
6 Facts about Homelessness in Yemen
The internally displaced persons in Yemen are facing challenges beyond homelessness. More than 80% of the population requires humanitarian assistance and many Yemenis do not have access to clean water, food and health care. Children and women are among the most vulnerable to the crisis. Moreover, many international organizations, such as UNICEF, Oxfam and the World Food Program, are helping these helpless Yemenis.
Aside from the conflict, natural disasters have contributed to an increase in internally displaced persons. In late May and June 2019, torrential rains and flash floods hit Yemen. It directly affected a total of 80,000 people.
In 2013, Yemen designed a national policy on internal displacement. However, due to a lack of government capacity and legal structure for its implementation, international organizations have become responsible for aiding internally displaced persons.
The COVID-19 pandemic heightens the risk for internally displaced persons. Epidemiological projections estimate that COVID-19 could infect nearly 16 million people in Yemen or 55% of the population. Additionally, most displaced people live in overcrowded camps where they lack access to clean water, sanitation and other essential services. Moreover, flash flooding in Marib increased the chances of another cholera outbreak.
https://borgenproject.org/homelessness-in-yemen/
(B H K)
Photo: Al-Jufainah camp located in #Marib is the largest IDPs camp in #Yemen. #Marib hosts over 2 million IDPs who fled violence from across the country since the start of the war. The Houthis' continued offensive on the governorate puts their lives at risk.
https://twitter.com/hamdan_alaly/status/1301988068682018822
another photo, with anti-Houthi comment: https://twitter.com/EntsarAli/status/1302325920578129920
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp5 – cp19
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-678b-yemen-war-mosaic-678b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-677-yemen-war-mosaic-677
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-677 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-677:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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