Fortsetzung:
De-facto Autoritäten im Jemen – Cholera – Schlepper ertränken Flüchtlinge – Saudi-Arabien: Zerstörung von Awamiya – und mehr
Houthi rights violations against tribe – Saudi Arabia transforming the Muslim world – The business of war – Closed Sanaa air port causes 10,000 deaths, must be opened – US complicity in Yemen – Qatar and Yemen – De facto authorities in Yemen – Cholera – Traffickers drown refugees – Saudi Arabia: Destruction of Awamiya – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Cholera
cp1b Schlepper werfen Flüchtlinge ins Meer / Traffickers drown refugees
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritnnien / Grest Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
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
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
Saudi-Arabia, Awamiya: cp8
10.8.2017 – Rights Radar (*** B P)
Yemen: Houthi Commits Brutal Violations of Human Rights in Arhab Tribe
Rights Radar for human rights in the Arab world released on Thursday, 10 August 2017, a report on human rights’ violations in the Arhab tribe, northern the Yemeni capital Sana'a, under the name of (Yemen: Arhab, the brutality of Houthi's revenge), included the brutal violations during the period from December 2014 to December 2016, Some of which amount to (war crimes).
This report said that Rights Radar documented, 3,997 incidents of human rights violations on the Arhab Tribe by Houthi militia and Saleh forces during December 2014 to December 2016 have been documented. These violations ranged from extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions and detentions in private and secret prisons, torture and forced disappearances, house demolitions, looting of property and excessive use of force against civilians. The monitoring process of violations included the documentation of 41 civilian deaths, including two women and two children, and 57 serious injuries, including 3 injuries of women and one injury of a child.
The report said 11 people were subjected to attempts of murder, during in which 4 of them sustained serious injuries that resulted in permanent disability.
The report documented 849 cases of abduction and detention, including 19 children, in addition to more than 300 people who had been forcibly disappeared for months in unknown locations. The authorities did not disclose any information about them. Moreover, 81 detainees were subjected to physical torture, while the majority of detainees were subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment. More than 200 cases and 453 displaced families were permanently relocated to secure areas in eastern Yemen.
At least 268 cases of house raids and siege were documented, 39 cases of total houses destruction, 18 cases of partial damage and 6 cases of house occupation and turning into military barracks and secret detention centers, in addition to 148 cases of looting and confiscation of properties, including 118 cases of looting and destruction of vehicles and agricultural machinery.
The report also documented the bombing of 5 religious schools after the confiscation of its contents and the complete destruction of 2 of the headquarters of the Yemeni Islah Party. One case of mosque destruction along with 97 break-ins into public, private, village and residential facilities have been reported. In addition, 30 facilities have been looted by Houthi/Saleh forces. Moreover, the report documented 681 cases of violations falling within the framework of undermining State institutions and authorities.
This report documented also the violations that the women and children of Arhab Tribe have been subjected to wherein 71 cases of child recruitment have been monitored and documented. These statistics are incomplete because they do not cover every instance of violations committed on the Arhab Tribe for some cases were difficult to reach in order to be documented by the team. The team faced difficulties in finding the accurate number of victims, especially women and children, because of the dispersion of victims between forced displacement and displacement of people to unknown locations or locations that are difficult to access. The lack of accurate civil records of the population of the tribal villages was a main obstacle in defining the accurate number of victims as well.
The report concludes with an introduction, executive summary about the human rights violations in Arhab tribe and a set of conclusions and recommendations addressing various concerned parties.
The data and information of this report come from Rights Radars’ field reporters and monitors inside Yemeni cities.
https://www.facebook.com/RightsRadar/posts/508961539447755 and the full report: http://rightsradar.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Yemen-Arahab-English.pdf and first look, infographic: https://www.facebook.com/RightsRadar/photos/a.405745213102722.1073741828.387219234955320/509227799421129/?type=3&theater and short film: https://www.facebook.com/RightsRadar/videos/508976549446254/ = https://twitter.com/RightsRadar/status/895607327419768832
8.8.2017 – The American Conservative (*** B P)
Saudi Arabia Is Trying to Remake the Middle East In Its Image
No country has done more to spread radical Islam than Saudi Arabia.
No country has done more to spread radical Islam than Saudi Arabia. For the better part of four decades, the oil rich nation has—through public and private institutions—funded a multiplicity of organizations dedicated to spreading the most radical and reductionist interpretations of Islam.
In short, the weaponization of Islam is a core part of Saudi foreign policy. It is the primary means by which the country projects power and secures influence in countries across the Middle East and the broader Muslim world. So far, with U.S. complicity, the strategy has enjoyed great success.
Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser degree other Gulf nations, are engaged in a kind of cultural terraforming. Centuries of diverse and divergent religious traditions within Islam—in countries like Yemen, Somalia, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq—have been swept away by an influx of Saudi-educated clerics and Saudi-produced religious materials. These Saudi-influenced imams and religious literature teach the radical brand of Islam that predominates in Saudi Arabia: Wahhabism.
In 1744, Muhammad ibn Saud made a Faustian bargain with Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab: al-Wahhab would back al-Saud in his battle for supremacy if he pledged allegiance to al-Wahhab’s puritanical vision of Islam. This interpretation of Islam, which differs little from the militant Salafi beliefs that inform the Islamic State’s and al-Qaeda’s understanding of Islam (the Islamic State uses Saudi produced textbooks in its schools), became known as Wahhabism.
The Saudis, who are not descended from the Prophet and have no particular claim to rule even in their territorial heartland of Najd, relied on the clerics of the al-Wahhab family for religious legitimacy. The bargain struck in 1744 held fast.
The Saudi royal family has struggled with what some Saudi royals refer to as a deal with the devil. Reformers within the royal family, and there are many, are hamstrung by zealous clerics who exert growing influence within the Kingdom.
Beliefs like these do little to help a country, even an extraordinarily wealthy one, modernize and empower its citizenry, most especially women.
These internal issues contribute to Saudi Arabia’s fear of what it views as growing Iranian influence in the region. These fears are not unjustified. In contrast with Saudi Arabia, Iran possesses a formidable military, a relatively diverse economy with a comparatively vibrant manufacturing sector, and a growing well-educated middle class. Perhaps most critically, Iraq—thanks to the US invasion of that country—is now firmly within the Iranian sphere of influence.
Saudi Arabia’s very real and largely unaddressed internal problems combined with the fear of Iranian influence is driving a foreign policy that is becoming ever more reactionary and aggressive. In response, Saudi Arabia is redoubling its efforts at cultural terraforming.
This strategy is in evidence throughout the Muslim world but is particularly noticeable in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. As a frequent traveler to these regions over the past 15 years, the changes wrought by Saudi religious foundations and charities are disturbing to say the least. In places like Somalia and Yemen, centuries-old traditions that include visiting the shrines of Sufi saints have disappeared. In many cases the shrines themselves have been destroyed by radical Islamists.
In Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, Saudi Arabia is overtly and covertly funding a host of armedgroups who, if not openly allied with groups like al-Qaeda, are largely devoted to achieving the same aims, namely the creation of some kind of state governed by a radical interpretation of Islamic law – by Michael Horton
9.8.2017 – Al Araby (** B H K)
The business of war: When starvation is cheaper than buying weapons
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is blocking fuel deliveries for UN aid planes, and Houthi profiteering from the black market is flourishing
What we do know today, is that the humanitarian crisis is intentional, deliberately caused by all warring sides, and what international humanitarians call a "man-made disaster".
Almost three years into this long war, the Saudi-led coalition, in particular, is realising that military force is not yielding their intended victory, and instead, is using access to humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip, blocking deliveries to those most in need.
Recently, a top UN officer pointed out how the coalition is blocking fuel for UN planes engaged in humanitarian work. "We face logistic hurdles when it comes to the facilitation of the workfare... on the question of jet fuel, at the moment we have two flights going to Sanaa, one from Amman and one from Djibouti," said Auke Lootsma, UNDP country director for Yemen.
Lootsma was unable to explain why the coalition is denying permission if the fuel was for destined for humanitarian flights. Instead, he emphasised that the move is, "greatly extending the cost of the humanitarian operations because now we have to fly through Djibouti to refuel and then get into Sanaa and that on a monthly basis costs almost $120,000 extra to maintain those flights".
Obstructing aid delivery in Yemen should have caused a global outrage as the Saudi-led coalition is breaching international humanitarian law in armed conflicts by wilfully impeding relief supplies.
Human Rights Watch says that "under international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of impartially distributed humanitarian aid to the population in need".
Lootsma's testimony clearly states that impeding relief supplies is one of the war tactics used in the conflict, and references the role of the Saudi-led coalition in turning the humanitarian relief delivery operation into a battlefield.
While the Saudi-led coalition arms deals to enhance its military capacity used to cost billions of dollars, the coalition is now realising that starvation as a weapon of war is a much less costly and effective killing method than the airstrikes.
The Houthis, however, have also exploited the delays in the delivery of relief by contributing to a thriving black market in which food and medicine supplies are smuggled into the country and sold at soaring, sometimes exorbitant prices. They have devised economic tricks to exploit the deteriorating economic situation: Some civil servants have not received their salaries for almost a year now, and the food coupons they are issued with can only be used at Houthi-affiliated shops where prices are set well above the usual. Clearly, the Houthis have masterfully turned the humanitarian crisis into a business – by Afrah Nasser
10.8.2017 – Aktion gegen den Hunger (** B H K)
Jemen: Flughafen Sanaa sofort öffnen
Seit einem Jahr ist der Luftraum über dem Jemen weitgehend abgeriegelt. Der Flughafen der Hauptstadt Sanaa kann nicht mehr angeflogen werden. Das Resultat: Die jemenitische Bevölkerung bleibt ohne lebensnotwendige Hilfe. Die Gesundheitsbehörden schätzen, dass bereits 10.000 Menschen gestorben sind, weil es an der nötigen medizinischen Versorgung fehlt. Das sind ebenso viele Menschen, wie bislang in etwa durch die Kämpfe im Land ums Leben kamen.
Vor Ausbruch des Konflikts flogen jährlich geschätzt 7.000 Jemeniten von Sanaa aus zur Behandlung ins Ausland. Wegen der andauernden Kämpfe benötigen jetzt deutlich mehr Menschen internationale medizinische Hilfe. Die Vereinten Nationen gehen davon aus, dass die Zahl in den vergangenen zwei Jahren auf 20.000 gestiegen ist. Kranke und Verletzte müssen daher andere Wege finden, um das Land zu verlassen. Das Auto ist meist jedoch keine Alternative, da die Fahrt zu anderen Flughäfen zehn bis 20 Stunden dauert. Zudem ist der Weg dorthin gefährlich, da er in der Regel durch umkämpfte Gebiete des Jemen führt.
In dem gemeinsamen Positionspapier internationaler Nichtregierungsorganisationen heißt es dazu: „Diese Situation verletzt das Recht der Bevölkerung, sich frei zu bewegen, ein Menschenrecht, das durch Artikel 13 der Allgemeinen Erklärung der Menschenrechte geschützt ist.” Nicht nur die Menschen im Jemen, auch die Arbeit der humanitären Organisationen leidet darunter, dass der Luftraum geschlossen ist. Lebensnotwendige Hilfe im Kampf gegen Hunger und die Cholera gelangt nur verzögert ins Land. Fast alle Organisationen sind auf den Flugverkehr der Vereinten Nationen angewiesen, um in den Jemen ein- und ausreisen zu können.
https://www.aktiongegendenhunger.de/jemen/flughafen-sanaa-sofort-offnen
10.8.2017 – Yemen Press (** B H K)
About 14 thousand Yemenis have died due to the air blockade and 145 thousand are stuck
The Ministry of Transport and the General Authority for Aviation said that more than 13 thousand Yemenis have died as a result of the air embargo on Yemen, and that nearly a hundred thousand others are in urgent need to travel for treatment abroad.
Yemeni Minister of Transport Zacarias Al-Shami called on the international community to send an international team to investigate the suffering of the Yemeni people as a result of the blockade and the closure of Sanaa airport.
For his part, the official spokesman of the General Authority for Aviation: The number of person who died with a need to travel abroad for treatment was thirteen thousand nine hundred and fourteen (13914), and 95 thousand of patients are currently in need today to travel abroad for treatment, in addition to the presence of 50 thousand people demanding to return home, Unable to cope with expenses.
The official spokesman of the General Authority for Aviation that the losses of Sanaa airport directly due to the forced closure by the US-Saudi aggression exceeded two billion dollars and 60 million dollars.
Saying that the continuation of the closure of Sanaa International Airport without any justification is a flagrant violation of international treaties and humanitarian laws, and the silence of the world in this regard is a stain on the human face and the course of humanitarian action.
9.8.2017 – 15 international NGOs (** B H K)
Yemen Crisis: Closure of Sana’a airport – One year of aggravated suffering
INGOs in Yemen are calling on all actors to lift restrictions on Yemeni airspace and allow for the reopening of the country’s main airport, Sana’a International. The official closure of Sana’a airport, one-year ago today, effectively traps millions of Yemeni people and serves to prevent the free movement of commercial and humanitarian goods.
The impact of the decision to close the airport on the lives of Yemenis has been severe. The Ministry of Health (MoH) estimates that 10,000 Yemenis have died from critical health conditions for which they were seeking international medical treatment, but were unable to do so due to the airport closure. While difficult to verify independently, this estimate is roughly equivalent to the number of people that have died as a direct result of the fighting. It represents the hidden victims of the conflict in Yemen.
Prior to the conflict, an estimated 7,000 Yemenis were travelling abroad from Sana’a each year to access medical treatment (OCHA). Because of the unrelenting violence, the amount of people that require life-saving healthcare abroad has grown exponentially to an estimated 20,000 Yemenis over the last 24 months (OCHA). Yemenis awaiting critical medical treatment abroad now have to find alternative routes to leave the country, which include a 10-20 hour drive to other airports, often through areas where active fighting takes place.
This situation violates the freedom of movement of the population, a human right safeguarded in article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yemeni people find themselves in a very restrictive situation to travel abroad to seek medical attention, study, conduct business or visit relatives.
The closure of Yemen’s main international airport also negatively affects the speed at which humanitarian organizations can deliver much needed commercial supplies and humanitarian aid to the roughly 20 million Yemenis in need of it. Nearly all humanitarian organizations are forced to rely on the UN Humanitarian Air Service for travel in and out of the country.
The current cholera outbreak and near-famine conditions in many parts of Yemen make the situation far worse. The importance of unhampered delivery of humanitarian aid cannot be overstated.
All channels of domestic and international movement should therefore be reopened immediately.
https://www.care.org.au/media/media-releases/yemen-crisis-closure-sanaa-airport-one-year-aggravated-suffering/ = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-crisis-closure-sana-airport-one-year-aggravated-suffering
9.8.2017 – Norwegian Refugee Council (** B H K)
Yemen airport closure killed more people than airstrikes
One year since Sana’a Airport was shut down, more Yemenis have died from not being able to travel for specialised medical care than those who have been killed by airstrikes.
10,000 Yemenis have now died from health conditions for which they were seeking medical treatment abroad, according to data from the Ministry of Health in Sana’a. The number exceeds the alarming death toll of close to 9,000 people killed in violent attacks.
Restrictions imposed on Yemen’s airspace by the Saudi-led coalition resulted in the official closure of the Sana’a International Airport to commercial flights on the 9th of August, 2016, leaving many Yemenis with no safe means of transport in or outside the country.
Prior to the escalation of conflict in Yemen, an estimated 7,000 Yemenis were travelling abroad from Sana’a International Airport for medical treatment not available within the country, a number that grew exponentially following the escalation of violence in early 2015.
“Denial of access to travel has condemned thousands of Yemenis with survivable illnesses to death,” said Mutasim Hamdan, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Country Director in Yemen. “Beyond airstrikes and cholera, the war in Yemen is devastating Yemeni lives on all fronts.”
More than 54,000 people have been killed or injured since the escalation of violence in 2015, and close to half a million affected by cases of suspected cholera since April this year, as Yemen’s already fragile health system struggles to meet basic health needs.
“Without access to safe, commercial travel, Yemenis are left with no way to access critical medical care. The result is devastating; thousands of women, men and children who could have been saved have now lost their lives,” said Hamdan.
Mohammed’s father was among thousands of Yemenis with an urgent need for medical treatment outside the country. “The only way to save my father’s life was to take him abroad, the treatment needed was not available in Yemen.” Mohammed travelled with his father for 24 hours by road to Seiyun Airport, in Yemen’s south.
“The doctors said that it was dangerous for him to travel all the way there, that he might die on the way, but it was our only option. We had to pass through many checkpoints. But the journey was too much for my father.” Mohammed’s father died less than a day before his flight.
Since the escalation of conflict in Yemen in March 2015, violent attacks have resulted in more than 54,000 casualties, and devastated existing infrastructure. 1.2 million Yemeni civil servants have not been paid their usual salaries for up to a year, causing the slow collapse of public services and swift escalation of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
“Yemen’s public services are crumbling under the pressures of war: hundreds of thousands more people are sick, injured or in need of services, but there are drastically reduced resources to meet them,” said Hamdan. “It is critical that all channels of domestic and international air movement are reopened so Yemenis can get help, and help can get to Yemenis.”
https://www.nrc.no/news/2017/august/yemen-airport-closure-killed-more-people-than-airstrikes/
9.8.2017 – Al Araby (** B H K)
One year on, closure of Yemen's airport 'has caused more deaths than airstrikes'
The closure of Yemen's main airport has led to more deaths than Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, Norway's Refugee Council has said.
The shock statistic has been revealed exactly one year since its closure and as the UN calls for the reopening of the Sanaa terminal.
At least 10,000 Yemenis have now died from health conditions for which they were seeking medical treatment abroad, according to data from the Ministry of Health in Sanaa. The number exceeds the death toll of close to 9,000 people killed in violent attacks.
"Denial of access to travel has condemned thousands of Yemenis with survivable illnesses to death," said Mutasim Hamdan, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Country Director in Yemen. "Beyond airstrikes and cholera, the war in Yemen is devastating Yemeni lives on all fronts."
Restrictions imposed on Yemen's airspace by the Saudi-led coalition resulted in the official closure of the Sanaa International Airport to commercial flights on August 9, 2016, leaving many Yemenis with no safe means of transport in or outside the country.
Prior to the escalation of conflict in Yemen, an estimated 7,000 Yemenis were travelling abroad for medical treatment not available in the country, a number that has grown exponentially since March 2015, when a Saudi-led military coalition began airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels who orchestrated a bloody coup against the Hadi government in September 2014.
Hamdan: "It is critical that all channels of domestic and international air movement are reopened so Yemenis can get help, and help can get to Yemenis."
9.8.2017 – Reuters (** A H K)
Aid groups say Yemen airport closure hinders aid, traps patients
Fifteen aid groups on Wednesday called on warring parties in Yemen to reopen the country's main airport, saying a year-long closure was hindering aid and preventing thousands of patients from flying abroad for life-saving treatment.
"The official closure of Sanaa airport, one year ago today, effectively traps millions of Yemeni people and serves to prevent the free movement of commercial and humanitarian goods," the statement signed by groups including the International Rescue Committee and the Norwegian Refugee Council said.
The aid groups said: "The current cholera outbreak and near-famine conditions in many parts of Yemen make the situation far worse. The importance of unhampered delivery of humanitarian aid cannot be overstated."
Yemen's health ministry estimates that 10,000 Yemenis have died from critical health conditions for which they were seeking international medical treatment, the statement said, adding it was unable to verify the figure.
It said this was roughly equivalent to the number of people that have died as a direct result of the fighting and represented the hidden victims of the conflict.
Citing United Nations figures, the statement said an estimated 7,000 Yemenis had gone abroad from Sanaa each year for medical treatment before the conflict. Now the number needing life-saving healthcare was around 20,000 Yemenis over the past two years because of the violence, it said.
"Yemenis awaiting critical medical treatment abroad now have to find alternative routes to leave the country, which include a 10-20 hour drive to other airports, often through areas where active fighting takes place," the statement added – by Sylvia Westall
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-airport-idUSKBN1AP11M
9.8.2017 – The American Conservative (** B K P)
The U.S. Is Deeply Complicit in the Wrecking of Yemen
Jonah Shepp does a fine job summarizing the destruction caused by the war on Yemen and U.S. complicity in that destruction.
As Shepp goes on to explain, one reason that the U.S. can get away with enabling these disasters is that there continues to be remarkably little coverage of the war and its effects. Because of that, there is little awareness of the U.S. role and hardly any pressure on the government to change its policy. The Saudis and their allies have sought to make it very difficult for foreign journalists and human rights activists to enter the country, but even without their interference the level of outside interest in the conflict remains quite low despite the severity of the humanitarian crises that it has created.
Shepp says that the “U.S. cannot sidestep its own complicity in this carnage,” but that doesn’t stop our government from trying to do just that. One of the more infuriating tactics of U.S. officials from both the Obama and Trump administrations has been to pretend that the U.S. isn’t party to the conflict, doesn’t have much influence over the Saudi-led coalition, and supposedly favors a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Just the other day, PRI published a report that quoted the current U.S. ambassador as saying that “we don’t have leverage” with Riyadh. This is pathetic excuse-making at its worst. It dresses up the choice of not using the leverage Washington definitely has as if our government had none at all to use.
One recurring theme over the last two and a half years of U.S. support for the atrocious war on Yemen is that most of the U.S. officials can’t or won’t defend U.S. policy or the coalition war effort, and so they keep hiding behind a made-up version of events that they can present to audiences back home. Thus our current ambassador incredibly claims that “the conflict in Yemen is not a conflict between Saudis and Yemenis.” I’m sure that would come as news to the Yemenis that come under regular aerial attack from Saudi-led coalition planes and the millions of people being starved by the Saudi-led blockade. Minimizing even Saudi involvement in their own intervention is what our officials are reduced to doing, perhaps because the alternative of acknowledging their culpability and ours for destroying Yemen is too embarrassing for them.
The wrecking and starvation of Yemen are the result of more than two years of deliberate coalition policy with the full backing of our government. It is probably the only Obama-era policy that Trump has no intention of undoing. That reminds us that this policy is the product of reflexive, bipartisan support for bad client governments in that part of the world. Because Washington continues to indulge those clients, our government has made the U.S. partly responsible for creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis that threatens the lives of millions of innocents – by Daniel Larison
9.8.2017 – Madamasr (** B K P)
Yemen’s ongoing conflict reveals a deeply divided Gulf
“The role of the Emirates in Yemen: Who will curb the danger of Abu Dhabi?” read the screen during a recent episode of Al Jazeera’s Behind the News, which featured a panel of Yemeni political analysts discussing the United Arab Emirate’s ambitions in Yemen — from occupying southern territory to seizing ports and leading a mounting southern secessionist movement.
Harsh criticism of Saudi Arabian and Emirati involvement in Yemen was unprecedented for the Doha-based news organization before the June 5 Gulf crisis, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and others withdrew their ambassadors from the country and implemented a blockade along Qatar’s solitary border.
As the boycott of Qatar remains, hardly a day passes without Al Jazeera issuing scathing critiques of the coalition’s war in Yemen, a conflict that has spawned Gulf rivalries well beyond that of Qatar’s isolation.
Before the blockade, Qatar was a member of the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis
Now that Qatar has been ostracized by Gulf states waging war in Yemen, it is at liberty to criticize and analyze the lesser known developments taking place in the midst of what has been described as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
“One of the goals of isolating Qatar was to remove it from the Yemeni stage, allowing Abu Dhabi to implement its own plan without any say from Qatar,” explains Yassin al-Tamimi, one of the Yemeni political analysts on the Behind the News panel. This was a poor calculation by the coalition, he says, as Doha’s expulsion prompted Al Jazeera to reveal violations committed by the Emiratis.
“The change in Qatar’s position, until now, can be seen in Al Jazeera’s coverage of events in Yemen that, in some ways, has become explicitly clear concerning the role of Saudi Arabia and its coalition, with a primary focus on Emirati violations in southern governorates, especially regarding secret prisons and serious violations of human rights, along with their rapid aims to affect change in this region,” Tamimi adds – by Hannah Porter
1.8.2017 – Yemen Peace Project (** A P)
DE FACTO AUTHORITIES IN YEMEN
In Yemen, as in most Arab countries, there is no clear separation of powers between the military and civilian government. The army will often act to preserve the integrity of the de facto authority, as this authority allows the military to exert greater influence over civilian politics. In doing so however, the army often finds itself acting as a repressive force against the wider population.
Consistent with this idea are the many active rebel groups that operate throughout Yemen, each united by a distinct socio-political motive. These groups have become de facto authorities, by virtue of their desire to defend their existence and power. To this end, many rebel alliances have been borne of necessity, not ideological alignment. This sets the stage for continued conflict between these rebel groups after their conflicts with external enemies are resolved. The ideological ground may be based on regional or class ideology such as Houthis and Saleh, who represents the tribes of the northern and central highlands in Yemen; al-Hirak, the Southern tribes; and Hadhramawt in southern Yemen, each of which expresses an issue or grievance. However, the ideology of political interests, or “political parties” are of more significance, as in the General People’s Congress (GPC), Islah, and Socialist parties, which include members of all stripes.
By nature, politics has authority. Both the revolution and the military coup illustrate this point. The army has always played a prominent role in shaping political processes and social change in Yemen.
Yemen, like other Arab countries, faces a challenge; Society is dominated and influenced by the will of a professional army. These professionals excel in the use of the army to defend their interests and by extension their power. By definition, there is no army far from political power in the Arab world. However, the army’s aspirations to practice political power through wielding, seizing or sharing it, is the opposite of democratic reality in developed countries; but the basis of reality in the Arab countries and Yemen, specifically.
The role of the military reflects the failure of the State's institutions in third world countries and the inability of the society to maintain its unity through dialectical interaction with the State’s institutions. The Arab States, and Yemen in particular, are characterized by weak national cohesion, which is not embodied by social cohesion. Instead the army represents the sociopolitical embodiment of the State. Therefore, any movement or political activity in the country against the ruling elite could result in instability, which can in turn be contained by several forms of repression, including the mobilization rural people to suppress political dissent in cities.
It is very interesting to compare between the two revolutions, 2011 and 2014. One thing to mention is the slogans and popular songs which have been used to mobilize youth to join the revolution. In 2011, modern music and songs spread among youth in cities; while 2014, the Houthis used rural music styles such as the zamal. The Hadi government also used rural music, the shilah, to mobilize youth to join the legitimacy.
Two years of brutal and consistent fighting in Ta’iz Governorate has created multiple paramilitary groups within the governorate.
https://www.yemenpeaceproject.org/blog-x/2017/8/9/de-facto-authorities-in-yemen
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Cholera / Most important: Cholera
11.8.2017 – Hisham Al-Omeisy (* A H)
Actually, both UN & WHO have declared that numbers under reported bcz figures based on reporting from few functioning health facilities.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/895972237270011905
11.8.2017 – Hisham Al-Omeisy (* A H)
Local health officials at mosque in Sana'a speaking to crowd announce we've crossed 500K cholera cases in #Yemen ..that's half a million ppl
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/895958603999440896
11.8.2017 – Aljazeera (* A H)
Film: Yemen cholera epidemic spreads to 21 regions
The UN is warning Yemen's cholera epidemic has spread to all but one of 22 regions. There are now almost 500,000 suspected cases. Aid workers say although the number is falling, they are worried it could rise again as the rainy season begins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbEx8-pEb0Y = http://www.aljazeera.com/video/news/2017/08/yemen-cholera-epidemic-spreads-21-regions-170811142817403.html
11.8.2017 – France 24 (* A H)
Film: Yemen registers 5,000 new cases of cholera every day
http://www.france24.com/en/video/20170811-yemen-registers-5000-new-cases-cholera-every-day
My comment: Meanwhile 7,000 was another figure given.
11.8.2017 – Deutschlandfunk (* B H)
Der Krieg verschärft die Lage
Die Cholera-Epidemie im Jemen ist nach Aussage der WHO noch längst nicht unter Kontrolle. Vor allem der Bürgerkrieg behindert die Bekämpfung: Durch mangelnde Versorgung mit Trinkwasser und Strom kann sich die Seuche so schnell ausbreiten - und die Zerstörung aller Strukturen erschwert die Hilfe.
Weil die Müllabfuhr im Jemen kaum noch funktioniert, fließt der Regen durch Abfallberge hindurch und infiziert das Grundwasser. Cholera kann relativ leicht behandelt werden, aber Nothelfer wie Claire Manera beklagen, dass viele Betroffene in schwer zugänglichen Landesteilen leben.
"Es bricht mir das Herz, wenn ich daran denke, dass Menschen immer noch in ihren Häusern sterben, weil sie uns nicht erreichen können. Sie leben zu weit entfernt oder sind zu krank, zu alt oder ihre Kinder sind zu klein. Aufgrund des Krieges haben sie oft nichts mehr."
Die Australierin Claire Manera arbeitet im Jemen für die Hilfsorganisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen.
"In einem abgelegenen Tal sprach ich mit Frauen, die an einer Quelle Wasser für ihre Kinder holten. Ich sagte zu ihnen: Ihr wisst hoffentlich, dass das Wasser mit Cholera-Bakterien verseucht ist. Ja, antworteten sie, aber wir haben doch nur dieses Wasser."
Der Krieg behindert die Cholera-Bekämpfung
Wie dramatisch die Lage ist, konnte jüngst auch der Präsident des Internationalen Komitees vom Roten Kreuz, Peter Maurer, bei einem Besuch im Jemen sehen.
Dieser Krieg behindere alle Versuche, den Cholera-Ausbruch einzudämmen, sagt UN-Sprecher Rupert Colville. Der Krieg und der Zusammenbruch aller Strukturen - das sei eine absolut tödliche Kombination – Von Jürgen Stryjak (mit Audio)
10.8.2017 – Radio Vaticana (* B H)
Jemen: „Niemand kann die Hände in Unschuld waschen“
Christliche Hilfsorganisationen und die Vereinten Nationen schlagen Alarm: Im Jemen breitet sich eine Cholera-Epidemie rasant aus. Der Krieg und die einsetzende Regenzeit verhindern mögliche Hilfsmaßnahmen. Der Apostolische Vikar für Südarabien, der Schweizer Kapuzinerpater Paul Hinder, informiert sich ständig über die Situation in dem gemarterten Land. Im Gespräch mit Radio Vatikan erläutert er:
„Es stimmt gemäß den Informationen, die ich habe, dass sich die Cholera-Epidemie sich praktisch ungehindert ausbreitet. Das liegt daran, dass das gesamte Gesundheitssystem praktisch zusammengebrochen ist. Da steht aber auch die Frage im Raum, inwieweit dies von den verschiedenen Kriegsparteien absichtlich gewollt wurde. Es weist aber einiges darauf hin, dass zumindest in einzelnen Teilen des Landes ganz bewusst auf Destruktion hingearbeitet worden ist.“
Hinzu komme, dass die internationale Blockade gegen den Jemen jeglichen Import von Hilfsgütern erschwere, erinnert Bischof Hinder. Weder Medizin noch Nahrung kämen in das Land. Die Eigenproduktion reiche bei weitem nicht aus, um die Menschen zu versorgen. „Vor allem nicht in dieser Kriegssituation“, so Hinder (mit Interview als Audio)
10.8.2017 – AP (** B H)
Yemen’s civil war turns country into cholera breeding ground
Collapsing on sidewalks and constantly vomiting, some of the Yemeni villagers barely make it to the tiny health center where doctors spread carton sheets in the backyard and use trees to hang bags of IV fluids for patients.
They are part of a stream of hundreds of suspected cholera victims that continues to converge on the center from the impoverished town of Bani Haydan in Yemen’s northern Hajja province. Just hours after being infected, vomiting and diarrhea cause severe dehydration that can kill without rapid intervention.
Yemen’s raging two-year conflict has turned the country into an incubator for lethal cholera: Primitive sanitation and water systems put Yemenis at risk of drinking feces-contaminated water; wells are dirtied by runoff from rainfall on piles of garbage left uncollected for weeks; farmland is irrigated with broken sewers due to lax oversight and corruption; medical intervention is delayed due to unpaid government employees and half of the country’s health facilities are out of service.
The cholera outbreak in Haiti has killed more than 9,000 people since 2010, but Yemen has seen the largest outbreak of the disease ever recorded in any country in a single year. The United Nations and international aid organizations say they are shocked at the speed and scale of the outbreak.
“It’s a cholera paradise,” said George Khoury, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen. “It’s a recipe for disaster.”
One in every 120 Yemenis is now suspected of being sick with cholera, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The role the war has played in Yemen’s cholera outbreak can’t be overemphasized, said Adeeb al-Rassabi, Sanaa general coordinator for the Electronic Disease and Warning System, the country’s epidemic surveillance system. If not for the conflict, “we would have been able to contain cholera in no more than one month, no more, no doubt.”
But the outbreak returned with a vengeance in late April and Khoury pointed to the failure of the surveillance system designed to spot early cases as a primary reason for its return.
“This is like a fire alarm so if there is smoke and the system is not working, the fire will rage (throughout) the entire place,” he said.
Yemen’s civil war pits a Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government against Shiite Houthi rebels. Disputes between the government and Houthis over revenues have left about a million civil servants, including 30,000 medical staffers, without salaries since September.
Rima al-Youssefi, head of the surveillance system, defended her agency, telling The Associated Press that employees work around the clock without pay. “There is no budget ... there is a severe shortage of everything,” she said.
Her agency is just one of many state bodies that have been left to fall apart without help from the international community. Although the U.N. has appealed for $2.1 billion for relief work this year, only 44 percent has been funded.
In the town of Kohlan al-Sharaf, not far from Bani Haydan, doctors use overhead flashlights to examine patients in a school converted into a makeshift health center after the facility next door reached full capacity.
Cash-strapped doctors say they haven’t been paid for months and some have pawned their wives’ jewelry to buy clean water. Health workers tasked to monitor, collect and report data to the central agency are in debt, even borrowing money to charge their phones – By AHMED AL-HAJ and MAGGIE MICHAEL (with photos, film)
https://apnews.com/b6a81d7b7c0e4708a31cc41a1226e1cc and film. https://twitter.com/AP/status/895529629058035712 and photos: http://billingsgazette.com/news/world/photos-yemen-s-civil-war-turns-country-into-cholera-breeding/collection_4c63756e-49ea-547d-b67c-d5ba666cf378.html = http://bismarcktribune.com/news/world/photos-yemen-s-civil-war-turns-country-into-cholera-breeding/collection_fcc7e7f9-c5d5-5c0d-953c-0db3dddeee8a.html
10.8.2017 – The Guardian (** B H)
Bombed bin trucks, breeding bacteria, dirty water: Yemen’s cholera explosion
Red Cross worker Choung-Kyu Ryu describes the devastation being caused by the two-year long conflict in Yemen, where one in 62 now has cholera
Sometimes the things that don’t make headlines can have a huge impact. For instance, the rubbish is piling up because the bin lorries have been damaged by shelling.
As a result, the lorry operators have lost their jobs, and with them the salaries they need to buy food for their families. Rubbish heaps in the streets become perfect breeding grounds for bacteria, while children go hungry.
It’s no surprise that Yemen now faces what the World Health Organization calls “the worst cholera outbreak in the world”.
Yet this waterborne disease is very easy to prevent and treat. Clean water is the key. I was brought in by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to manage the repair and operation of water and sanitation systems in Taiz, and surrounding areas, months before the cholera outbreak started. However, the conflict means we have been beset by problems at every turn.
Chlorine is essential as it keeps water clean and kills the bacteria that cause cholera. When the outbreak started, there was not enough chlorine available in local markets for people to buy what they needed.
The ICRC bought chlorine from different locations worldwide to meet the needs in Yemen. Thanks to the logistics efforts, we were able to bring tons of chlorine from Jordan, Switzerland, and Kenya and have already received 3.5 tons for Taiz.
But we have to cross frontlines to reach quite a few of the target destinations for chlorinating water systems. There are dozens of security checkpoints on the road from Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, to Taiz. This trip of around 284km (176 miles) should take around seven hours. Imagine how checkpoints are slowing down our road trips.
This is an issue even in the countryside.
In this extremely complicated environment, the strict neutrality of the Red Cross helps keep us going. In spite of the difficulties, we have been able to repair a few damaged water systems and to provide chlorine to water boards. We are working on a project to establish automatic chlorination devices in seven wells serving 60,000 people in Ibb.
Another unexpected effect of the fighting is that shelling and ground fighting have destroyed not only homes and public buildings, but also sewer systems. We’re cleaning and repairing sewers in Taiz to ensure that wastewater can drain properly. This is essential in cholera prevention and to bring back some semblance of dignity and normal life – by Choung-Kyu Ryu, British Red Cross water and sanitation engineer for the International Committee of the Red Cross
8.8.2017 – News Deeply (** B H)
Yemen’s Cholera Epidemic Puts Pregnant Women at Greater Risk than Ever
Before the cholera outbreak in war-torn Yemen, getting access to maternal healthcare was already a problem for women. Now the outbreak, the conflict and entrenched gender norms are proving a deadly combination for women and girls
IN YEMEN, JUST getting a check-up or reaching a functioning maternity hospital has been a struggle for pregnant women since conflict broke out in 2014. Now, the mass outbreak of cholera has seen the situation go from bad to worse. More than 400,000 people have been infected, and a further 1,800 killed so far.
Failure to respond to the crisis means that an estimated 1,000 Yemeni women and girls may die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth this year. Nearly two in five maternal and reproductive health facilities have closed since the conflict began, and critical maternal health medicines have been in short supply.
Women and girls are uniquely vulnerable to the cholera outbreak. Because of entrenched gender norms and roles, they bear most household responsibilities, such as fetching water and cleaning latrines, and are therefore more exposed to the bacteria that cause the disease.
And if a woman, pregnant or not, falls ill, her lack of control over household resources means she may not be able to get the medical care she needs.
Without prenatal care and delivery services, women are vulnerable to infection, miscarriage, premature delivery, stillbirths, severe long-term illness and disability, including fistula, and even death.
The situation in Yemen is just another example of how pregnant women are disproportionately more vulnerable than men in crises. Whether a woman lives or dies often depends on whether she can access basic reproductive and maternal health services, which too often take a backseat to other urgent needs, like food and shelter.
A gender-sensitive humanitarian response that takes women’s reproductive health concerns into account may also contribute to recovery, once the fighting has ended.
Meeting the acute needs of Yemen’s women and girls is a moral imperative, and the entire international community has a role to play in saving lives – by Natalia Kanem
cp1b Schlepper werfen Flüchtlinge ins Meer / Traffickers drown refugees
10.8.2017– Reuters (** A H)
UN - Schlepper zwingen Migranten vor Jemen zu Sprung ins Meer
Vor der Küste des Jemen sind nach UN-Angaben erneut zahlreiche Migranten von Menschenschmugglern auf dem offenen Meer ausgesetzt worden.
Die Schlepper hätten etwa 180 Menschen gezwungen, von ihrem Boot in die stürmische See zu springen, teilte die zur UN gehörende Organisation für Migration (IOM) am Donnerstag mit. Dabei seien offenbar 55 der Somalier und Äthiopier ertrunken. Es sei der zweite Vorfall dieser Art binnen zwei Tagen, nachdem am Mittwoch ein Menschenschmuggler 120 Menschen gezwungen habe, sein Boot zu verlassen. 50 afrikanische Jugendliche seien ertrunken.
"Das ist vielleicht der Beginn eines neuen Trends", sagte IOM-Sprecherin Olivia Headon der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters. "Die Schmuggler wissen, dass die Situation gefährlich für sie ist und auf sie geschossen werden könnte. Also setzen sie sie in der Nähe der Küste aus."
https://de.reuters.com/article/fl-chtlinge-jemen-idDEKBN1AQ1V5
10.8.2017 – Spiegel Online (** A H)
Schlepper werfen erneut Flüchtlinge ins Meer
Es ist der zweite derartige Vorfall in 24 Stunden: Menschenschmuggler haben vor der jemenitischen Küste afrikanische Flüchtlinge ins Meer gestoßen. Es gibt offenbar Dutzende Tote und Vermisste.
Menschenschmuggler haben offenbar erneut Dutzende Flüchtlinge vor der Küste Jemens ins Meer gestoßen. Das berichtet die Internationale Organisation für Migration (IOM).
Demnach kamen mindestens fünf afrikanische Flüchtlinge ums Leben, 50 weitere würden vermisst. Es handelte sich bereits um den zweiten derartigen Vorfall innerhalb von 24 Stunden. Bereits am Mittwoch waren nach Angaben der IOM mindestens 29 Flüchtlinge ertrunken, nachdem Schlepper 120 Menschen vor der jemenitischen Küste ins Meer geworfen hatten.
"Das ist vielleicht der Beginn eines neuen Trends", sagte IOM-Sprecherin Olivia Headon. "Die Schmuggler wissen, dass die Situation gefährlich für sie ist und auf sie geschossen werden könnte." Darum setzten die Schlepper die Menschen vor der Küste aus.
10.8.2017 – Web.de (** A H)
Jemen: Schlepper ertränken schon wieder Migranten
Es ist an Brutalität kaum zu übertreffen: Schlepper haben binnen 24 Stunden vor der Küste des Jemens bei zwei Vorfällen zahlreiche Migranten aus Somalia und Äthiopien ertrinken lassen, wie die Internationale Organisation für Migration (IOM) mitteilte.
Offenbar nahmen sie den Tod der Menschen an Bord ihrer Boote in Kauf, um ihrer Festnahme zu entgehen.
Bei dem jüngsten Vorfall am Donnerstag wurden demnach bis zu 180 Menschen ins Wasser gestoßen. Mindestens fünf Menschen starben, weitere 50 gelten als vermisst. Viele Migranten können nicht schwimmen.
Erst am Mittwoch hatten IOM-Mitarbeiter bei einer Routine-Patrouille im Jemen am Strand von Schabwa 29 Leichen in flachen Gräbern entdeckt. Überlebende, die die Toten rasch bestattet hatten, berichteten der IOM, dass ein Schlepper kurz zuvor mehr als 120 Migranten von einem Boot ins Wasser gedrängt habe, als er an der Küste Behördenmitarbeiter entdeckte.
Er habe die Migranten ihrem Schicksal überlassen - und sich selbst auf den Rückweg nach Somalia gemacht, um auf derselben Route mehr Migranten an die jemenitische Küste zu bringen. 22 der Migranten werden noch vermisst.
Auf diesem Seeweg zählte die IOM in diesem Jahr bereits 103 Tote, im vergangenen Jahr waren es 235. "Zu viele junge Menschen bezahlen Schmuggler in der fälschlichen Hoffnung auf eine bessere Zukunft."
16 Jahre alt seien die Migranten im Durchschnitt gewesen, die am Mittwoch von dem Schlepper im Wasser zurückgelassen wurden. Der Großteil der Migranten, der vom Horn von Afrika über das Rote Meer und den Golf von Aden kommt, ist nach IOM-Angaben minderjährig.
10.8.2017 – Spiegel Online (** A H)
Schlepper zwingt Flüchtlinge über Bord - mindestens 29 Tote
Vor der Küste des Jemen sind mindestens 29 Flüchtlinge ertrunken: Ein Schlepper hatte sie Augenzeugenberichten zufolge gezwungen, ins Wasser zu springen.
Nach Angaben der Internationalen Organisation für Migration (IOM) sind vor der Küste des Jemen mindestens 29 Flüchtlinge ums Leben gekommen. Sie seien ertrunken, nachdem ein Schlepper sie gezwungen habe, ins Wasser zu springen. Das erklärte die in Genf ansässige IOM unter Berufung auf Augenzeugen. Die überlebenden Flüchtlinge hätten die Leichen notdürftig an einem Strand in der südlichen Provinz Schabwa verscharrt. Mindestens 22 Menschen werden den Angaben zufolge noch vermisst.
Insgesamt befanden sich auf dem Schiff demnach mehr als 120 Flüchtlinge aus Somalia und Äthiopien. Überlebende hätten berichtete, dass der Schlepper sie ins Wasser gestoßen habe, als er an der Küste Behördenmitarbeiter entdeckte. Danach sei er wieder in Richtung Somalia aufgebrochen, um auf derselben Route mehr Flüchtlinge an die jemenitische Küste zu bringen.
10.8.2017 – NZZ (* B H)
Afrikanische Bootsflüchtlinge in Jemen: Am Horn der Verzweiflung
Ein Menschenschmuggler hat Dutzende afrikanische Migranten im Teenageralter absichtlich ins Meer gestossen. Ihr Tod vor Jemens Küste wirft ein Schlaglicht auf das Elend am Horn von Afrika.
Dennoch steuern immer wieder Bootsflüchtlinge vom Horn von Afrika auf die jemenitische Küste zu: Sie hoffen meist, auf diesem Weg weiter in eine der benachbarten Golfmonarchien zu gelangen.
Dafür nehmen sie nicht nur eine riskante Seereise in Kauf, sondern auch die Durchquerung eines der gefährlichsten Kriegsgebiete weltweit. In Jemen, wo die Staatsmacht zusammengebrochen ist, sind die Migranten Schmugglern und kriminellen Netzwerken ausgeliefert. Sie riskieren, entführt, missbraucht und gegen Lösegeldzahlungen ihrer Verwandten freigepresst zu werden.
Die Internationale Organisation für Migration (IOM) berichtete gleich von zwei Vorfällen, bei denen insgesamt etwa 300 Afrikaner von Schmugglern ins Meer gestossen wurden.
Die IOM schätzt, dass seit Jahresbeginn etwa 55'000 Afrikaner über den Seeweg vom Horn von Afrika nach Jemen kamen. Über 30'000 von ihnen sind laut der Organisation minderjährige Somalier und Äthiopier. Sie fliehen vor humanitären Krisenherden und hoffen in vielen Fällen, in einem der Zielländer Arbeit zu finden und so das Überleben für sich und für ihre Familien zu sichern – von Monika Bolliger
10.8.2017 – International Organization for Migration (** A H)
Another 180 migrants forced from boat today, a day after 50 Somalis, Ethiopians were drowned by smugglers off Yemen
Up to 180 migrants are reported to have been forced from a boat today (10/08) by smugglers off the coast of Yemen. Five bodies have been recovered so far and around 50 are reported missing. This latest incident comes barely 24 hours after smugglers forced more than 120 Somali and Ethiopian migrants into the sea as they approached the coast of Shabwa, a Yemeni Governorate along the Arabian Sea resulting in the drowning of around 50 migrants. The migrants had been hoping to reach countries in the Gulf via war-torn Yemen.
Shortly after the tragedy, staff from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, found the shallow graves of 29 migrants on a beach in Shabwa, during a routine patrol. The dead had been quickly buried by those who survived the smuggler’s deadly actions. IOM is working closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross to ensure appropriate care for the deceased migrants’ remains.
IOM’s medical staff also provided urgent care to the 27 surviving migrants, both females and males, who had remained on the beach. IOM provided initial health checks and assistance, including food, water and other emergency relief. Some of the survivors (approximately 42 in addition to the 27 survivors IOM spoke to) had already left the beach before being assisted. Twenty-two migrants are reportedly still missing and unaccounted for. The approximate average age of the passengers on the boat was 16.
"The survivors told our colleagues on the beach that the smuggler pushed them to the sea, when he saw some ‘authority types’ near the coast," explained Laurent de Boeck, the IOM Yemen Chief of Mission. "They also told us that the smuggler has already returned to Somalia to continue his business and pick up more migrants to bring to Yemen on the same route. This is shocking and inhumane. The suffering of migrants on this migration route is enormous. Too many young people pay smugglers with the false hope of a better future," continued de Boeck.
Since January 2017 to date, IOM estimates that around 55,000 migrants left the Horn of Africa to come to Yemen, most with the aim of trying to find better opportunities in the Gulf countries. More than 30,000 of those migrants are under the age of 18 from Somalia and Ethiopia, while a third are estimated to be female.
This journey is especially hazardous during the current windy season in the Indian Ocean. Smugglers are active in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, offering fake promises to vulnerable migrants. IOM and its partners operate across the region to support these migrants and provide lifesaving assistance to those who find themselves abused or stranded along the route.
http://www.iom.int/news/another-180-migrants-forced-boat-today-day-after-50-somalis-ethiopians-were-drowned-smugglers = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/another-180-migrants-forced-boat-today-day-after-50-somalis-ethiopians-were-drowned and film: IOM Chief Swing’s statement: https://twitter.com/UNmigration/status/895671210079551488 and report by The Independent, with film, showing victims: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/migrants-smuggler-boat-yemen-drown-push-off-ethiopia-somalia-iom-shabwa-a7886561.html
11.8.2017 – Aljazeera (** A H)
Over 150 refugees 'thrown' into Yemen sea, 13 missing
At least six dead and 13 missing after at least 160 refugees forced off boat – the second such incident in 24 hours
More refugees and migrants have been "deliberately drowned" by human smugglers for the second time in 24 hours off the coast of Yemen, according to the United Nations migration agency.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement late on Thursday that its staff found six bodies on the beach - two male and four female - and 13 people are still missing.
It said 84 migrants left the beach before IOM staff arrived while it provided emergency medical assistance as well as food and water to 57 surviving migrants.
The UN migration agency said 160 Ethiopian migrants were violently forced into the Arabian Sea on Thursday.
"It is indeed a very dramatic situation," Laurent de Boeck, the agency's chief for Yemen, told Al Jazeera from Brussels on Thursday.
"They were in a boat with smugglers, who dropped them at sea before arriving at the shore. Some people have disappeared. But others were actually buried by their friends on the beaches."
De Boeck said the incident was reported by some of the survivors, whom he described as "exhausted and under shock".
"This situation is new," he said, adding that "it is the first time" that his agency documented people being forced out of the boats by smugglers before reaching the shores.
De Boeck said that the civil war in Yemen and the collapse of the state have allowed "criminal networks to act freely", endangering many refugees and migrants.
William Lacy Swing, the head of IOM, lamented the deaths in a video posted on Twitter, saying there was "something fundamentally wrong with this world if countless numbers of children can be deliberately and ruthlessly drowned".
He described the smuggling route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen as "a busy and extremely dangerous route" because of the conflict there.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/200-refugees-thrown-yemen-sea-50-missing-170810104006798.html
10.8.2017 –Reuters (** A H)
Nineteen migrants feared drowned after being forced from boat off Yemen: U.N. agency
About 180 Ethiopian and Somali migrants, many weakened by hunger and drought in their home countries, were forced from a boat into rough seas off Yemen by smugglers on Thursday and 19 were presumed drowned, the U.N. migration agency said.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) had earlier estimated the death toll higher, at 55.
It was the second such deadly incident in as many days off Shabwa province in southern Yemen, where 50 teenage African migrants were "deliberately drowned" on Wednesday by a smuggler who forced 120 passengers off his boat, the IOM said.
"Throughout the journey, migrants had been brutally treated by the smugglers," it said in a statement that described migrants being forced to squat during the 24-36 hour journey to save space, with no access to a bathroom.
"If one of the migrants accidentally moved, he would be beaten or even killed," the IOM said.
Twenty nine dead bodies washed up on the shore after Wednesday's tragedy while 27 others made it alive to the shore, it said.
"They were shocked, exhausted and quite desperate," Laurent de Boeck, the IOM Yemen Chief of Mission, told Reuters in an interview in Brussels.
Smugglers were pushing migrants into the sea away from the mainland for fear of government boats, amid reinforced border controls, or to avoid encountering armed groups on shore in the war-torn country. They were then going back to Africa to pick up more migrants.
"The smugglers are panicking," de Boeck said, adding that reinforced border controls along the coast could be having a counter-productive effect.
IOM spokeswoman Olivia Headon said dropping migrants off near the shore could mark the start of a new trend.
"These people are really thin. There is an ongoing drought situation in Somalia and Ethiopia. Some may not have had much strength to make it alive to the shore," she added.
Referring to the 19 people feared drowned in Thursday's incident, the IOM statement said: "Staff from IOM... found six bodies on the beach – two male and four female. An additional 13 Ethiopian migrants are still missing (unaccounted for)." – by Stephanie Nebehay and Charlotte Steenackers
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-migrants-idUSKBN1AQ18F
9.8.2017 – Aljazeera (** A H)
Nearly 200 refugees 'thrown' into Yemen sea, 50 missing
At least 180 refugees forced off boat near Yemen coast, killing five, in the second such incident within 24 hours.
More refugees and migrants have been "deliberately drowned" by human smugglers for the second time in 24 hours off the coast of Yemen, according to the United Nation's migration agency.
Patrol teams from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) found in the south of Yemen at least five bodies on Thursday morning, and are still searching for at least 50 more who remain missing.
"It is indeed a very dramatic situation," Laurent de Boeck, the agency's Yemen chief of mission, told Al Jazeera from Brussels on Thursday.
"They were in a boat with smugglers, who dropped them at sea before arriving at the shores. Some people have disappeared. But others were actually buried by their friends on the beaches."
De Boeck said the incident was reported by some of the survivors, whom he described as "exhausted and under shock".
"This situation is new," he said, adding that "it is the first time" that his agency documented people being forced out of the boats by smugglers before reaching the shores.
De Boeck said that the civil war in Yemen and the collapse of the state have allowed "criminal networks to act freely", endangering many refugees and migrants.
On Wednesday, IOM reported that up to 50 refugees, many from Somalia and Ethiopia, had drowned.
"The survivors told our colleagues on the beach that the smuggler pushed them to the sea when he saw some 'authority types' near the coast," said de Boeck in an earlier interview on Wednesday.
In the incident on Wednesday, the smuggler forced more than 120 people into the sea as they approached Yemen's coast, the IOM statement said.
The passengers' average age was 16, the agency said.
De Boeck told Al Jazeera on Thursday that smugglers from Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia work with their counterparts in Yemen to transport people across the Horn of Africa.
The narrow waters between the Horn of Africa and Yemen have been a popular migration route despite Yemen's ongoing conflict. Refugees and migrants try to make their way to the oil-rich Gulf countries.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/200-refugees-thrown-yemen-sea-50-missing-170810104006798.html
10.8.2017 – Voice of America (** A H)
Search Underway for Smugglers After Migrants Drown Off Yemen
The International Organization for Migration says it is searching for smugglers who it says forced 120 Somalis and Ethiopians into the sea as their vessel approached the Yemeni coast, causing more than 50 teenage migrants to drown.
“There was one lead smuggler who was directly instructing the migrants, but he did have other smugglers working on the boat with him who were armed with guns and other weapons. So, the migrants had a choice," she said. "They would either be harmed more than they probably had been on the journey, shot or go jump into the sea. Some were actually physically pushed as well.”
“Boats are making this journey all the time where people are being abused and raped on route so that their families will pay more… Some people are paying as little as $100 U.S., but then on route they are tortured, they are abused, their families are made aware of this and are forced to pay $1,000 or to $2,000 more.”
Headon says it is unlikely the smugglers will be caught, nevertheless, the IOM is trying to gather more information on the smugglers to pass on to the authorities. She says greater international cooperation is needed to halt or reduce the trade in human beings – by Lisa Schlein
https://www.voanews.com/a/smugglers-african-migrants-yemen-coast/3979947.html
9.8.2017 - International Organization for Migration (** A H)
Up to 50 Somali, Ethiopian Migrants Deliberately Drowned by Smugglers off Yemen
Early this morning (09/08), a human smuggler, in charge of the boat, forced more than 120 Somali and Ethiopian migrants into the pitching sea as they approached the coast of Shabwa, a Yemeni Governorate along the Arabian Sea. The migrants had been hoping to reach countries in the Gulf via war-torn Yemen.
Shortly after the tragedy, staff from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, found the shallow graves of 29 migrants on a beach in Shabwa, during a routine patrol. The dead had been buried rapidly by those who survived the smuggler’s deadly actions. IOM is working closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross to ensure appropriate care for the deceased migrants’ remains.
IOM’s medical staff also provided urgent care to the 27 surviving migrants, both females and males, who had remained on the beach. IOM provided initial health checks and assistance, including food, water and other emergency relief. Some of the survivors had already left the beach before being assisted. 22 migrants are reportedly still missing and unaccounted for. The approximate average age of the passengers on the boat was 16.
"The survivors told our colleagues on the beach that the smuggler pushed them to the sea, when he saw some ‘authority types’ near the coast," explained Laurent de Boeck, the IOM Yemen Chief of Mission. "They also told us that the smuggler has already returned to Somalia to continue his business and pick up more migrants to bring to Yemen on the same route. This is shocking and inhumane. The suffering of migrants on this migration route is enormous. Too many young people pay smugglers with the false hope of a better future," continued de Boeck.
Since January 2017 to date, IOM estimates that around 55,000 migrants left the Horn of Africa to come to Yemen, most with the aim of trying to find better opportunities in the Gulf countries. More than 30,000 of those migrants are under the age of 18 from Somalia and Ethiopia, while a third are estimated to be female.
This journey is especially hazardous during the current windy season in the Indian Ocean. Smugglers are active in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, offering fake promises to vulnerable migrants. IOM and its partners operate across the region to support these migrants and provide lifesaving assistance to those who find themselves abused or stranded along the route.
https://www.iom.int/news/50-somali-ethiopian-migrants-deliberately-drowned-smugglers-yemen-0 = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/50-somali-ethiopian-migrants-deliberately-drowned-smugglers-yemen and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz5IYnxQuKc
9.8.2017 – AFP (** A H)
Yemen: dozens drown off coast as smugglers force refugees into water
Women and children among the 29 dead and 22 missing from group of Somali and Ethiopian migrants
Smugglers forced more than 120 Somali and Ethiopian migrants into rough seas off Yemenon Wednesday, leaving 29 dead and 22 missing, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM said it had found the shallow graves of 29 migrants on a beach in the southern province of Shabwa after they had been buried by survivors.
“The smugglers deliberately pushed the migrants into the waters since they feared that they would be arrested by the authorities once they reach the shore,” said an IOM emergency officer in Aden.
Then they “simply went back to where they came from to pick more migrants and try to smuggle them into Yemen, again”.
The IOM officer said there were “many women and children among those who died and those who are still missing”.
An IOM statement said its staff had provided urgent care to surviving migrants who had stayed on the beach.
It estimated the average age of the migrants on the boat at about 16.
My comment: Incredible that humans are doing such things.
cp2 Allgemein / General
10.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P T)
Yemen Security Brief
Militants claim to shoot down al Houthi-Saleh drone in al Bayda governorate, central Yemen; Hadi government-aligned forces repel al Houthi-Saleh offensive in western Taiz governorate, western Yemen; al Houthi-Saleh forces deploy toward southern al Bayda governorate; UN Security Council condemns belligerents for worsening famine in Yemen
9.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P T)
Yemen Security Brief
Al Houthi-Saleh faction expresses willingness to negotiate without UN envoy; Yemeni security forces mobilize in Abyan governorate, southern Yemen; AQAP emphasizes strength in Shabwah governorate, southern Yemen; clashes intensify in Taiz governorate, western Yemen; UN and aid organizations call for reopening of Sana’a airport; gunmen attempt to assassinate relative of President Hadi in Aden city
11.8.2017 – Deutsche Welle (* B K)
Yemen's war explained in 4 key points
Yemen is in the midst of a humanitarian catastrophe, yet after two years of intense fighting, it has been dubbed "the forgotten war." DW looks at the key points in understanding the crisis.
Yemen's recent history is one of division and bloodshed. Until the early 1960s, the country was ruled by a monarchy in the north and the British in the south. Coups in both regions plunged the country into decades of violence, ending with reunification in 1990.
The Middle Eastern nation has long been one of the region's poorest. In 2015, it was ranked 168 out of 188 countries on the Human Development Index, which measures life expectancy, education and standard of living.
Prior to the war, Yemen's population of more than 20 million was projected to double to by 2035. Amid high unemployment and dissatisfaction with the ruling Saleh family, the country was ready for change when the Arab Spring swept across North Africa and the Middle East in 2011.
When did the war begin?
Who is fighting whom?
Who is involved in the Saudi Arabia-led coalition?
What are the main concerns in the humanitarian crisis? – by Kathleen Schuster
http://www.dw.com/en/yemens-war-explained-in-4-key-points/a-40056866
Remark: Introduction.
Comment: Quite simplistic.
It is not mentioned, for instance, that by 2014 many Yemenis were 'unhappy' with Hadi's government, deemed distant from virtually the vast majority of the population.
Hadi resigned and ran away twice (from Sanaa, where he was put under house arrest) and from Aden.
In Aden - the de facto capital according to the government in exile in Saudi Arabia - Hadi pays 'occasional visits'.
Not one aspect of Yemen has improved since March 26 2015.
It is time, for the international community and those supporting his 'recognised government' to take a stand in favour of justice and humanity. Time to speak for 27 million Yemenis dying under bombs, killed by cholera, famine, poverty, disease. Blocked by a siege and left to rot in displacement camps.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1465029550216737
11.8.2017 – RT (* B H K P)
Völkermord mit westlicher Beihilfe: Humanitäre Lage im Jemen wird immer katastrophaler
Der vom Westen unterstützte Krieg Saudi-Arabiens gegen den Jemen hat das Land in eine schwere humanitäre Katastrophe gestürzt. Millionen Menschen leiden akut Hunger. Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation hat inzwischen fast eine halbe Million Cholera-Fälle registriert. Täglich kommen Tausende hinzu.
Der vom Westen unterstützte Krieg Saudi-Arabiens gegen den Jemen hat das Land in eine schwere humanitäre Katastrophe gestürzt. Millionen Menschen leiden akut Hunger. Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation hat inzwischen fast eine halbe Million Cholera-Fälle registriert. Täglich kommen Tausende hinzu.
Die Hilfsorganisation Oxfam spricht vom schwersten Cholera-Ausbruch seit über einem halben Jahrhundert:
Der Krieg hat die Wirtschaft zerstört und Millionen Menschen die Einkommensgrundlage genommen. Drei Millionen Menschen befinden sich auf der Flucht. Er hat eine Krise herbeigeführt, durch die sieben Millionen Menschen vor dem Hungertod stehen. Durch den Krieg wurde die Hälfte der medizinischen Einrichtungen zerstört, was den schwersten Ausbruch von Cholera seit über 50 Jahren befördert hat."
Die Hilfsorganisation erhebt schwere Vorwürfe gegenüber dem Westen: „Diese Länder liefern die Waffen und leisten militärische Unterstützung, so wie die USA und Großbritannien. Sie befeuern einen Krieg, der eine ganze Nation in eine Katastrophe stürzt.“ Für viele Menschen, die durch den Krieg und Hunger geschwächt sind, erweise sich die Cholera als der finale „K.O.-Schlag“.
11.8.2017 – Seattle Times (* B K P)
The U.S. can stop the humanitarian disaster in Yemen
These horrifying statistics are not just the result of the war imposed on Yemen by Saudi Arabia and its allies, but are the result of a systematic strategy to starve the civilians of Yemen as a tactic of that war.
With many family members still in Yemen, I have had to purchase medicine for them from the U.S. and ship at exorbitant prices, without guarantees of if or when it will arrive. Other times I have purchased medicine from Jordan or Lebanon and then sought potential travelers to Yemen who could take the medicine with them. And I am the lucky one. I have the means to buy and get the medicine to my family members, but that is not an option for most sick people with life-threatening illnesses.
Saudi Arabia must lift the blockade and allow the commercial flow of ships and airlines into Yemen unhindered. The United Nations and countries of the Western world, especially the U.S. and the U.K. that provide logistical and intelligence support in the Saudi war on Yemen, must demand a lifting of the blockade. If this cannot be done, no amount of aid in the world can save a nation of 27 million people from famine.
Most Americans would be horrified at the thought that American policy may be a direct cause of starvation for millions of innocent people. There are simple ways that we can demand that the blockade be lifted and that U.S. support for the Saudi war efforts be stopped – by Aisha Jumaan
http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/the-us-can-stop-the-humanitarian-disaster-in-yemen/
11.8.2017 – RT (* B K P)
Intl. Community recoils as Saudi Arabia goes on 'Crusade' of mass killing in Yemen
It would be ludicrous for any of us to argue against self-defense when we have proclaimed our right to combat terrorism on that very premise. It would be intellectually hypocritical to deny Yemen its freedom on account its invader can afford better media coverage, and stronger political friendships to disguise its crimes under a veneer of respectability.
Yemen is into the third year of a brutal conflict with Saudi Arabia, and millions of innocents stand not only in the line of fire but before death’s doors for their murder was architected in Riyadh’s palaces.
As experts continue to argue legitimacy, political necessity, and geopolitical pragmatism so that, we, the public, would not question the how and why of Yemen’s war, lives are being lost. A nation’s future is being crushed, and most despicable of all, children are being held hostage to Riyadh’s game of thrones.
Seyed Hassan Ali al-Emad, the founder and head of Yemen’s new rising political party, the Future of Justice spoke to me in an exclusive interview of the horrors civilians have been made to endure to appease al-Saud's hunger for domination.
Maybe we all could do with a reality check here and consider that behind every casualty lies a life, a family, and a future interrupted. Our propensity to express outrage according to socio-political factors and geography has become dangerous liabilities since they have empowered mass-murderers. What else should we call Saudi Arabia? – by Catherine Shakdam
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/399304-yemen-famine-children-war-saudi/
10.8.2017 – The Nib (* B H K)
Comic: Rubble is universal
In Yemen, a two-year (and counting) bombing campaign is yielding a familiar sight.
Comic by Ghadi Ghosn and Yazan Al-Saadi
https://thenib.com/yemen-rubble?t=recent
Remark: Yazan Al-Saadi is Syrian.
10.8.2017 – Sputnik News (* B K P)
Saudi-Arabien als Handlanger der USA im Jemen-Krieg - Friede nicht in Sicht
Die USA haben seit Kriegsbeginn im Jemen die Koalition mit Saudi-Arabien an der Spitze mit militärischen Lieferungen unterstützt und ihr notwendige geheime Informationen zur Verfügung gestellt, sagte der ehemalige Chef einer politischen Abteilung der jemenitischen Partei „Hizb Al-Haq“, Ahmed Ali al-Bahri, gegenüber Sputnik.
Al-Bahri kritisierte die Aussagen des amerikanischen Botschafters im Jemen, wonach Washington keine Lösung für die jemenitische Krise habe. Der Politiker verwies in einem Interview mit Sputnik darauf, dass Saudi-Arabien den Krieg auf Anweisung der USA eingeleitet habe und kein Vorgehen ohne vorbereitende Vereinbarung mit den USA unternehme.
„Wenn Washington die Krise stoppen wollte, würde es Druck auf alle Konfliktparteien ausüben. Die Erklärungen des US-Botschafters wurden gemacht, nachdem das jemenitische Volk abgesagt hatte, die Initiative von Ould Cheikh (der UN-Sonderbeauftragte für den Jemen – Anm. d. Red.) zu akzeptieren. Die Jemeniten sind der Meinung, dass diese Initiative sie entwürdige und eine Gefahr für die Stabilität ihres Landes darstelle. Zudem sah man darin eine Ausrede für das Vorgehen von Saudi-Arabien im Jemen, was aber die wahre Sachlage verfälscht“, sagte al-Bahri.
https://de.sputniknews.com/politik/20170810316965426-saudi-arabien-usa-jemen-krieg/
10.8.2017 – Sputnik News (* B K P)
Saudi War in Yemen ‘Spiraling Out of Control’, Human Rights Abuse Runs Rampant
A new report from the Norwegian Refugee Council has estimated that 10,000 residents of the Yemeni capital of Sana’a have died from preventable illnesses as a result of a Saudi Arabian blockade depriving the citizens of medical care. Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear discussed the blockade and the larger significance of the Saudi presence in Yemen.
Host Walter Smolarek was joined by Alexander Mercouris, editor-in-chief of The Duran, a UK-based outlet that describes itself as "a conservative news-media platform that advances a realpolitik position."
The 10,000 preventable deaths are "a huge atrocity, it is one that is barely reported, it is a horrible dirty war that is being fought in Yemen," Mercouris said. "The people who are prosecuting the war are the Saudis who have put together a whole coalition of states that are trying to impose their will on Yemen."
"I don't think there's any justification, legal or moral, behind it whatsoever. And the Western powers… are turning a blind eye to this disaster which, you can see from the report that you have just read, has a huge humanitarian dimension."
The Yemeni conflict has been relatively uncovered by Western media compared to the Syrian Civil War, Mercouris says, because groups opposed to the West (the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, Russia, Iran) are involved in the fighting in Syria while Saudi Arabia, a US ally, is the primary foreign actor in Yemen.
"We don't criticize what our allies do in Yemen even though what they're doing is actually terrible. But we do criticize to an extraordinary degree what our enemies, or the people we say are our enemies, do in a place like Aleppo," Mercouris said, referring to fighting there that has led to more than 30,000 deaths since 2012.
The war got nastier as the Saudi situation quickly deteriorated, Mercouris said. The Saudis are now "taking out their anger and frustration on the people of Yemen by doing some of the things that we've been talking about, like basically closing the airport in Sana'a, denying people the opportunity to get medical care, increasing bombing, doing all the various other things that have been happening in this war, and it is getting worse."
The Saudi rationale for their presence in Yemen, according to Mercouris, is to counter the specter of Iran in Yemen. "Now, I have to say I am extremely skeptical about that," Mercouris added, before saying that the converse may have become true: the Saudi presence may have strengthened Iran's ties with the Houthis. "When people are being attacked in Yemen, like the Houthis are, by Saudi Arabia, they inevitably tend to look at the one powerful country that might provide them with some support."
"Having said this, it's important to say that the extent of Iranian help to the Houthis is very disputed
[the Saudis] are using these internal politics and these long-standing divisions, which have existed in Yemen for a very long time, in their own interests."
But this strategy is backfiring, in Mercouris' opinion. "What they are doing, though, is they are actually consolidating large parts of Yemen's society against them. It's perhaps important at this point to say that there is a very long history of bad relations between the Yemeni people and the people to the north of them, in what is now Saudi Arabia. A history that actually goes back centuries and which this conflict has intensified. So there are sections of the army, sections of the bureaucracy, which are actually coming to fight against the Saudis. Conversely, there is always been a strong al-Qaeda element in Yemen which tends to identify with people of the north. It is in de facto alliance with Saudi Arabia."
"The fact that [the West is] effectively assisting Saudi Arabia in this conflict means that they are also part of that conflict and are colluding with the humans rights violations and the human rights disaster."
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201708111056365498-saudi-invasion-yemen-quagmire-disaster/
11.8.2017 – AFP (* A K P)
UN envoy calls for urgent reopening of Yemen airport
The UN Yemen envoy called on Friday for the urgent reopening of the airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa, which has been closed to all but limited UN flights for a year.
"I reiterate my call for the urgent and immediate need to reopen Sanaa international airport as soon as possible," UN Yemen envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed tweeted after three days of talks in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi-led coalition said late Thursday that it was ready to allow the reopening of the airport on condition the UN provided support for airport security.
It said the airport remained closed "due to concerns for the safety of civilian travel and commercial flights, as well as the smuggling of weapons by the Huthis".
My comment: Now suddenly there is a world-wide call to reopen Sanaa airport. Saudi Arabia seems to be forced to retreat in that point. They try it by still posing conditions – which could (and should) bring a failure or at least a long delay – for which the Saudis then would blame the Houthis. But it has to be remembered that all flights to Sanaa had been directly controlled by Saudi Arabia, so that any argument as having stopped flights to Sanaa because of the threat of “smuggling of weapons by the Huthis" has been void.
Comment by Hisham Al-Omeisy: Saudi Co & #Yemen gov say Sana'a airport closed out of concern for safety of planes. That's codswallop, THEY ARE ONES BOMBING for 2+ years (see images)
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/895925592062918656
10.8.2017 – Reuters (* A K P)
Saudi-led coalition calls on U.N. to run main Yemen airport
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen requested on Thursday that the U.N. take control of the country's main airport in the capital Sanaa in territory run by their enemies in the armed Houthi movement, state news agency SPA reported.
Fifteen aid groups called on warring parties in Yemen to reopen the airport on Wednesday, saying a year-long closure was hindering aid and preventing thousands of patients from flying abroad for life-saving treatment.
Spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said the coalition aimed to prevent arms shipments from reaching the Houthis by air but worked to ensure the delivery of commercial, cargo and humanitarian flights into the country.
In a statement titled "Official Coalition Spokesman Asks UN to Run Sana'a International Airport" al-Malki said the alliance could allow Sanaa flights to resume.
"Should airport management and security be conducted properly, ensuring the safety of all inbound flights and stopping arms smuggling, Joint Forces Command is prepared to restore normal flight activity," he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-airport-idUSKBN1AQ29C
Comment: Who can believe allegations about arms smuggling from/to #SanaaAirport, All flights were subject to inspection at Bisha Saudi local airport
https://twitter.com/I4Yemen/status/895776467975589888
11.8.2017 – Reuters (* A K P)
U.N. signals not responsible for controlling Yemen's main airport
The United Nations signaled on Friday it was not responsible for controlling Yemen's main airport, dismissing a call by a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition for the world body do so.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen on Thursday asked the United Nations to take control of the airport in the capital Sanaa, which is in territory controlled by the rival Houthi rebel movement, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric called on the warring parties to allow humanitarian aid access including through the airport.
"(The airport) is not under U.N. control," Dujarric told reporters. "The parties to the conflict have the responsibility to ensure the protection of civilians and their access to humanitarian relief, including through the use of airspace and airport."
Dujarric said he is unaware if the United Nations had received a formal request from the Saudi-led coalition for the world body to take control of the airport.
"We have been in contact with the government of Yemen and the Saudi-led coalition to advocate the reopening of Yemen's airspace around the airport for humanitarian flights," he said – By Riham Alkousaa
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-airport-idUSKBN1AR22Y
11.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)
Al-Makhlafi reveals the reason for the delay in the reopening of Sanaa airport and its relationship with the Taiz blockade
Foreign Minister Dr. Abdulmalik Al-Makhlafi said that the problem at Sanaa airport is the presence of a militia operating the airport.
"We have always said that the militia will come out of the airport and will be handed over to the UN administration and will be reopened. Does the militia have the willingness to leave Sanaa airport for the legitimate state employees?" He said.
He stressed the need to oversee the legitimacy of the airport under the management of the United Nations, where he said, "amid all the fears and security risks will not accept a country in the world to receive its airports aircraft flying from an airport operated by an illegal authority controlled by the militia"
Regarding the situation in Taiz, Al-Makhlafi said, "Unlocking the siege of Taiz and ending the suffering of hundreds of thousands of citizens is a fundamental priority for the Yemeni government and for all humanitarian organizations and should not be overlooked when talking about solutions"
"The problem with the militias is that they do not see anyone who opposes them deserve life, and that is why they are insulting the lives of all the citizens who reject its domination. This fascist outlook should not be encouraged," he said.
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/268378
My comment: The Hadi government (not even the Saudis) connect this question with the demand to the Houthi / Saleh authorities (government) at Sanaa to recognize the “legitimacy” of the Hadi government at Aden. – Ant it seems they want to connect the Sanaa airport problem to the problem of the siege of Taiz.
8.8.2017 – Rai al-Youm (* A K P)
Daily Asks: “Has the USA started to wash its hands and acquit itself of the repercussions of this hostile war [in Yemen] and pin it on Saudi Arabia and the UAE?”
“Two important developments have taken place at the level of the Yemeni crisis and the forgotten Yemeni war. The first development consists of the statements made by the US ambassador to Yemen, Matthew Tueller, who lives in Al-Riyadh. These are the second statements about Yemen in half a month. Through these shocking statements, Tueller said, during an interview with the Public Radio International, that his country does not have the capacity of forcing the fighting groups in Yemen to reach a ceasefire. He further said that this is a civil war between the Yemenis.
“This controversial description categorically topples the “legitimacy” of the Saudi-led Arab alliance. It also topples the international resolution number 2216 knowing that America had voted on that resolution, which indicates that the international community supports the so-called “legitimacy” of the Hadi cabinet and that the Arab alliance is fighting to restore it. So where does the USA stand in this war? And what about the multiple American declarations on a number of occasions on the US support for Hadi’s legitimacy and opposition for those who staged a “coup” against this legitimacy?!
“The US ambassador added that the conflict will go on until the USA acquires mechanisms to force the Yemenis to make political compromises as he said. This statement means that there is not one legitimate side in this war that Washington is supporting or dealing with! This also means that the American role, throughout two and a half years of barbaric war where the infrastructure has been destroyed and where Saudi Arabia supplied tons of weapons, was an absurd role that served the interests of one side in this “civil” war as per Tueller’s statement. Therefore, Washington is a main side in the bloodshed.
“Not once did the US ambassador say that Washington supports a legitimate side. He rather described the actions of the Saudi-led Arab alliance as a kind of support for some Yemeni sides that lost their ability to protect themselves and to return to the path of political transfer. Is it possible that the assault to which Yemen is being exposed – an assault that destroyed everything and one that brought siege and starvation – was only launched because Saudi Arabia and the UAE chose to support one side at a civil war, and that Washington’s role in this assault merely consisted of selling weapons…?! Has the USA started to wash its hands and acquit itself of the repercussions of this hostile war and pin it on Saudi Arabia and the UAE? Is it also acquitting itself from the military and political failure, which has become the most prominent headline of the Saudi Al-Hazm storm, thus saying that Washington is standing in a neutral position and is playing no part in this “civil” war as per Washington’s new description?! - By Taleb al-Hosni
http://www.raialyoum.com/?p=723117 (Arabic original) and translation of a part: https://mideastwire.wordpress.com/2017/08/09/daily-asks-has-the-usa-started-to-wash-its-hands-and-acquit-itself-of-the-repercussions-of-this-hostile-war-in-yemen-and-pin-it-on-saudi-arabia-and-the-uae/ and full text for registered only at https://mideastwire.com/page/index.php
10.8.2017 – Yemen Press (B P)
The limits of Yemeni sovereignty over Bab al – Mandab
Why do foreign ships have the right of innocent passage through the Bab al-Mandab Strait? Is Yemen entitled to close the strait in the face of international shipping or impose traffic fees on commercial ships in peacetime? Why does Yemen not benefit from the right of visit and inspection of warships and civilians?
It is common knowledge that international navigation across the Bab al-Mandab Strait is governed by crucial laws with no rights to benefit the Yemeni state, whose right to sovereignty over the strait is recognized by the world, but which deprives it of the essence of this sovereignty when it warns against any prejudice to the international movement and freedom of navigation. And disregarded the Yemeni reservations towards the international laws that led to the internationalization of the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
They ignored the geopolitical privacy which may grant our country special privileges if Yemen has a capable state and political system that does not compromise its rights and does not turn a blind eye to the violation of its sovereignty – by Abdullah Ali Sabri
http://www.yemenpress.org/slider/the-limits-of-yemeni-sovereignty-over-bab-al-mandab.html
8.8.2017 – NTH News (* B P)
UAE Capturing of Yemeni Ports is Demand for American Interests
Since the beginning of 2015, which witnessed the receipt of Dubai Ports Company to operate the ports of Aden, the Emiratis put their eyes on the ports of Yemen because of its strategic position, and the American-UAE alliance announcement and sending US troops to Shabwa oil province to impose full control over the largest investment and industrial project in Yemen which has annual revenues of nearly $ 4 billion, but a view complementary to the strategy of the UAE aimed to impose full control over all ports of the country, including the port of Balhaf oil project.
The same picture was made by the UAE state with the strategic port of Aden, which is considered to be one of the best seaports in the region and considered by the UAE as a threat to the port of Dubai.
The military operations in which the UAE pays its fighters are almost based on the battle of the coast, including Bab al-Mandab and aimed at controlling this international navigational port in favor of American ambitions
http://en.nthnews.net/2017/08/08/uae-capturing-of-yemeni-ports-is-demand-for-american-interests/
Remark: Mistake (2015 is right) corrected.
16.7.2017 – Aljazeera (unrated B K P)
Film, Arabic:
Behind the news - the ambitions of the UAE in Yemen
The program "Beyond the News" discussed the Yemeni and Saudi authorities overlooking the ambitions of the UAE in the island of Miyoun and the coast of western Yemen.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
11.8.2017 – Podcast (B H)
Audio: Die humanitäre Katastrophe im Jemen
Seit zwei Jahren ist im Jemen Krieg. Die Bevölkerung leidet Hunger, Cholera ist ein großes Problem. Ein Gespräch mit Hessens Wirtschaftsminister Tarek Al-Wazir, der Familie im Jemen hat.
http://www.podcast.de/episode/358442282/Die+humanitäre+Katastrophe+im+Jemen/
11.8.2017 – RBB (* B H)
Audio: 'Die Versorgung ist katastrophal'
Der Bürgerkrieg im Jemen gehört zu den Konflikten, über die selten berichtet wird. In die Schlagzeilen geriet der Jemen in diesen Tagen wegen einer erneuten Flüchtlingstragödie vor seiner Küste. Doch auch die Flüchtlinge, die es schaffen, machen sich zumeist nicht klar, was sie in dem Bürgerkriegsland erwartet: Hunger, versuchtes Trinkwasser und eine grassierende Cholare-Epidemie. Wolfgang Jamann ist Generalsekretär von CARE International und kennt das Land gut. Im Gespräch mit Oliver Rehlinger schilderte er die katastrophale Situation und die verworrene Lage (mit Bildergalerie)
https://www.inforadio.de/programm/schema/sendungen/int/201708/11/154203.html
8.2017 – Human Needs Development (* B H)
SAVE A FAMILY IN YEMEN
Human Needs for Development-HND Organization is a non-profit Yemeni registered charity number: 275/2016. HND sole goal is to alleviate the starving and suffering faced by populations in Yemen
Human Needs for Development Organization, a Yemeni non-profit organization based on the capital of Yemen, Sana'a.
HND has launched tens of projects in Yemen through funds we receive from personal donors and charities. All of HND staffs are volunteers, so all funds go directly to purchase the food items for needy people in Yemen.
Yemeni ongoing conflict which begun in March 2015 is devastating Yemen and has led to some of the worst hunger and malnutrition in the world. But, do you know what percentage of families right now is facing with hunger in Yemen?
Here's what we need you to know and why we need your help:
90% of Yemen's families-about 21 million people- are in need of some urgent humanitarian assistance.
60% of Yemen's families-about 17 million people-is facing hunger.
Roughly 75% of families say their economic livelihoods are worse now than before the war and they have trouble getting meals every day.
Around half a million children are acutely malnourished and about 300 thousand children face death within months from malnutrition in the country.
The hunger is mostly affecting children because they are the ones that need enough nutrition to grow. The lack of food is making many people sick and killing hundreds every day.
ONE CHILD DIES EVERY 10 MINUTES IN YEMEN
It is a war which has produced over 3 million internally displaced who can only move from one village to the next one, to thousands schools turned into refugee buildings across the country but cannot cross borders.
1. WHAT IS SAVE A FAMILY IN YEMEN?
Save A Family In Yemen is Human Needs Development-HND's relief appeal that aims to help the most war affected families in Yemen with food baskets. Every food basket contains the following:
Save A Family In Yemen appeal provides food baskets to the most war affected families such as families with huge members, disabled providers, most of their members are females, internally displaced and those families who don't have income sources.
The project of this appeal will be implemented by HND's executive director and volunteers who don't take fees in return to their efforts.
2. HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE USED?
Your charitable donation will directly go to purchase the food items. 1 food baskets contains the items I mentioned previously costs $50.
All funds we collect here will be used as the following:
%85: Purchasing food items.
%10: Fuel and office and stationary supplies.
%5: Generosity and Wire Transfer fees.
3. PROJECTS WE SUCCESSFULLY ACHIVED:
You can also help Yemeni malnourished families through our bank account to the following details:
- Name of the bank: International Bank of Yemen
- Bank SWIFT Code: IBOYYESAXXX
- Account Number: 316212
- Account Owner Name: Human Needs Development-HND
- Country: Yemen
- Postal code/Location: Sana'a
https://www.generosity.com/emergencies-fundraising/save-a-family-in-yemen
9.8.2017 – The Talking of the Soul (* B H)
A young man in the making in times of war
To see a young boy, no more than seven or eight, crying because of the war, is something we will never get accustomed to.
Qasim Ali Al-Shawea – in the picture – of Your Abilities Yemeni NGO ( your.abilities.org ) writes:
”Every day I meet a child, family, displaced people during my work with my team and I have a close look at people’s unbearable conditions, how they try to stay safe, alive in such a humanitarian disaster.
I see children sleeping at night with empty stomachs, after having fought hunger for several days.
I meet many families who have fled their homes to live hopeless, homeless in displacement camps; I am seeing a daily nightmare, a tragedy I have never seen… ever, in my life.
How not to mention the Cholera outbreak which is decimating lives while hospitals are full with patients.
What is happening in Yemen is really inhuman, illegal and unfair. We are human beings and have human hearts, the world shouldn’t keep ignoring the children and women’s suffering. Every child deserves to live a better life.”
I asked Qasim why was the young boy shedding so helplessly and he replied:
”He told me that he and his family used to have a better life. That was before bombs fell on their home. He was crying because his brother was killed there, at home, under a missile. Now they are living in a tent in a displacement camp. They have nothing to eat, monsoon rains enter the only abode they have. He wants clothes… he really asked me a lot: new clothes, toys, a chance to study. He is a clever child. I felt so sad for him and their life, the hard conditions they must cope with. Heartbreaking, really.”
The picture of a child, dressed like a man in the making, with a jacket which most likely will be worn until it fades to a shadow of a garment, crying helplessly cannot be the emblem of childhood. Not in 2017.
Yemen has been under air strikes, blocked by a siege, crippled by cholera and famine for over eight hundred and sixty days. A number so heavy it seems too long even to write. Impossibly long for a child whose home and past have been buried under a missile.
https://thetalkingofthesoul.com/2017/08/09/a-young-man-in-the-making-in-times-of-war/
9.8.2017 – AFP (* B H)
In Yemen war, Red Cross treats diseases 'nobody should die of'
Yemen's spiralling health crisis has forced organisations treating war-wounded to shift their focus to diseases "nobody should die of", the International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday.
In an interview with AFP in Beirut, the head of the ICRC's Yemen delegation, Alexandre Faite, said the country's two-year conflict was turning easily treatable conditions into fatal illnesses.
"The ICRC for centuries now has been into war surgery -- people who have been shot, shelling on a house, people amputated. That was our main area of expertise," Faite said.
"Yemen is bringing a new dimension."
The medical charity has had to mobilise quickly to distribute life-saving insulin to diabetic Yemenis and provide haemodialysis units across the war-ravaged country, already the Arab world's poorest even before its conflict erupted.
"For the ICRC, this is something quite new: to be dealing with chronic diseases that nobody should die of," Faite said.
"The people who are directly killed by hostilities are maybe not as high as in other countries. But they are dying of indirect causes."
9.8.2017 – UNICEF (* A H)
Yemen: Protection Cluster Update (August 2017)
With the increasing impact of the armed conflict, a critical priority remains ensuring the protection of civilians and accountability by all state and non-state actors to comply with international humanitarian and human rights law. At the same time, the stress and loss on the conflict-affected and displaced population continues to mount, particularly on the most vulnerable segments of the population, necessitating urgent and immediate protection and assistance to those in need.
Conflict and displacement, compounded now with cholera and famine, have created new vulnerabilities as a result of, among others, loss of heads of households, family separation and the breakdown of community structures, increasing resort to adverse coping mechanisms as well as increasing the mental health and psycho social support needs of the population. The most recent multi-cluster location assessment identified more than 1 million IDPs and host community members with specific needs, including malnourished children (27%), elderly (22%), pregnant / breastfeeding women (18%), chronically ill (8%), female heads of households (6%), minor heads of households (6%), persons with disabilities (7%) and separated and unaccompanied children (3%). An updated multi-cluster location assessment is currently underway.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-protection-cluster-update-august-2017 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/protection_cluster_yemen_situation_update_august_2017.pdf
9.8.2017 – Food for the Hungry (B H)
Yemen: A Perfect Storm of Disasters
With our partner in Yemen, Food for the Hungry is providing life-saving food and drinking water to vulnerable women and children. We’re targeting the country’s hardest places, where conflict, food insecurity and susceptibility to cholera reach critical levels.
How You Can Help
Pray for peace. Many organizations consider Yemen too dangerous for their work. Without peace, children continue to suffer.
Give to FH’s disaster response effort. For just $75, you can provide a month’s worth of life-saving food and water to a family of seven vulnerable people in Yemen. Give now.
Advocate. Yemen is one of several countries now facing famine. Tell the people you know and ask them to help.
https://www.fh.org/2017/08/09/yemen-a-perfect-storm-of-disasters/
9.8.2017 – Care (* B H)
Yemen: No way in and no way out
One year ago today, the airport in Sana'a, capital of Yemen, was closed. What does this mean for the people of Yemen?
Watch this short video from CARE's Suzy Madigan explaining what the continued closure of Yemen's main international airport means for Yemen's people:
The closure of the airport is making an already bad situation much, much worse for the Yemeni people. CARE and 20 other organisationsare demanding that all channels of domestic and international movement should be reopened immediately.
https://www.careinternational.org.uk/stories/yemen-no-way-and-no-way-out
Comment: These words are valid for each one of the at least 10.000 people dead because the airport has been closed by Saudi Arabia and Friends:
''It would have been possible to save his life if he could have flown from Sana'a.''
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1463159023737123
8.8.2017 - European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (A H)
Map: Yemen supported interventions in 2017 – DG ECHO Daily Map | 08/08/2017
http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-supported-interventions-2017-dg-echo-daily-map-08082017 and in full http://erccportal.jrc.ec.europa.eu/getdailymap/docId/2190
7.8.2017 – Huffington Post (* B H K)
Facing Famine, Girls And Women Bear The Heaviest Burden
But crises like these are not gender neutral – and that’s why the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) plays a critical role in humanitarian response. Girls, boys, women and men experience disaster differently. Girls and women have the least power and status, and often at times of crisis, their basic needs are de-prioritized or neglected, and the fulfillment of their essential health and rights – including the ability to plan their family and futures – is left by the wayside. These rights are not only fundamental for a woman to survive in a crisis, they are critical in helping her and her family rebuild their lives afterwards – and eventually thrive.
The girls and women facing these looming “four famines” are no exception. Their sexual and reproductive health and rights are at risk every step of the way. In many places, access to family planning services and information is limited or nonexistent for girls and women who wish to delay or prevent pregnancy. If and when a woman does become pregnant, her health and that of her future child are at risk: Women who are on the brink of starvation are at greater risk of pregnancy-related complications, death, and disability. In the midst of conflict and famine, accessing quality medical care is difficult or impossible.
In Yemen, where ongoing conflict has spurred severe food insecurity and compromised health and sanitation systems, a cholera outbreak is spreading quickly, putting an estimated 1.1 million malnourished pregnant women at risk. Women and girls in these countries facing famine, conflict, and displacement are also at increased risk of other crisis-related threats like gender-based violence, HIV infection, forced sex work, or early marriage.
UNFPA works to address the needs of girls and women facing conflict and famine and to make sure the protection of their health and rights are included alongside other essential responses like food and shelter – by Seema Jalan
1.8.2017 – Nouvelle Obs (* B H)
Sauvée de la faim, elle meurt du choléra : la photo qui résume le drame du Yémen
Sa photo illustre à elle seule la crise humanitaire au Yémen. Batul a été photographiée par Ahmad Algohbary, jeune Yéménite de 24 ans, journaliste freelance et activiste, alors qu’elle était soignée pour un cas sévère de malnutrition. C’est le cas de plus de 2 millions d’enfantsactuellement dans le pays. Grâce aux médicaments de l’Unicef et à l’aide prodiguée dans les centres de nutrition, Batul s’en est sortie. Pour succomber deux mois plus tard au choléra. La petite fille en est décédée faute de traitement. Sans argent, sa famille n’a pas pu la conduire à l’hôpital pour qu’elle reçoive les soins adéquats – par Justine Benoit
31.7.2017 – Famine Early Warning System Network (A H)
Yemen Key Message Update, July 2017
Large populations in Yemen continue to face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or Emergency (IPC Phase 4) acute food insecurity, the latter of which is associated with increased acute malnutrition and an increased risk of excess mortality. Yemen continues to face a risk of Famine (IPC Phase 5) in a worst-case scenario in which conflict significantly disrupts or halts imports through the ports of Al Hudaydah and Salif, internal trade becomes significantly disrupted, and humanitarian assistance fails to reach populations most in need.
Large-scale humanitarian assistance continues to play an important role in reducing the severity of acute food insecurity outcomes in Yemen. Although needs remain higher than current assistance levels, WFP reached approximately 4.4 million people in May and 5.3 million people in June with rations meeting between 60 and 100 percent of beneficiaries’ monthly consumption needs. At current funding and assistance levels, WFP expects to continue providing assistance through October 2017.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-key-message-update-july-2017 and in full http://www.fews.net/east-africa/yemen/key-message-update/july-2017
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
11.8.2017 New News (A P)
Saudi Aggression Plans to Further Escalation on All Tracks, Fronts : Saleh Al-Sammad
President of the Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Samad said, that coalition of aggression on Yemen is planning to further escalation on all tracks and in several provinces and fronts, calling for concerted efforts to confront it.
During his meeting with tribes of Al-Hadaa, the president pointed out that Saudi regime continues stopping Yemenis from Al-Hajj ,violating the sacred months and committing the most heinous massacres.
In a related context, the President stressed the importance of special attention to the tribes that are in the demarcation lines, including Al-Hadaa tribes , and integration to contain problems as well the continuation of basic services, and activating the full potential of institutions.
http://newnewss.net/?p=9897
11.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)
The Houthis kidnapped him for hunting shrimp and then accused him of smuggling and supporting Al-Daash. Death of a kidnap victim under torture in Hodeidah
Human rights sources in the province of Hodeidah , on the Red Sea coast of western Yemen , said Thursday that one of the kidnappers in the prisons of the Houthis and Saleh's forces died after torture.
Ali Akkar Shami, a 20-year-old fisherman working on a boat in the sea, was killed by the Houthis as a result of excessive torture a few days ago and a severe blow to the head from a solid device, the sources told Ali.
"Shami was transferred to the military hospital in Hodeidah," she said.
The Huthis had abducted Shami with other fishermen, Bushaia, by a collaborator in the Directorate of Munira, north of the town of Hodeidah, and the Houthis accused them of hunting the shrimp on an off-season.
"But the Houthis have accused the fishermen, including smuggling and cooperation with Al-Da'ash, and then began to torture them," according to sources.
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/267932 and also https://www.suhf.net/yemen/267920
10.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)
Houthis kidnap Tukkul Kerman's elder brother and a statement to her family explaining the reasons for hiding the incident a month ago
Houthi and Saleh militias were kidnapped before the month of the elder brother of the prominent leader in the revolution of February 2011 and the Nobel Peace Prize "Tawakkol Kerman" from the capital Sana'a .
A statement issued by the family of "Al-Kerman" that the security forces belonging to the militias Ali Salehand the group of Houthi on Saturday evening the eighth of July, kidnapped "Mohammed Abdul Salam Kerman," accompanied by his "Omar Yassin Abdul Aziz," and their friend, "Abdul Rahman Kahla" And put them in the national security prison.
"We have already been assured that the kidnappers are being held in the National Security Prison, but we have not been able to visit them and have confidence in their safety despite the repeated promises that we will be able to visit them and other times to release them.
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/267861
10.8.2017 – Al Sahwa (A T)
Leader of Islah party assassinated in Dhamar
Leader of the Islah party in the district of al-Hada, Dhamar governorate, Abul-Razaq al-Sarar was assassinated with an explosive device on Thursday.
Local sources affirmed that the device was planted before the mosque he prayed in, close to his home.
Several leaders of the Islah party were assassinated in Dhamar after the Houthi-Saleh militias took over the governorate in early of 2015.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-9271
10.8.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A P)
Yemen Minister of Human Rights, Alia Ashabi says the world should bear responsibility for closing Sanaa airport for 1 year now (photo)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/895631014298603520
My comment: And Hadi / Saudi propaganda had claimed she had withdrawn because she had been treated very rude by Houthi militia when visiting a prison.
9.8.2017 – Sudan Tribune (A P)
Yemen’s Houthis attack Sudanese embassy in Sana’a
Yemen’s foreign ministry accused the rebel militias of attacking the Sudanese embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana’a which is controlled by the Iran-backed alliance of Houthis Ansarullah group and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC).
"The attack by the coup militias on the embassy of the sisterly Republic of the Sudan for the second time, the looting of the Mission’s vehicles and the tampering with its contents confirms the militia’s determination to commit the crime without respect for the diplomatic missions’ premises," said a statement released by the Yemeni foreign ministry on Wednesday.
Last July, the exiled government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi accused the Houthi militias of attacking the Sudanese mission in Sana’s. But the latter denied the accusation saying it was part of a media misleading campaign to cover the insecurity in Aden which is controlled by the UN backed government.
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article63209
My comment: Nice Hadi government wording. Keep in mind that Sudan assisting the Saudis in Yemen by thousands of mercenaries actually is at war with the Houthi / Saleh government at Sanaa.
9.8.2017 – NTH News (A P)
Yemeni Foreign Minister Calls for Opening an International Investigation on Closure of Airports and Ports in Yemen by Aggression Forces
Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf called on the United Nations to press for the opening of Sanaa International Airport as well as the opening of an international investigation into the destructions caused by the aggression and the closure of airports, land and sea ports since the beginning of the aggression against Yemen.
9.8.2017 – Yemen Today TV (A P)
Film: The House of Representatives discusses the law to establish a fund for the development of Hodeidah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cRFz9Cm_Hs
My comment: Look at this film and see how „president“ hadi's attempt to bribe Mps to join him at Aden had failed.
9.8.2017 – Albawaba (B P)
What the Anti-Semitic Houthi Flag Means for Yemen's Jews
The Houthi flag certainly does not seem to leave anything up to the imagination, and would almost certainly be considered hate speech in Europe.
Oddly enough, the Houthis have denied that they have any issue with Jews, but the Jewish community in Yemen has reported harassment and abuse at the hands of the armed political group. In the past 50 years, a population in the tens of thousands has become a tiny minority of less than 500, and Houthi anti-Semitism has played a major role in this.
There have been claims that Houthis persecute Jews in towns which they control, and have in some cases told them they must convert to Islam or leave the country. Jews have been attacked and killed, and have been the target of harassment campaigns and robbery. The tiny minority now mainly lives in a secure area of the nation’s capital, Sana’a
https://www.albawaba.com/loop/what-anti-semitic-houthi-flag-means-yemens-jews-1007724
My comment: Houthi anti-semitism seems to rféfer mainly to the state of Israel and its politics and less to the Jewish minority in Yemen. These Yemeni Jews had been oppressed during the last decades; this is not peculiar to the Houthis.
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
11.8.2017 – Suhf Net (‘ A P)
«Jabbari»: Parliament intends to elect a new presidium in Aden
Abdul Aziz Jabari, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Civil Service, to hold the meeting during the coming days, and check the presence of deputies more than quorum required.
According to the newspaper of the Middle East, Abdul Aziz Jabari, that the meeting in the interim capital of Aden will elect a new Presidency of the House of Representatives, to conduct the work in a constitutional and legal manner.
He added: "According to the internal regulations of the House of Representatives, a law that specifies the duration of the presidency of the House of Representatives for two years, the period has ended, and therefore there is a legal entitlement to elect a new Presidency, and naturally when the Council will do so directly, there is a tendency to elect a new Presidency, And the role of the Council in a constitutional and legal ».
Jabari, who attended a meeting held by Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi with the heads of the parliamentary blocs in the House of Representatives, pointed out that the Constitution authorizes the convening of the House of Representatives in any province of the Republic in the event there was any emergency.
"The preparations are continuing. We have 110 members in Saudi Arabia and a number of other members are in a number of Arab capitals. They will join us in Aden when the next meeting is scheduled. We will need about 20 members to get a quorum. Of the quorum, our procedures will be constitutional and legal, and we act in accordance with the Constitution, and can not do any process outside the framework of the Constitution ».
The Deputy Prime Minister talked about some logistical difficulties that still stand in front of the upcoming session of the Lower House of Representatives in Aden,
He said: "Of course there are some difficulties, and we confirm that it will be held soon, but no date is set, things are going in the right direction, as you know the convening of the Council in Aden need to arrangements in terms of headquarters and housing members and the security aspect.
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/268360
My comment: The Hadi government tries to pull as much MPs as possible at its side, to form another parliament concurrent to the one at Sanaa. But, Hadi had failed to get enough MPs to reach the quorum which is required by the constitution. They still did not give up, but a few days ago the parliament at Sanaa still had reached the quorum, thus hardly enough MPs could have followed Hadi’s call.
11.8.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
President Hadi, heads of parliamentary blocs discuss Yemen's updates
President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Thursday met in Riyadh the heads of the parliamentary blocs, discussing Yemen's political, economic and military updates.
During the meeting, the president underscored the need of establishing a lasting and just peace based on the GCC-brokered initiative and its executive mechanisms, the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, particularly the resolution 2216.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-9272
My comment: This article (and photo) show the failure of Hadi to pull enough parliamentarians to join his government. He was far away from hitting the quorum, which still his at Sanaa.
9.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P T)
Yemen Security Brief
Yemeni security forces deployed to southern Abyan governorate, southern Yemen on August 9 as part of an ongoing effort to expel al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula(AQAP) militants from the governorate. Emirati-backed al Hizam security forces deployed to Ahwardistrict in southeastern Abyan governorate. Security forces withdrew from Abyan governorate in early 2017, citing a high rate of AQAP attacks and minimal support from the government.[2]
9.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P T)
Yemen Security Brief
AQAP distributed a statement to reassure the local population of its strength in Shabwahgovernorate, southern Yemen on August 9. AQAP militants withdrew from Shabwah to neighboring Abyan governorate in response to Yemeni security operations supported by U.S. and Emirati Special Operations Forces. AQAP promised to continue attacks on Emirati-backed security forces and praised tribes loyal to its cause.[3]
9.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P T)
Yemen Security Brief
Unknown gunmen fired on a vehicle carrying Mohammed Nasser Saeed al Marmi, a relative of President Hadi and the leader of his presidential protection forces, in Sheikh Othmandistrict in Aden city on August 9. Al Marmi is alive but in critical condition. Militants frequently target security forces in Sheikh Othman district.[6]
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
10.8.2017 – Voice of America (A H P)
UN Secretary-General ‘Heartbroken’ Over Drowning of Migrants Off Yemen
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is heartbroken over the drowning of dozens of migrants off the coast of Yemen.
A Guterres spokesman said Thursday the U.N. chief stresses that the international community must make it a priority to prevent such crises that cause the mass movement of people and exposes them to danger.
https://www.voanews.com/a/un-secretary-general-migrants-drown-yemen/3981352.html
9.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P T)
Yemen Security Brief
Saleh Ali al Samad, head of the al Houthi-SalehSupreme Political Council, stated that the al Houthi-Saleh faction is willing to engage in peace talks that are not brokered by the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, on August 8. Al Samad delivered the remarks in a meeting with the head of the EU delegation to Yemen, Antonia Calvo Puerta. The al Houthi bloc views Ould Cheikh Ahmed as biased toward Saudi Arabia. [1]
9.8.2017 – APA (A P)
UN envoy holds talks with Yemeni president in Riyadh
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN’s special envoy to Yemen, arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday in hopes of reviving stalled Yemen peace talks, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.
While in the Saudi capital, Ould Cheikh Ahmed met Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi -- who is temporarily residing in Riyadh -- to discuss “prospects for achieving a lasting and comprehensive peace” in Yemen, according to Yemen’s official SABA news agency.
At the meeting, Hadi reportedly stressed his government’s desire to reach a final settlement in line with “previously agreed-upon terms of reference”, including UN Security Council Resolution 2216.
He also reportedly criticized what he described as the “intransigence” of Yemen’s Shia Houthi militia and allied forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, both of whom he accused of “rejecting calls for peace”.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed, for his part, reportedly said at the meeting that “the international community supports a just peace and well understands the importance of constitutional legitimacy” -- referring to Hadi’s status as Yemen’s internationally-recognized leader.
On Wednesday, the UN envoy began a tour of the region that first brought him to Oman and Jordan.
From Riyadh, he is next expected to travel to Sanaa -- the final leg of his tour -- where he is slated to meet with a delegation of Houthi and pro-Saleh officials.
While in Sanaa, the UN envoy is also expected to unveil a plan for western Yemen’s strategic Al-Hudaydah Port.
http://en.apa.az/world-news/asia-news/un-envoy-holds-talks-with-yemeni-president-in-riyadh.html and also https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170810-un-envoy-holds-talks-with-yemeni-president-in-riyadh-to-kick-start-peace-talks/
My comment: UNSC resolution 2216 is 100 % one-sided, fully favouring the Hadi government. Of course, he insists on it. - Ahmed is no more accepted by the Houthi / saleh side as mediator. But this is less fault of him than of this UN resolution which limits his possibilities and forces him to be´one-sided too.
9.8.2017 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Yemen’s governing body urges active EU role in conflict resolution efforts
Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, which runs state affairs, has voiced its readiness to support any measure aimed at resolving the deadly conflict in the impoverished state, calling on the European Union (EU) to play an active role in the process.
Saleh Ali al-Sammad, the Council’s head, made the remarks in a meeting on Tuesday with Antonia Calvo Puerta, the head of the EU delegation to Yemen, the official Saba’ Net news agency reported.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/08/09/531180/Yemen-EU-Saleh-Sammad
Remark: Sanaa government.
9.8.2017 – Reuters (* A H P)
U.N. urges action to avert famine threatening 20 million people worldwide
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday called on warring parties in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and northeastern Nigeria to allow humanitarian aid access and urged countries to donate more money to avert famines threatening 20 million people.
In a statement drafted by Sweden, the 15-member council expressed "deep concern that ongoing conflicts and violence have devastating humanitarian consequences and hinder an effective humanitarian response in the short, medium and long term, and are therefore a major cause of famine" in these four countries.
"The Security Council calls upon all parties in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and northeast Nigeria to urgently take steps that would enable a more effective humanitarian response," the statement said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-famine-idUSKBN1AP2IT
My comment: There is a lot of hypocrisy in this. The main UNSC states as the USA, UK and France are for a great part responsible for the man-made reasons of this famines. - And it's these wealthy western countries as well which had REDUCED their financial support for combatting famine. - And, you should know the wording: „Deep concern“ simply means: We will do nothing else than we did before.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
Siehe / Look at cp1.
10.8.2017 – New York Times (* B P)
Does Qatar Support Extremism? Yes. And So Does Saudi Arabia.
The spat between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which is accusing Qatar of supporting Islamist extremism and terrorism, remains perplexing. Perplexing not because Qatar is innocent — it has sponsored and hosted far too many jihadists for anyone to plausibly claim otherwise — but because it is the Saudis who are objecting to the funding of extremism. Qatar should be called out, but preferably by those who haven’t spent quite so much time and money advancing extremism themselves.
To be clear, it is not that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been directly funding terrorist organizations, and certainly not in Western countries. What has been happening for many years now, however, is that a set of beliefs has been advanced from Saudi Arabia that is, by any standard, extremist. The Wahhabi-Salafi belief system is one of religious supremacism, in which the very notion of man-made law, let alone democratic government, is derided.
These beliefs create a worldview that is illiberal, intolerant and hostile to the West and promote a mind-set that makes adherents far more susceptible to the rhetoric of violent Islamist groups and preachers. So, even as several leading European governments have sought to promote tolerance and gender equality, there has been a relentless flow into their countries of funding for the promotion of intolerance and the incitement of hatred.
Through the provision of generous scholarships and stipends, a generation of Muslim religious figures traveled from Western countries to Saudi Arabia to be trained in the Wahhabi ideology at institutions like the Islamic University of Medina. Among its alumni is Abu Usamah at-Thahabi, who has preached in British mosques, promoting holy war and the killing of gay men and apostates. Similarly, Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, who attended Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, has advocated the extermination of unbelievers.
Saudi clerics, too, have visited the West to bring the same message. They include the cleric Muhammad al-Arifi, who has said that “Muslims have no life without jihad” and who has been linked to a number of Islamic State recruits from Britain.
The distribution of extremist texts and literature has been another way that Wahhabi attitudes have spread in Muslim communities in Britain and Europe.
The Saudis insist they have not been supporting extremism, but these protestations of innocence are difficult to take seriously given the names of some of the institutions involved, such as the Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria, Va. Apologists for the kingdom sometimes argue that there is a distinction between what private Saudi institutions do and what the government does. Yet the notion that major institutions based in the gulf states could operate for decades without the blessing of their authoritarian rulers is hardly plausible.
This effort to change the character and temperament of Islamic belief in the West has profound implications for the integration of Muslim communities in European societies – by Tom Wilson
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/10/opinion/qatar-saudi-arabia-extremism.html
Remark: More on the same subject at cp1.
10.8.2017 – Press TV Iran (* A P)
Saudi Arabia Sentences Senior Shia Clergyman to 13 Years in Prison
A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced distinguished Shia cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Hussein al-Radhi to 13 years in prison as the Riyadh regime presses ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown on members of the religious community.
The Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh passed the ruling on the 66-year-old clergyman on Thursday, Arabic-language and independent Yemenat news website reported.
Sheikh Radhi’s relatives strongly condemned the court ruling, describing it as the application of the death penalty against the Shia cleric since he is already suffering from heart failure and cannot stand the harsh prison condition.
Sheikh Radhi was arrested on March 21, 2016, after being surrounded by a group of Saudi police officers and militiamen in the middle of a street in the city of al-Umran.
The prominent Shia clergyman had earlier been subjected to various forms of harassment and frequently summoned for questioning over his Friday sermons, which touched on a wide array of regional and domestic issues, including the execution of well-known Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr in early January 2016.
Sheikh al-Radhi has also condemned Saudi’s military aggression against Yemen and called for the withdrawal of Saudi forces from the impoverished conflict-ridden country.
He has asked Saudi authorities to stop meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, and respond to demands for reform at home.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/08/10/531325/Saudi-Arabia-court-jail-term-Shia-clergyman-Sheikh-alRadhi = http://newnewss.net/?p=9876
11.8.2017 – RT (** A P)
Film: Tod und Zerstörung: Militäreinsatz gegen schiitische Kleinstadt in Saudi-Arabien
Die saudische Kleinstadt Awamiya wird von Soldaten des Königreiches belagert und zerstört. In der Stadt herrscht de-facto Kriegszustand. Soldaten feuern auf Menschen, selbst Panzer sollen gegen Zivilisten eingesetzt worden sein. Offiziell dient der Einsatz der Absicherung von Renovierungsarbeiten an einer Moschee.
Die daran beteiligten Arbeiter seien von schiitischen Terroristen angegriffen worden. Kritiker vermuten hingegen, die sogenannten Renovierung diene als Deckmantel für eine großangelegte Vertreibung der schiitischen Bewohner Awamiyas. Die Stadt gilt als ein Hort des Widerstands gegen das Königshaus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPoG0ysIIzE
9.8.2017 – Telepolis (* A P)
Saudi-Arabien: Mit westlichem Kriegsgerät gegen Oppositionelle
Die kanadische Regierung ist beunruhigt darüber, was mit der Lieferung aus einem 15-Milliarden-Dollar-Waffengeschäft passiert. Im Osten des Landes führt die saudische Regierung eine großangelegte Säuberungsaktion durch
Nun hat sich augenscheinlich ereignet, was auf doch keinen Fall geschehen sollte. Saudi-Arabien setzt vom Westen geliefertes Kriegsgerät im Kampf gegen die Opposition ein. Der Düpierte ist in diesem Fall Kanada, aber es könnte auch andere Waffenhandels-Partner treffen, die USA oder auch Deutschland.
Das in Kanada viel und lange diskutierte Waffengeschäft mit Saudi-Arabien stammt noch aus Zeiten der Vorgängerregierung. Es hat ein Volumen von 15 Milliarden Dollar, dazu gehört die Lieferung von gepanzerten Patrouillenfahrzeuge des Typs Gurkha. Das Fahrzeug, das dem amerikanischen Hummer ähnelt, wird von der Firma Terradyne mit Sitz in Ontario hergestellt.
Bildmaterial, das auf Twitter kursiert und von dort Eingang in Berichte größerer Medien gefunden hat, identifiziert die Gurkha-Fahrzeuge bei einem Kampf-Einsatz saudi-arabischer Truppen in al-Awamia, einer Stadt im Osten des Landes, mit mehrheitlich schiitischer Bevölkerung, in der Unruhezone bei al-Qatif.
Das harte Vorgehen gegen die Unruhezone in al-Awamia, wo saudische Soldaten in kanadischen Patrouillenfahrzeugen zum Kampfeinsatz gegen saudi-arabische Staatsbürger gefahren werden, datiert ungefähr auf Ende Mai. Man kann davon ausgehen, dass die Angelegenheit nicht ohne Mohammed Bin Salmans ausdrücklichem Einverständnis angegangen wurde - und mit dessem sicheren Gefühl, dass es aus Washington keine Störmanöver dazu geben wird.
Die saudi-arabischen Sicherheitskräfte kämpfen offiziell gegen "Terroristen", die als Schiiten stets dem Verdacht ausgesetzt sind, mit dem nahegelegenen Iran zu paktieren.
Bezeichnend ist, dass die Kämpfe in al-Awamia noch kaum an die größere Öffentlichkeit gedrungen sind. Wie es auch bezeichnend ist, dass Publikationen aus Katar wie al-Jazeera oder Middle East Eye, dessen Nähe zu Katar größer ist als zu Saudi-Arabien, vom "Krieg" in al-Awamia berichten. Im Fall von Middle East Eye sehr drastisch: Dort ist von "Schlächterei" die Rede oder davon, dass der Ort ähnlich zerstört würde wie Aleppo.
Es gibt auch einen aktuellen Bericht des britischen Independent, der von einer monatelangen Belagerung, von einer dramatischen Verschlechterung der Situation für die Bevölkerung, von Sniper-Feuer und Granatenbeschuss, von 12 bis 15 Toten berichtet und Fotos von Schutt-und Asche-Zerstörungen zeigt, deren Quellen Twitter-Accounts sind, die der saudischen Regierung, um es freundlich zu sagen, kritisch gegenüber stehen.
Verlässliche Informationen über das Geschehen in al-Awamia seien nicht zu bekommen, so der Independent. Es gibt keine Pressevertreter vor Ort, nur saudische Sicherheitskräfte und die Bewohner.
Nach der inoffiziellen Sicht werden die mehrheitlich schiitischen Bewohner aus ihren Häusern mit Gewalt hinausgedrängt, um Platz für neue Häuser mit friedlicheren Bewohnern zu schaffen. Demnach steckt hinter der Angelegenheit ein Projekt der gewaltsamen Umsiedlung, um die Unruhezone zu befrieden. Hunderte seien bereits vor den Soldaten geflohen, die saudischen Sicherheitskräfte hätten dringliche Anweisungen an die Haustüren geheftet. Laut Reuters haben mehrere Tausend ihre Wohnungverlassen – von Thomas Pany
Mein Kommentar: das ist schon sehr windelweich und fast wegschauend formuliert. Man sehe sich die Filme und Fotos aus Awamiya an – dort sieht es z. T.wirklich nicht anders aus als in Aleppo.
11.8.2017 – Huffington Post (** A P)
Saudi Arabia's Unprecedented Crackdown Complicates Trump's Mideast Hopes
The campaign against an impoverished minority Shiite community worsens sectarian divides and undercuts Saudi claims of responsible regional leadership.
Saudi Arabia is engaged in an unprecedented domestic military operation that has worsened sectarian tensions long ignored by Washington, raising concerns about Western support for the U.S.-friendly government the Trump administration has pulled especially close and the ripple effect the crackdown may have on an already fractured Middle East.
Since May 10, two weeks before President Donald Trump’s high-profile visit to the kingdom, Saudi security forces seeking to demolish a 400-year-old neighborhood have been battling a small group of armed resisters ― leading to civilian deaths, including that of a three-year-old boy on Wednesday.
The demolition plan, targeting the historic heart of the volatile Eastern Province town of Awamiya, was developed with little local input. Saudi authorities forced families out by cutting off their electricity and hustling them out of their homes with compensation they see as inadequate, United Nations experts and activists say.
Ongoing fighting in the largely closed-off town means residents now feel unable to even leave their homes for fear of being shot, said Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch.
The Saudi campaign has particular importance for the broader Muslim world because it pits a government dominated by the Sunni branch of Islam against citizens who follow the Shiite school.
Both the State Department and the U.S. government’s Commission on International Religious Freedom have acknowledged Saudi Arabia’s discrimination against its domestic Shiite community, which forms roughly 10-15 percent of the country’s population of 28 million.
But the repression is particularly striking now, as the kingdom adopts a more activist foreign policy, risking larger confrontations with Iran, and as Washington hopes to stabilize the region following the expected collapse of the ISIS caliphate.
Experts on the region have long warned that U.S.-aligned governments mistreating their Shiites invite the risk of Iranian meddling, making it seem that homegrown grievances among their communities cannot be addressed under the ruling government.
They note also that terror groups like ISIS seek to boost Shiite alienation to destabilize U.S.-friendly countries. Many extremist attacks in the Sunni-led Gulf monarchies have targeted Shiites.
“It is an open sore that ISIS can exploit,” Frederic Wehrey, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told HuffPost.
With Trump pushing human rights off the U.S. foreign policy agenda, giving a de facto green-light to Bahrain’s repression against Shiites, and supporting dramatic Saudi moves like severing ties with the U.S.-friendly state of Qatar, the moment seems ripe for hardliners in the Saudi government and maximalist positions.
“This whole thing could have been avoided with negotiation and settlement,” said Ali Al-Ahmed, a Saudi Shiite who grew up near Awamiya and now runs the Institute for Gulf Affairs, Washington, D.C.-based think tank. “The Saudi government is running a drive against people to make an example of the minority and show the majority [its power]... our people are no different than anybody else, the Americans who launched their revolution, the French, the Syrians.”
The current situation in Nimr’s hometown “is really quite beyond anything I’ve ever seen in Saudi Arabia,” said Coogle of Human Rights Watch.
On Wednesday, the Reuters report suggested that the Saudi operation was close to its conclusion. But Shiite frustration is unlikely to abate, Al-Ahmed said.
“The goal here is to subjugate the population,” he said. “I don’t think they’ll succeed.” – by Akbar Shahid Ahmed
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/saudis-unprecedented-crackdown_us_598cbe6fe4b08a2472733d65
11.8.2017 – Press TV Iran (A P)
UN finally breaks silence on Saudi razing of Shia town
The UN has reacted to media reports about a deadly and destructive Saudi military crackdown against an eastern Shia town, urging the regime in Riyadh to respect human rights.
Speaking at a press conference in New York, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said the world body could not independently verify the reports coming out of Awamiyah, but that all Riyadh’s actions should be in line with its commitments to human rights.
The UN wants Saudi Arabia to take human rights and international regulations into consideration before taking any action, the official was quoted as saying by the London-based New Arab media outlet.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/08/11/531369/UN-Saudi-Arabia-Awamiyah
My comment: Even if “the world body could not independently verify the reports coming out of Awamiyah”, it’s totally obvious that Riyadh’s actions not at all are “in line with its commitments to human rights”.
10.8.2017 – Deutsche Welle (** A P)
Is Saudi Arabia waging war on its Shia minority?
Fighting has been raging in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Awamiya for months. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, and Riyadh's heavy-handed approach toward its Shiite minority has escalated the situation.
Largely ignored by the rest of the world, heavy fighting has been going on in the tiny city of Awamiya in eastern Saudi Arabia for three months: Satellite images show that entire sections of the city have been destroyed. Images of firefights and flattened buildings are making the rounds on social media. Independent reporting is not possible because the government has denied foreign journalists access to the area.
The center of the fighting appears to be Al-Masora, the city's old quarter. Militant Shiites are engaged in firefights with Saudi security forces there, in the neighborhood's narrow alleys. Heavy artillery is being used in the fighting and at least 15 people are said to have been killed so far. After images of Canadian-made armored vehicles being deployed against civilians became public, Ottawa reportedly began considering a halt of arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
The conflict arose in part from Saudi plans to demolish areas of the historic city in order to build a new shopping mall - something that the city's residents strongly opposed. In April, the United Nations called for Saudi Arabia to halt forced relocations and the demolition of the old quarter. UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, fears "the planned demolition would erase this unique regional heritage in an irreversible manner."
Sebastian Sons, a Middle East expert from the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), told DW he was skeptical that Riyadh would actually carry out infrastructure measures that would improve the lives of residents. "It seems more like a relocation project," he said. "They are trying to disperse and dissolve the Shia minority that is so dominant in the area by removing its base. That coincides with the fundamental marginalization of Shiites that Saudi Arabia has been pursuing for years, and which has essentially become part of its official propaganda."
Repression and marginalization are the deeper roots of the conflict. Some 10 percent of Saudi Arabia's 30 million citizens are Shiites. They mostly live in the east of the country - where much of its oil is located. But Shiites have profited little from the country's wealth, and they have been denied access to participation in political life in the kingdom. They are also put under increased pressure by the fact that the majority of Saudis are adherents of Wahhabism - and therefore view Shiites as apostates.
Riyadh's harsh approach has led to an escalation of the conflict, according to Ali Abudisi of the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR).
Abudisi estimates that about 90 percent of Awamiya's residents have fled the city or been forced out by the government. The human rights activist said the Saudis are conducting a war on their own people, unlike anything seen in the country's 80-year history.
Andrew Hammond, author of "The Islamic Utopia: The Illusion of Reform in Saudi Arabia," finds the timing of the Saudi government's activity in Awamiya noteworthy. This attempt to demonstrate supposed power, he said, is directly related to the current change in succession at the top of the Saudi royal family – by Matthias von Hein
http://www.dw.com/en/is-saudi-arabia-waging-war-on-its-shia-minority/a-40045513
9.8.2017 – Reuters (** A P)
Saudi security forces flatten old quarter of Shi'ite town
A security campaign against Shi'ite Muslim gunmen in eastern Saudi Arabia has reduced dozens of buildings in the town of Awamiya to ruins and forced thousands of residents to flee.
Security forces have been trying for three months to flush out gunmen responsible for years of attacks on police in the small town of 30,000 that has been the center of protests by minority Shi'ites against the Sunni government.
Journalists on a government tour of the town on Wednesday were the first outside witnesses of the damage caused by the fighting in the otherwise tightly controlled kingdom, a key Western ally and the world's top oil exporter.
Reporters escorted by special forces in armored vehicles saw streets in Awamiya's old quarter transformed into a war zone a world away from the sparkling cityscapes elsewhere in the energy-rich Gulf.
There was no fighting during the tour, although residents reported an explosion and gunfire shortly afterwards.
Rusted-out cars lay half-flattened next to wrecked homes pocked with hundreds of bullet holes.
Fighting picked up this month when elite forces joined an operation that began in May to tear down the old quarter, known as al-Musawara, to prevent gunmen using its narrow streets to evade capture.
Activists said five fighters and 23 civilians were killed in the fighting. Among them was a three-year-old boy, who died on Wednesday after having been shot in his family's car by an armored vehicle in Awamiya in June.
The ministry representative said the old quarter had been empty except for "terrorists" for the past six months, but the security forces had to wait until families left adjacent areas before they could begin their final push.
The authorities say they are clearing the area to build an attractive district of shopping centers, office buildings, green spaces and fountains in place of al-Musawara.
He dismissed concerns raised by United Nations experts in April that the demolition of the 400-year-old neighborhood threatened Awamiya's cultural heritage, saying the majority of the community accepted the project.
"Of course, we didn't get approval from everyone, but most Qatif and Awamiya residents wanted to see their neighborhoods developed," said Almulla.
The government compensated residents who had to leave with more than 800 million riyals ($200 million), he said, and has demolished about 80 out of 488 homes in Musawara – by Katie Paul
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-security-awamiya-idUSKBN1AP21S
9.8.2017 – The Independent (* A P)
Satellite images show scale of devastation inside Saudi town under siege from its own government
Awamiyah in Qatif province has been the scene of unprecedented violence that has killed between 12 - 25 people since attempts to evict residents turned violent on 10 May
Satellite imagery has emerged from a Shia-majority town in Saudi Arabia showing the extent of the damage caused by a violent stand-off between Saudi security forces and armed protesters.
In images widely shared by activists from the city of Awamiyah, one image from July - contrasted with an earlier shot from February this year - reveals that entire blocks of the al-Musawara neighbourhood have been flattened by what residents say is heavy weaponry such as shelling from mortars.
The Saudi government says that the 400-year-old area is scheduled for demolition because terrorists and drug dealers use its abandoned buildings and winding narrow streets as hideouts.
Since 10 May, however, locals report between 12 - 25 people have died in shelling and sniper fire, and pictures purportedly of the area show it covered in rubble and sewage.
But details of the current conflict - which Human Rights Watch told The Independent is an “unprecedented” stand-off between the state and its citizens - are difficult to verify - by Betahn McKernan
10.8.2017 – International Business Times (* A P)
Toddler dies in 'harrowing pain' after he was shot by security forces in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan
The boy's hometown Awamiyah has been under siege since May
A three-year-old child has died in hospital after allegedly being shot by Saudi troops on the streets of Awamiyah, a Shia-majority town in eastern Saudi Arabia. Sajaad Abu Abdallah was shot on 12 June during Ramadan when Saudi soldiers besieged his hometown.
Soldiers shot the child in his waist and right hand while he was sitting in his family's car, it is claimed. Witnesses say that there were no clashes in the area when security forces opened fire and shot live ammunition at the car. After suffering from "harrowing pain" for two months, Abu Abdallah died in hospital on Wednesday 9 August.
Human rights activists condemned Saudi forces for opening fire on a young child and called for an independent investigation into the shooting.
Sophie Baggott, Research and Policy Associate at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), told IBTimes UK: "The tragic death of this young child means an investigation into these shootings is now more urgent than ever. The Saudi security forces' haphazard firing of live ammunition at Awamiyah's civilians in June can no longer be an ignored incident.
"Saudi Arabia's failure to even acknowledge the fatal shooting of civilians shows contempt for the victims and provides the security forces with impunity."
Amawiyah has been under siege from its own government since May. Residents say that between 12 and 25 people have died in shelling and sniper fire. Satellite images show that parts of the city have been completely flattened and reduced to rubble.
The Saudi government has said that the 400-year-old city must be demolished because terrorists and drug dealers are using its abandoned buildings as hideouts.
The UN has demanded that Saudi authorities "immediately stop this demolition of cultural heritage and historic homes, and restore the human rights of their citizens." – By Isabelle Gerretsen
9.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (** A P)
Three-year-old boy dies amid siege of Saudi Shia town
Awamiya resident tells MEE Saudi forces shoot 'everything that moves' as clashes continue with Shia militants
A three-year-old boy died from gunshot wounds after almost two months in hospital in the restive eastern Saudi town of Awamiya.
Sajaad Mohamed Abu Abdallah is the latest victim of a months-long "siege" against the Qatif town by the Saudi government, which has seen dozens killed in clashes between Shia militants and Saudi soldiers.
According to activist accounts, Sajaad was hit on 12 June in his family car when an armoured vehicle shot live ammunition as it drove by the Awamiya Police Station. About 30 people were wounded in the attack.
He died in the Dammam Maternity and Children’s Hospital on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabian forces have clashed with gunmen for more than two months in the 30,000-strong Shia town. Fighting intensified over the last past two weeks, when elite forces entered the town.
Awamiya has long been a flashpoint for protests by Saudi's Shia minority - the influential cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed by the Saudi government in 2016, came from the town.
Tensions have flared in the city over reported plans to demolish and renovate the historic district Almosara, which the government said was being used by armed gunmen and had become "a haven for terrorists and suspicious activities ranging from terrorism and kidnapping to selling drugs and weapons", according to a statement released on 8 August.
Locals estimate that as many as 20,000 people have fled to towns and villages nearby since the violence began.
"After the recent escalation and the Special Security Forces’ attack on Awamiya, getting out of the house has become extremely risky, since they were ready to shoot everything that moved in the streets," said the Awamiya resident.
"After they shoot a target, the deceitful Saudi media dub him a terrorist."
There have also been requisition notices attached to houses in the district of al-Shweikah, about 6km south of Almosara, issued by the Alibrahim private property development company, which is also responsible for the renovation of Almosara.
Authorities say they will replace Almosara with an attractive district of shopping centres, office buildings, green spaces and fountains – by Alex MacDonald
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/three-year-old-dies-siege-saudi-shia-town-continues-613011764
My comment: „Authorities say they will replace Almosara with an attractive district of shopping centres, office buildings, green spaces and fountains“: Already this one point should enrage eveyone in the „West“. Think of it: Take a historic little town in your country and think of this report: The government is driving out the population of X-town, will pull the buildings to the ground and will build „ an attractive district of shopping centres, office buildings, green spaces and fountains“ at this place.
9.8.2017 – The Globe and Mail (* A P)
Video: Saudi dissident on arms deal: ‘I believe Canada could strike a model for the world’
Ali Al-Ahmed of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington D.C. discusses Saudi Arabian military action in the Eastern province of Qatif and how Canada should view its sales of military vehicles to the Saudi Arabian government.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1463325090387183
9.8.2017 ff. - Various (* A P)
Awamiya siege in social media, with photos, films
https://twitter.com/AngryQatifi/status/895593730274729984
https://twitter.com/AngryQatifi/status/895217987459960832
https://twitter.com/fresh_sadegh/status/894985975964815360
9.8.2017 – SURA, Abbas Kadhim (A P)
Film: Saudi troops repeat ISIS slogans after capturing a Shia building "This belongs to Shia, "Rawafid" (apostates) sons of dogs"
https://twitter.com/AlSuraEnglish/status/895301446169579521
No surprise here. ISIS ideology has its genesis in Wahabism, Saudi Arabia's state religion.
https://twitter.com/DrAbbasKadhim/status/895460383405637632
9.8.2017 – AJ+ (* B P)
Film: Saudi Arabia is going to behead 14 men who took part in pro-democracy protests.
https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/895197210186403840
10.8.2017 – Daily Caller (B E)
Saudi Arabia Must Stop Stealing American Intellectual Property
the Saudi government has not been very hospitable to many other American companies trying to do business within its borders.
In modern times, many treaties and trade agreements recognize the need for effective patent protection. And until recently, there were relatively few complaints that Saudi Arabia wasn’t living up to those standards.
However, in April the Saudi government gave approval to a local company to manufacture and sell a medical treatment created and patented by an American company. That comes on the heels of another instance in which marketing approval for American health care products was given to Saudi companies who were also allowed to free ride on American research and development – by Steve Tepp
http://dailycaller.com/2017/08/10/saudi-arabia-must-stop-stealing-american-intellectual-property/
9.8.2017 – Al Riyadh ( A P)
Prosecutors re-decide 2000 neglected cases in three years
Riyadh courts returned more than 2000 cases within two weeks to the Public Prosecution, which had been locked in the judiciary for three years, from 1435 until 1438 AH.
According to sources, "Riyadh" came after an inspection tour carried out by the Attorney General Sheikh Saud bin Abdullah admirer, a number of branches of the prosecution in the regions of the Kingdom, revealing that there are thousands of prisoners who have been in prisons without trials or verdicts for three years.
After the Attorney General presented to the Shari'a courts the reason for delaying the decision on these cases all these years, I asked the prosecution to look into the wording and exit from this unacceptable excess and to include the prisoners who did not consider the pardons in their papers amnesty after years of suspension of their fate and papers without a ruling.
According to the information "Riyadh", many cases are not worth arrest, according to some similar judicial cases weeks or months, and sources, "Riyadh" that the cases returned by the courts in all regions of the Kingdom to the prosecution, the last two weeks of three years amounted to thousands of cases, Which was returned to the Procuratorate from 1430 to 1434 AH only ten issues.
During his visit to the Kingdom's prisons, the Attorney General had heard a number of complaints from the auditors and reviews, who promised them to investigate the matter and take appropriate action on it. He stressed that the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and his Crown Prince - Never indulge in this. . By Asmahan Al Ghamdi
http://www.alriyadh.com/1615114
9.8.2017 – Fars News (A P)
Saudi Crown Prince in Hectic Diplomacy with Israel
rab media outlets reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who is believed to be preparing to replace his father in coming months, had a crucial meeting with an Israeli delegation last week.
The Arabic-language Palestinian weekly, Al-Manar, disclosed in a report on Wednesday that the crown prince met an Israeli delegation headed by one of Benjamin Netenyahu's cabinet ministers in Riyadh last week.
"The meeting was also attended by the Saudi intelligence chief, who is bin Salman's confidentiale and has strong ties with Israeli spy agencies," the report added.
Al-Manar said the two sides had discussed the situation in Syria and Lebanon as well as Hezbollah's growning power against Tel Aviv's shared goals and interests, Israel's role in the Saudi-led war on Yemen, normalization of ties between the two sides and Saudi partnership in the management of affairs in the Holy Quds (Noble Sanctuary).
Sources in the Royal family in Riyadh disclosed that Saudi King Salman bin Abdolaziz al-Saud has pre-recorded a statement to soon abandon power in favor of his son Mohammed bin Salman in the next few weeks as former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef is still under house arrest.
According to Reuters, with Mohammad Bin Salman's sudden ascent, there is now speculation among diplomats and Saudi and Arab officials that King Salman is poised to abdicate in favor of his son.
Quoting a witness at the palace, one Saudi source said that King Salman this month pre-recorded a statement in which he announces the transfer of the throne to his son. The announcement could be broadcast at any time, perhaps as soon as September.
Also, the source close to Mohammed Bin Nayef disclosed that he would like to take his family to Switzerland or London but the king and his son had decided that he must stay, adding that "he wasn't given any choice."
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960518001234
8.8.2017 – Middle East Monitor (* B P)
WikiLeaks Reveals Israeli-Saudi Alliance Dating Back To 2008
The WikiLeaks documents adds credibility to what Saudis claim was “talk without evidence,” regarding Saudi relations with Israel
A “highly classified” press release by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was published by WikiLeaks, reveals the level of rapprochement between Riyadh and Tel Aviv.
Saudi Arabia initiated discussions on the issue of normalization with Israel and the 2002 Saudi peace initiative that was adopted by the Arab League at the Beirut Summit in the same year.
This was followed by a media propaganda in 2006, the year in which influential people in Saudi Arabia started speaking out that Israel was no longer among the enemies of the United States, but was the closest to an unofficial ally.
This discourse has developed and turned into Saudi initiatives to establish ties between the two countries in 2008. Since that date, the effectiveness of the ties between Tel Aviv and Riyadh and the support of the rapprochement between the two are clearly noticed.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170808-wikileaks-riyadh-flirts-with-tel-aviv-through-normalization/ = http://www.mintpressnews.com/wikileaks-reveals/230654/
3.10.2015 – Telesur (* B C P)
Film: The Empire Files: The Real House of Saud
Meet the new head of the United Nations panel on Human Rights: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Abby Martin takes us inside the brutal reality of this police-state monarchy, and tells the untold people's history of resistance to it. With a major, catastrophic war in Yemen and looming high-profile executions of activists,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmSRWXCosxc
cp9 USA
SASiehe / Look at cp1
10.8.2017 – The Intercept (* B P)
GULF GOVERNMENT GAVE SECRET $20 MILLION GIFT TO D.C. THINK TANK
THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES is on pace to contribute $20 million over the course of 2016 and 2017 to the Middle East Institute, one of Washington’s leading think tanks, according to a document obtained by The Intercept. The outsized contribution, which the UAE hoped to conceal, would allow the institute, according to the agreement, to “augment its scholar roster with world class experts in order to counter the more egregious misperceptions about the region, inform U.S. government policy makers, and convene regional leaders for discreet dialogue on pressing issues.”
The Emirates, according to the Associated Press, operate a network of torture pens in Yemen where detainees are grilled alive.
MEI was founded in 1946 and has long been an influential player in Washington foreign policy circles. It serves as a platform for many of the U.S.’s most influential figures, allowing them to regularly appear on cable news, author papers, host private briefings and appear on panels in between stints in government.
The document was included in a trove of diplomatic correspondence pilfered from the email account of UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba – by Ryan Grim
https://theintercept.com/2017/08/09/gulf-government-gave-secret-20-million-gift-to-d-c-think-tank/
8.8.2017 – The New American (* B K P)
U.S. Boots in Yemen As Globalist-Saudi Coalition Destroys It
As the Saudi regime and its allies continue laying waste to the impoverished nation of Yemen using mostly American weapons, U.S. boots are now reportedly on the ground to assist in the destruction under the guise of the global terror war. Millions of Yemeni civilians have been displaced and are suffering amid what analysts are describing as among the greatest humanitarian crises currently afflicting the planet — disease, starvation, and violence are running rampant. With the U.S. government now getting sucked even deeper into the conflict, there appears to be no end in sight to the civil war. And unsurprisingly, globalists are, as usual, exploiting the tragedy they helped create to advance the cause of globalism via regional governance.
The Sunni Islamist dictatorship in Saudi Arabia, a perpetual foe of the ostensibly Shia Islamist dictatorship in Iran, was unwilling to see its neighbor to the South controlled by supposed Iranian proxies. And so, with support from the Obama administration, the Saudi regime, and the transnational “Gulf Cooperation Council” (GCC) it largely controls, invaded Yemen with a goal of deposing the Houthis and installing their exiled minion Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Ironically, while U.S. authorities justified much of their intervention in Yemen under the guise of targeting al-Qaeda, bombing and attacking Houthi forces, fierce enemies of al-Qaeda, has the effect of helping the terror group. And the U.S.-backed Saudis are reportedly aligned with al-Qaeda forces in Yemen, too.
All of the fighting and chaos has been fueled by the U.S. government, among other sources. And the humanitarian cost has been staggering.
Among other effects, the U.S. government's role in the devastating assault is pouring fuel on the fires of anti-American hatred in Yemen.
Of course, the U.S. government has been unconstitutionally meddling in the Middle East for generations, fueling chaos, war, genocide, the ongoing extermination of Christians, and other tragedies. Under the Obama administration, though, the U.S. government became deeply involved in Yemen's internal conflicts. Obama was especially fond of killing people in Yemen via drone, without so much as charging them with a crime, much less securing a conviction in a court of law.
Going after al-Qaeda has been the chief pretext for U.S. involvement in Yemen — even after Obama was caught knowingly supporting al-Qaeda in Libya and Syria, as revealed even in official Pentagon documents. Ironically, multiple reports have accused the Saudi regime of uniting with al-Qaeda in Yemen under the banner of crushing the Shia-affiliated Houthi forces.
The U.S. government has absolutely no business meddling in Yemen's affairs. With its lawless wars and mass-murder programs, it makes all Americans complicit in the atrocities being perpetrated across the Middle East. Since there has been no declaration of war from Congress, the conflict is blatantly unconstitutional, too. The Trump administration should abandon the immoral and illegal globalist warmongering of Obama and previous U.S. administrations, and instead follow the non-interventionist advice of America's Founding Fathers. The world may not become perfect, but at least Americans would no longer have the blood of countless innocents on their hands – by Alex Newman
9.8.2017 – Yemen Press (A K P)
Loot!!! After the control of oil wells of Shabwa, US forces arrive at Petromsilh in Hadramout
A US military force arrived at the Petromsila airport and was greeted by an Emirati force.
Al-Mayadeen channel quoted sources as saying that a military force arrived at the airport of Petromsilh Sector No. 10 in Sayoun in Hadramout province, east of Yemen, and was greeted by an Emirati force.
9.8.2017 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Royal Saudi Air Force to Participate in US Aerial Combat Exercises
The Royal Saudi Air Force has sent air and technical crews as well as multi-role fighter aircraft to the United States to take part in an advanced aerial combat training exercise hosted at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/08/08/531134/Royal-Saudi-Air-Force-US-aerial-combat-drills-Red-Flag-Green-Flag-Nevada = http://newnewss.net/?p=9797
and
11.8.2017 – MbKS15 (A K P)
VIDEO: RSAF EF Typhoon mid-air refueling during its 1st transatlantic crossing to the United States for the exercises #RedFlag & #GreenFlag
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/896041964931497984
My comment: US kinship with killers.
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
11.8.2017 – British Government (A P)
UK renews push to tackle world’s worst cholera outbreak in Yemen
Priti Patel urges the international community to follow the UK’s push to stem the cholera outbreak in Yemen.
Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic disaster, International Development Secretary Priti Patel warned today, as she urged the international community to follow the UK’s push to stem the country’s cholera outbreak – the worst ever recorded in a single year.
International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:
Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic disaster if the world continues to close its eyes to the urgent help three quarters of people across the country desperately need.
The response by the international community is the only hope Yemeni people have to survive. UK aid is providing lifesaving food for 1.7 million people, as well as clean water, emergency healthcare and sanitation to contain the cholera outbreak and prevent it from spreading further.
The international community must follow Britain’s lead and join our efforts and step up support to avert famine and cholera engulfing the country.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-renews-push-to-tackle-worlds-worst-cholera-outbreak-in-yemen
My comment: This is hypocrisy at its best. This government is one of the worst wordl-wide related to Yemen. ““The international community must follow Britain’s lead and join our efforts” ???? God beware.
Comments by Iona craig: UK boasts providing medical supplies to Yemen. Doesn't say how they'll reach those in need when UK supports blockade
https://twitter.com/ionacraig/status/896000558858989568
Far more effective than sending chlorine tablets and hygiene kits would be if the UK stopped aiding and abetting the coalition's blockade.
https://twitter.com/ionacraig/status/896001161135828993
10.8.2017 – UPI (* B K P)
Britain shouldn't sell arms to the Saudis, no matter what they promise
Since the catastrophic Yemeni civil war began in 2015, the British public has woken up to a serious problem: the use of U.K.-manufactured arms by Saudi Arabia. Various NGOs, campaigners and many MPs are increasingly worried about evidence that since the beginning of the conflict, Saudi Arabia has used U.K.-manufactured arms in ways that violate international law.
The British government, however, seems content to continue selling weapons to the Saudis - and indeed has worked hard to justify doing so. Government representatives have repeatedly claimed that the U.K. enjoys a "privileged position" from which it can train the Saudi armed forces and pressure them to comply with the international law of armed conflict. The corollary is that if the U.K. gave that position up, someone more nefarious would inherit it.
The government routinely falls back on this argument; it made the same caserecently when it faced a judicial review of its decision to continue exporting arms to the Saudis despite their violations of humanitarian law.
The rationale has so far stood up in British courts and in parliament. But it is nonetheless deeply flawed - and it doesn't come close to justifying what the government is still doing. Instead, the British government's legal arguments seem highly selective.
In short, as far as international law is concerned, the Saudis' assurances for the future do not justify the U.K.'s arms sales. A promise to behave properly in the future cannot justify unlawful behavior in the past - especially not if the supplier state held a "privileged position" over the recipient when those violations were committed.
More than that, since arms have a long lifespan and are often stored and recycled for future conflicts, they have a nasty way of escaping the supplier's control, making promises to limit their use essentially immaterial. This is precisely what has happened in Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition has reportedly used British-manufactured cluster munitions.
In any case, the argument that a "privileged position" from which to influence buyers' behavior justifies the U.K.'s arms sales makes no sense. After all, even if the U.K. could control the way Saudi Arabia uses exported arms, that would surely implicate it in everything the Saudis do with them – By Riccardo Labianco, SOAS, University of London
4.8.2017 – The Guardian (A P)
Saudi ties raise doubts about Independent's editorial freedom
Muhammad Abuljadayel, who owns 30% of news site’s shares, works for investment arm of government-controlled bank NCB
A Saudi businessman who has bought a 30% stake in the Independent appears to have links to the country’s government, raising questions about whether the deal could affect the news site’s editorial independence.
The Guardian understands that Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel works for NCB Capital, the investment banking arm of the National Commercial Bank, which is controlled by the Saudi government and is one of the biggest banks in the Middle East.
In a move that highlights the concerns about the deal, Abuljadayel is understood to have had to sign a declaration that his investment is personal and that he is the ultimate beneficial owner of the Independent shares.
News of Abuljadayel’s stake emerged last week, sparking concerns that the website’s liberal political stance and hard-hitting coverage of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and foreign policy could change – by Graham Rudick
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/04/independent-investor-saudi-links-raise-questions-about-editorial-freedom and on this subject also https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jul/29/saudi-investor-buys-up-significant-stake-in-the-independent
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
11.8.2017 – The Diplomat (* B P)
China's Role in the Yemen Crisis
China’s interest in preserving stability is leading it to back the Saudi-aligned Hadi government.
Even though China has been reluctant to diplomatically intervene in Yemen, Beijing’s aid provisions to Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s Aden-based government suggest that China is forging an informal partnership with pro-Saudi factions in Yemen. In addition to entrusting Hadi-aligned officials with humanitarian aid, China has criticized attempts by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels to form a new government in Sana’a and has sold stealth weaponry to Saudi Arabia to assist Riyadh’s military intervention in Yemen.
The Chinese government’s decision to align with Hadi’s pro-Saudi forces can be explained by Beijing’s endorsement of Hadi’s desire to reunite Yemen under stable authoritarian leadership. China’s indirect support for Hadi also underscores Beijing’s commitment to strengthening its burgeoning security partnership with Saudi Arabia. This partnership will allow China to more effectively balance between Tehran and Riyadh, furthering Beijing’s quest for an enhanced diplomatic role in the Middle East.
Even though the Chinese government has not publicly released a detailed Yemen strategy, Chinese policymakers have consistently emphasized the need to bring hostilities in Yemen to a swift conclusion. A ceasefire in Yemen would help expand China’s military power projection capacity in the Middle East, centered on its new naval base in Djibouti.
A cessation of hostilities in Yemen would also have significant economic benefits for China, as it would give Beijing access to Yemen’s Bab al-Mandeb Strait
These strategic interests ensure that China’s principal goal in Yemen is preserving long-term political stability. Therefore, Beijing’s strategy in Yemen has consisted of backing the political faction that is most likely to reunite and stabilize the country. In the early stages of the conflict, Chinese officials viewed Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) allies as unilateral aggressors, which were destabilizing Yemen and preventing the Houthis from consolidating power. This interpretation of the Yemen conflict caused China to convince one of its leading international allies, Pakistan, to refrain from participation in the GCC military intervention in Yemen.
China’s strategic calculus began to change in late 2015, as the Houthis’ territorial expansion stagnated, and Hadi recaptured control over Aden.
The Chinese government’s derisive response to Houthi attempts to form a new Yemeni government based out of Sana’a in December 2016 revealed the extent of Beijing’s policy shift.
China’s decision to align with Hadi’s forces in Yemen is closely linked with its desire to upgrade its economically lucrative security partnership with Saudi Arabia.
China’s expansion of arms sales to Riyadh demonstrates that Beijing is trying to balance between Iran and Saudi Arabia to maximize its geopolitical influence in the Middle East.
Even though China’s influence over the outcome of the Yemeni civil war remains peripheral, Beijing’s decision to strengthen its ties with Hadi’s Saudi-backed government is closely linked to the Chinese navy’s base construction in Djibouti, Chinese commercial interests, and China’s great power ambitions in the Middle East. As the risk of backlash from Iran remains minimal, China will likely continue to provide arms and diplomatic support for Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen for the foreseeable future – By Samuel Ramani
http://thediplomat.com/2017/08/chinas-role-in-the-yemen-crisis/
10.8.2017 – MbKS15 (A K P)
SaudiHawks88 team will perform a rehearsal airshow on August 11 at 1:20 PM over F-9 Park in Islamabad
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/895708059841970177 and https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/895371111759740930 (photo)
My comment: Giving killers a stage.
8.8.2017 – The Globe and Mail (* A K P)
Days before clash, Ottawa assured court Saudis wouldn't use Canadian arms against citizens
Only two weeks before Saudi Arabia deployed what appear to be Canadian-made armoured vehicles against its citizens, the Trudeau government was defending military sales to the Mideast kingdom in court filings on the basis that no proof existed Riyadh had ever used such equipment on its own people.
The late July crackdown on minority Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, which Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is now investigating, has shone a spotlight on combat machines sold to the Saudis by a little-known Ontario company, Terradyne Armored Vehicles.
If confirmed as a violation of Canada’s defence export controls, the matter could undermine the Liberal government’s rationale for allowing a much bigger military sale to proceed: the $15-billion General Dynamics weaponized armoured vehicle deal with Riyadh which supports hundreds of manufacturing jobs in and around London, Ont.
Further fuelling the controversy is another video, circulated by Shia activists Tuesday, which allegedly show Canadian-made General Dynamics light armoured vehicles (LAVs), also taking part in the Saudi crackdown – by Steven Chase
My comment: It’s always the same – which western arms-exporting country ever you llok at, which party ever is in the government. LOL, LOL, LOL.
7.8.2017 – Carnegie Middle East Center (* B P)
Master of the Middle
Oman’s efforts to avoid taking sides in a polarized region has brought it headaches, but also benefits.
Oman has built stable, permanent, and solid relations with its diverse neighbors, a reality facilitated by the traditional tolerance of the dominant Ibadi sect. This, like the sultanate’s lack of political parties, has left a deep mark on the political character of Oman.
Since the start of the latest war in Yemen, Oman has played a key facilitation role. It has hosted Houthi leaders and representatives of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. This, as well as its good relations with Iran, enabled it to stake out a middle ground, allowing it to engage in a political process to help resolve the conflict.
Oman’s dealings with the Houthis angered Saudi Arabia and its allies. For one thing, Muscat’s neutrality represented implicit condemnation of the war in Yemen, against the consensus in the Gulf.
As the Gulf coalition’s campaign in Yemen bogged down, however, the Saudi attitude changed. Looking to maintain a communications channel to the Houthis and Saleh, the Saudis saw an opening through their ties with Oman.
As the war in Yemen has raged on, Oman has taken other steps that, though small, remain important. It has provided Yemenis with transit visas, received hundreds of wounded, and helped Yemenis reach third countries via Omani territory.
When the recent crisis with Qatar began, Oman came to the fore once again as an intermediary and a humanitarian facilitator – by Farea Al-Muslimi
http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/72715?lang=en
9.8.2017 – Fahmee (A P)
[No visas for Yemenis in UAE]: image of document
https://twitter.com/58Fahmee/status/895364645095170049
My comment: Qatar now is visa-free for people of 80 countries; Yemenis still must have a visa: http://www.qatarliving.com/forum/news/posts/huge-news-citizens-80-countries-can-now-enter-qatar-visa-free
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
11.8.2017 – New News (A P)
Two Months into Saudi-led Boycott, Tiny Qatar Goes on the Offensive: The Washington Post
11.8.2017 – Ali AlAhmed (A P)
Top advisor of #Saudi strongman MBS says they will invade #Qatar if repeats any talk of internationalizing Hajj
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/895845628537974784
9.8.2017 – Newsweek (* B P)
THE THREAT TO AL JAZEERA FROM ARAB DICTATORS IS AN INTOLERABLE ASSAULT UPON THE FREE PRESS
http://www.newsweek.com/threat-al-jazeera-arab-dictators-intolerable-assault-upon-free-press-648418
9.8.2017 – Emirati News Agency (A P)
UAE denies opening airspace to Qatar-registered aircraft
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302626686
9.8.2017 – Al Araby (* A P)
Qatar Launches New ‘Blockade-Busting’ Maritimes Routes
Qatar will launch new direct maritime routes with Malaysia, Pakistan and Taiwan in September in a move that will further enable Doha to circumvent a blockade by its neighbours
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/8/9/qatar-launches-new-blockade-busting-maritimes-routes
9.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (* A P)
Gulf crisis: How autocrats use religious scholars against Qatar
Islamic scholars have been deployed by the UAE and allies to legitimise their siege of Qatar, as well as opposition to all democratic movements in the region. But it is an uneasy fit.
he Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies (FPPMS) was established in 2014 by the United Arab Emirates, ostensibly as an Islamic scholarly body that would help promote peace in a region destabilised by violence.
Its president is Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, a Saudi-based Mauritanian, and one of the mostrecognised Islamic scholars in both the region and the West. Aside from being promoted by Arab governments and media, he and his forum were praised by US President Barack Obama in a key anti-terror speech at the United Nations in 2014.
Fast forward to 2017. On 7 June, less than 48 hours after the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia and the UAE led renewed efforts to internationally isolate Qatar, the FPPMS issued a strong-worded statement (see translation) against the Gulf emirate.
The anti-democratic and anti-free speech orientation of the UAE and its Gulf allies does not appear to make these autocracies the most obvious partners of such prominent Islamic scholars. These governments plainly have no particular interest in religion except as a tool for maintaining power. Nor is it clear what religious purpose is served by supporting the repressive policies of governments like the UAE’s.
The forum’s statement serves only to demonstrate to the wider world the extent to which the moral capital of scholars can be used and abused by those in power for ignoble ends. In this regard, any self-respecting scholar’s involvement merely appears to exemplify the act of shooting oneself in the foot – by Usaama al-Azami
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arnms Trade
9.8.2017 – Middle East Monitor (* A K P)
Explosives sent to Saudi may be used against Yemen civilians, says Greenpeace
Madrid has handed over to Saudi Arabia more than 300 containers of explosives, according to Greenpeace, who have expressed concern that the explosives will be used to commit war crimes in Yemen.
“We have raised this issue with the Spanish government, and the latter has assured us that the documents accompanying the issuance of licenses for the sale of these weapons clearly emphasise their non-use,” the organisation’s spokesman Alberto Stevens, told Al Jazeera.
“But we have real doubts that the Saudi authorities will not meet this commitment, especially given the record of Riyadh in particular,” he added.
Stevens called on the Spanish authorities “to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of the risk that they will be used to commit atrocities and war crimes in Yemen”.
According to the organisation, Spain is the third largest arms exporter to Saudi Arabia after America and Britain.
These weapons include fighter jets, mortars and various other types of ammunition.
8.8.2017 – The Diplomat (* A K P)
Why Did the UAE Purchase Weapons From North Korea?
Why a U.S. Gulf ally maintains a covert military trade with Pyongyang.
On August 2, 2017, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs released an official statement condemning North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch into Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The UAE described North Korea’s actions as posing a “genuine threat to international security and stability,” and emphasized the importance of upholding international law as a bulwark against nuclear proliferation.
Despite this harsh anti-Pyongyang rhetoric from Abu Dhabi, a leaked U.S. State Department memo revealed that the UAE purchased $100 million worth of weapons from North Korea in June 2015 to support the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. The UAE’s covert arms purchases from Pyongyang can be explained by Abu Dhabi’s belief that North Korea is a potentially valuable missile system supplier, and the UAE’s desire to deter North Korea from selling sophisticated military technology to Iran and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Even though U.S. officials do not want the UAE to purchase nuclear weapons, Abu Dhabi has maintained commercial linkages with anti-Western nuclear-armed states, so it can respond swiftly to a major Iranian violation of the JCPOA agreement.
In this context, North Korea is viewed as a critical potential supplier of nuclear material to the UAE. The UAE’s military links with Pyongyang date back to 1989, when Abu Dhabi purchased Scud-B missiles from North Korea. These missile purchases occurred in tandem with the UAE’s development of Mirage 2000 and F-16 aircraft systems, which could be used as nuclear weapons delivery systems - – by Samuel Ramani
http://thediplomat.com/2017/08/why-did-the-uae-purchase-weapons-from-north-korea/
My comment: LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL.
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
Siehe / Look at cp1b
11.8.2017 – Ärzteblatt (* A H)
Hilfsgelder für den Jemen fließen nur spärlich
Die Hilfsgelder für das Bürgerkriegsland Jemen fließen nach Angaben der Flüchtlingshilfsorganisation UNHCR nur spärlich. Es seien erst 50 Prozent der Mittel zusammengekommen, die das Land in diesem Jahr noch brauche, sagte Shabia Mantoo, UNHCR-Sprecherin im Jemen, der Wiener Zeitung. Obwohl es sich um die aktuell größte humanitäre Krise handele, bekomme sie international nur wenig Aufmerksamkeit. Dabei habe die Krise potenziell globale Folgen.
https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/77564/Hilfsgelder-fuer-den-Jemen-fliessen-nur-spaerlich
11.8.2017 – TAZ (* B H)
Wenn das Transitland Endstation ist
Jährlich brechen rund 100.000 Menschen vom Horn von Afrika in Richtung Golfstaaten auf. Oft bleiben sie im Jemen stecken – mitten im Kriegsgebiet.
Kein Wunder, dass jährlich rund 100.000 Menschen aus dem Horn von Afrika über Jemen in die Arabische Halbinsel aufbrechen, auf der Suche nach einem besseren Leben. Die Völker auf beiden Seiten des Landes sind ohnehin eng miteinander verwandt und kulturell verbunden.
Zwischen 2007 und 2016 sind nach UN-Angaben über 750.000 Äthiopier und Somalier nach Jemen gezogen. Viele haben die Weiterreise in die Golfstaaten gesucht, aber mehrere Hunderttausend hängen in Jemen fest.
Als Gründe für den Rekordandrang 2016 nannte der RMMS-Jahresbericht „den kompletten Zusammenbruch der Zentralregierung und Grenzüberwachungssysteme Jemens, was es Migranten leichter machen könnte, sich unbemerkt durch das Land zu bewegen, und daher eine größere Zahl ermutigt, ihr Glück zu versuchen“, sowie „die aktuelle politische Krise und die Serie von Protesten gegen die Regierung in Äthiopien“ – die schweren Unruhen des Sommers 2016 mit über 600 Toten und 11.000 Festnahmen.
Der Nachteil der Arabien-Route: Auf der anderen Seite wartet anders als in Europa komplette Rechtlosigkeit, Willkür und zuweilen lange Inhaftierung oder faktische Versklavung. Eine IOM-Studie aus dem Jahr 2014 wies nach, dass Tausende Äthiopier in Jemen als faktische Leibeigene auf Qat-Farmen arbeiten
Aber angesichts der sich verschlechternden Lebensumstände am Horn von Afrika wagen dennoch viele Migranten die Überfahrt.
Die aktuelle Sorge ist, dass die Al-Qaida-Milizen im Jemen und die islamistischen Shabaab-Milizen in Somalia über die maritimen Schmuggelrouten zusammenfinden.
Sollten sich islamistische Gruppen zwischen Arabien und Afrika weiter vernetzen, die Migranten könnten auf eben jenen Routen unter die Räder kommen. Die jemenitische Provinz Shabwa, wo sich das aktuelle Flüchtlingsdrama abgespielt hat, war jahrelang eine Hochburg der jemenitischen al-Qaida – von Dominic Johnson
http://www.taz.de/Fluechtlinge-im-Jemen/!5433445/
11.8.2017 – Telepolis (* B H)
Warum fliehen die Menschen in den Krieg nach Jemen?
Für viele Äthiopier und Somalier ist der Weg über Libyen nach Europa vermutlich zu teuer, nach dem brutalen Vorgehen von Schleppern könnte der Fluchtweg über Jemen in die Golfstaaten zu gefährlich werden
Trotz der katastrophalen Lage im Jemen ist es dort noch nicht zu einer Massenflucht gekommen. Die Menschen sind zu arm, das Land wird zu Land auf der See blockiert. Seit März 2015 sind aus dem Jemen gerade einmal 187.000 Menschen geflohen (Stand April 2017). 51.000 ins benachbarte Oman, 39.000 nach Saudi-Arabien, jeweils etwa 37.000 über das Meer nach Dschibuti und Somalia, 14.000 nach Äthiopien und 7000 in den Sudan. Viele also in Länder, die wie Äthiopien nicht nur unter einer Dürre leiden oder in denen hohe Armut und Arbeitslosigkeit herrscht wie in Dschibuti, sondern auch wie Somalia unter einem langwährenden Bürgerkrieg.
Weitaus erstaunlicher ist aber, dass auch in das Land mit einer erdrückenden humanitären Krise noch Menschen flüchten.
Was zieht Migranten ausgerechnet nach Jemen? Nach Angaben der Vereinten Nationen versuchen sie, über Jemen in die reichen Golfstaaten zu gelangen. Allerdings ist die Erfolgsquote relativ gering, wenn man die Zahl der Migranten betrachtet, die aus dem Jemen über dem Landweg nach Oman oder Saudi-Arabien kommen. Vermutlich ist die Überfahrt für die Menschen aus Äthiopien und Somalia - oder für die Kinder, die von ihren Eltern geschickt werden, um der Armut und dem Elend zu entkommen - nach Jemen wohl einfach billiger und erscheint als weniger gefährlich als die lange Landroute nach Libyen und die riskante Durchquerung des Mittelmeers.
2014 gelangten 91.000 Menschen aus Somalia und Äthiopien über den Golf von Aden nach Jemen, 2015 waren es 92.000 und 2016 bereits 98.000, davon 82.500 aus Äthiopien und 15.500 aus Somalia. – von Florian Rötzer
https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Warum-fliehen-die-Menschen-in-den-Krieg-nach-Jemen-3797607.html und weitere deutschsprachige Artikel zum Thema:
http://www.fr.de/politik/flucht-zuwanderung/jemen-die-route-des-grauens-a-1329460
10.8.2017 – CNN (* B H)
Why thousands of teenagers are fleeing to war-torn Yemen
Refugees and migrants hoping to reach oil-rich Gulf countries -- many of them teenagers -- are increasingly traversing a dangerous sea route to Yemen, despite the conflict raging there.
The flow of migrants crossing a small sea passage from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, which has continued unabated for years, reached a record of over 117,000 migrants and asylum seekers in 2016 -- up from around 100,000 the year before.
Officials believe the figure for 2017 will be even higher.
"A lot of people who hear about the route for the first time are quite surprised," Olivia Headon, a press officer at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told CNN. "They can't imagine why anyone would go into Yemen during the grip of conflict. But some in Somalia aren't aware of just how bad it is in Yemen."
Why Yemen?
After two-and-a-half years of grinding civil war, Yemen is in the throes of a vicious cholera outbreak and a near famine, coalescing into one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet.
But economic and environmental factors in Somalia and Ethiopia, where most of the migrants come from, have left young people feeling there is no future for them at home.
Youth unemployment is extremely high in parts of Somalia and the country is also experiencing a severe drought that is fueling fears of famine. This spring, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo declared the drought a national disaster.
Ethiopians are also facing acute hunger, with the UN saying at least 8.5 million people in the country are in need of immediate food assistance.
Most of the migrants hope to eventually make their way through Yemen to find jobs in Gulf countries, like Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Dubai.
"You have smugglers who are selling an idea, a dream. We see it on other routes as well. Even if you are aware of the dangers of the route, as a migrant you buy into the idea, the dream of finding a job there," Headon added.
IOM estimates that around 55,000 migrants have left the Horn of Africa to come to Yemen this year alone, with most from Somalia and Ethiopia. More than 30,000 of those were under 18. A third are estimated to be female.
While the route isn't new, smugglers working in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden have taken advantage of the instability in Yemen. And without a centralized authority in Yemen, there is no one to stop them from traveling onward through the war-torn country.
But most get caught in the conflict before reaching the promises of jobs in the Gulf, Headon says.
UNHCR data shows that the number of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers arriving in Yemen has steadily climbed over the last 10 years -- doubling from 2006, when 25,898 arrivals were recorded, to 2008, when 50,091 people reportedly arrived, and then again in 2015, when nearly 100,000 people landed on Yemen's shores.
Each week, IOM and its partners in the region help to evacuate people from Yemen to Djibouti and back to their home countries.
"The suffering of migrants on this migration route is enormous," Laurent de Boeck, the IOM Yemen Chief of Mission, said in a statement. "Too many young people pay smugglers with the false hope of a better future." – By Eliza Mackintosh CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/10/africa/yemen-african-teenagers/index.html = http://www.crossroadstoday.com/story/36106912/why-thousands-of-teenagers-are-fleeing-to-war-torn-yemen
10.8.2017 – Human Needs (A H)
Dhrawan camp for IDPs in Sanaa visited by our team. 500 IDPs are here (photos)
https://twitter.com/HndOrgYE/status/895654472147288064
2.8.2017 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (A H)
Infographic: Yemen: Humanitarian Snapshot – Displacement Overview
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-snapshot-displacement-overview-august-2017 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/2017_August_Hum.%20Snapshot_Draft_v6_0.pdf
cp15 Propaganda
10.8.2017 – Daily Signal (A P)
Why the Crisis in Yemen Matters to the United States
The fighting between the Houthi rebels and Hadi government is symbolic of a much larger struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iran sees this war as an opportunity to undermine Saudi influence in the Arab world and increase its own.
It is vital to U.S. interests that Iran’s influence be contained.
Yemen’s geo-strategic importance cannot be ignored either. The country borders two U.S. allies and sits at the convergence point of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, overlooking the Bab el Mandab Strait—a key trade route, particularly for oil.
Serious disruptions of this route could constrict the flow of Persian Gulf oil to Europe and the western hemisphere and raise world oil prices.
Recent reports about Houthi rebel attacks against U.S. and other ships off Yemen’s coast have raised concerns about maritime security in the Red Sea.
As the war continues and Iranian influence grows, Tehran may seek to expand its leverage by escalating the potential threat to ships passing through the waterways.
The war has been devastating for Yemen’s civilians and regional stability. The U.S. can encourage a political settlement, but it will be up to the Yemenis and larger Arab world to see it into fruition.
Any settlement will also be impossible until Iran stops stoking the fire with its support for the Houthis.
However, without a solution to end the fighting, Yemen’s humanitarian crisis will only get worse – by Madyson Hutchinson
http://dailysignal.com/2017/08/10/crisis-yemen-matters-united-states/
My comment: The US mainstream media and official position (no difference whether Obama or Trump) in a nutshell: It’s US’ role to be world’s policeman, to ensure its own interests where ever in the world and all this is the US’ divine, God-given right.
10.8.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
National Investigation Committee meets ambassadors of G18 Countries
The National Committee for Investigating Claims of Human Rights Violations on Wednesday met with ambassadors of G18 countries in Riyadh, giving them copies of its third report on violations of human rights across Yemen.
The committee's chief made a presentation on its works in all governorates and districts, expressing readiness to cooperate and coordinate with all civil society organizations interested in human rights.
Ambassadors of Britain, Russia and Turkey, and Representative of Germany stressed the importance of efforts made by the committee to defend human rights, urging to visit secret detention centers and prisons run by all parties.
The Russian Ambassador to Yemen expressed willingness to coordinate with the Houthi-Saleh militias to facilitate investigation of violations committed in the areas run by them.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-9239
10.8.2017 – Simon Shercliff, British Ambassador to Yemen (Hadi government at Riyadh)
With fellow Ambassadors as #Yemen's Human Rights Commission launch their latest report. Crucial work; they need to tell full & true story (photo)
https://twitter.com/SimonShercliff/status/895636737497673729
Comment by Haykal Bafana: Whitewash. This is the UK-aided, US-supported, Saudi-paid Riyadh-based Yemen Human Rights Commission. Completely pointless, legally.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/895695767750320129
My comment: This took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This commission is a Hadi government propaganda event for blaming the Houthis. Houthi crimes are reported here (whether exaggerated for propaganda purpose, would be hard to examine). Crimes by pro-Hadi militia, the Hadi forces, the UAE and its Yemeni forces, by the Saudi coalition bombings are minimized or just not spoken of. – Thus: “Crucial work” ????; “they need to tell full & true story”, of course, but they do not at all and certainly never will do. – And always keep in mind that Saudi Arabia always had rejected an independent international investigation of war crimes in Yemen and that the British government always had accepted this, following the Saudis’ twisted arguments. This Hadi government investigation commission is nothing more than a fig-leaf that had been installed when rejecting the claim for such an independent investigation. While the Houthis – who themselves would be accused by such an investigation – always had claimed it!!
8.8.2017 – Saudi Gazette ( A P)
Time to end the Iranian horror show once and for all
Imagine a situation in which your neighborhood is under criminal attack. Your religious authority advised citizens to help protect the place. So you and your neighbors decided to create a “neighborhood watch”
Ethnic and religious cleansing using barbaric methods became their main mission. Instead of disbanding them, the government decided to incorporate the militias into the security system, even if their allegiance and leadership are officially foreign. The government probably thought it was the second best option. Since they couldn’t get rid of the problem why not try to manage it.
However, the result so far is: Criminal mobs are acting in the name of the system and under its wing and flag. They get paid, trained and prepared to finish what they started, under foreign leadership, against the best interest of their country and people.
It is boring to watch the same horror movie twice. You already know what is going to happen next — no surprises. Imagine how tragic if it was a true story — your own. Worse, even though you memorized the scenario, knew all tricks and moves, you cannot do anything about it!
The first show was in Lebanon, 1982.
Now the same disastrous transcript is being written and executed in Iraq – by Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi, Saudi journalist and writer based in Jeddah
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/514677/Opinion/OP-ED/Iraq = https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2017/08/10/Time-to-end-the-Iranian-horror-show-once-and-for-all-.html
My comment: Blaming Iran for everything, while Saudi Arabia interferes in a many Muslim countries, fueling a horrow show of violence and sectarianism. And in Yemen, it’s just a Saudi horror show which the greatest part of the population experiences every day.
9.8.2017 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Saudi Ambassador to US clarifies policy, tackles media issues
In his important interview with the Washington Post, the new Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Khalid bin Salman, outlined the features of Saudi international policy.
There is always a controversial image of Saudi politics in Western media because of the stereotypical representation of the desert, the exotic, the wealth, and women locked in tents. It is an image that has been designed since ancient times in the western imagination about the Arabian Peninsula, and it is has been perpetuated in novels, films and paintings.
But there is another aspect of this stereotypical representation, it is no longer a portrayal of innocence and traditionalism, but an image fueled by the agents of Khomeini, the leftist camp or the new Muslim Brotherhood activists from the second and third generation of Muslim Brotherhood immigrants.
What is important to remember is that this is the fate of Saudi Arabia, and it must confront it with courage and wisdom. More importantly, this war needs to be fought through proof and evidence because it is initially a media war.
There are often repeated questions asked to any Saudi official in the Western and international press in general: women, specifically the issue of women’s right to drive a car, dealing with Shiites, Wahhabism and the September 11 attacks. In addition, there are new questions like the Yemen war, the Qatar problem ... etc.
Ambassador Khalid bin Salman answered wisely and firmly to both sets of questions - the old and the new. He asserted that while it is true that two Saudis were involved in the September 11 attacks, the same group that attacked the New York Twin Towers attacked the streets and people of Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Abha and Khobar. In brief, they are our enemies just as they are yours.
The issues of openness, women, and the development of the judicial system and the suppression of extremism are improving in particular in the last two years. Anyone who visits the malls of Riyadh and Jeddah will realize the great difference that has occurred. For women, their legal and juridical status have witnessed great development, the latest in terms of custody rights and legal capacity, and there is much more to be done, including the issue of women driving a car that has sparked controversy and has become a media cause for Saudi enemies, including Iran, the world’s leading country in women’s rights!
However, the most important thing to take from this interview is Saudi Arabia’s vital role in leading the Islamic war against the terrorists and their supporters from parties and “states.” Here, the Saudi ambassador observed: “Yes, There are people and groups that support extremism in Saudi Arabia, but the state is fighting them. Yet, there are countries which support and finance media, politicians, armed extremist groups and non-armed with money such as Qatar, for example!
Such an interview with a prominent Saudi figure in this circumstances and from an international platform as the ‘Washington Post’ is vital for the Saudi Arabian voice.
Naturally, this step ought to contribute to others and become the foundations of an institution that speaks on behalf of Saudi Arabia.
and by other Saudi media: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1141521/saudi-arabia and http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/514782/SAUDI-ARABIA/US
My comment: LOL.
And this is the interview:
7.8.2017 – Washington Post (A P)
New Saudi ambassador to the U.S. sees ‘huge improvement’ in relations under Trump
A.There is a huge improvement in the Saudi-U.S. relationship under this administration. I think that President Trump is determined to work with his allies in the region to counter Iranian expansionism and terrorism. We are happy with the current policies in the region.
I think Qatar’s policies have been a threat to our national security, especially when they interfere in our domestic politics and support extremists. . . . In Syria, they have supported al-Qaeda affiliates and some terrorist [Shiite] militias in Iraq. We hope Qatar will stop funding extremism.
The Saudi government is on the frontline of fighting terrorism. There might be people from a lot of different countries who support terrorism, but in Qatar the problem is that it is government-funded.
What is your position regarding human rights in Saudi Arabia?
Every country moves forward, and we are. The last two years have been a time of big change in our country. Human rights have been moving forward, women’s rights have been moving forward. Saudi youth have been given a chance to play a part in our future.
Is there a solution to the situation in Yemen?
Saudi Arabia has been pushing all parties to the negotiating table.
But Saudi Arabia started this, right?
No, the Houthis started this. They started to march to the capital and take over Yemen before the Yemeni government asked Saudi Arabia to intervene and stop this attack. The ball is [now] in the Houthis’ court. They have to drop their weapons and become part of Yemen, not part of Iran – by By Lally Weymouth
My comment: This is giving a forum for Saudi propaganda. This is the way an interview never should be made: Just giving the keywords, being content with very short, vague, evasive or even false answers, never digging deeper critically. Journalistic junk.
9.8.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Houthis Threaten International Navigation Twice in 10 Days
For the second time in ten days, international maritime navigation in the Red Sea came under direct threat from Yemen’s Houthi militias.
Official reports stated that the militias launched a ballistic missile towards south of Red Sea near al-Mandeb Strait through which a third of the world’s oil carriers pass.
Sources said the missile most likely fell in international waters in the Red Sea.
The missile, launched from Hajjah governorate, is the second threat to the navigation in the Red Sea following the attack on al-Mokha port with a bomb-laden boat.
The attack was deemed by the Saudi-led coalition as a threaten to the international navigation and regional and international security. The coalition added that the threat impeded the arrival of humanitarian and relief aid to the Yemeni people.
My comment: „that the threat impeded the arrival of humanitarian and relief aid to the Yemeni people.“, well, that is a war, Houthis attacking military threats like Saudi, UAE arships. This has nothing to do woth humanitarian aid.
9.8.2017 – Emirati News Agency (A P)
UAE Press: UAE works quietly and effectively in Yemen
The UAE has never shirked its responsibilities on the international stage, has always committed itself to helping others, and has a long tradition of speaking and acting against those who spread unrest, political discord, sedition and humanitarian grief.
"In Yemen at present, the UAE is living up to this commitment in many ways, often in the background, going about its work and missions without fanfare and limelight, effectively getting things done on the ground," said Gulf News in an editorial on Wednesday.
Indeed, such is the case at present where UAE military advisers and trainers are working side-by-side with members of Yemen’s armed forces, assisted by members of the United States military in special operations roles.
"It’s activity that largely goes unnoticed, but helps in systematically eradicating the scourge of Al Qaida," it added.
"Ever since Al Houthi rebels, assisted by their ideological and logistical masters in Tehran, overthrew the legitimate government of Yemen and deposed President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi two years ago, a brittle Yemen has been thrown into an abyss of misery, humanitarian strife and violence."
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302626620
My comment: LOL. Bombing by air raids, occupying, managing torture prisons, arm and train militia.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
9.8.2017 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
The Violations and Crimes that are committed by #Saudi_Arabia and its alliance in #Yemen 8/8/2017
https://twitter.com/LCRDye/status/895187664181350401
11.8.2017 – Sanaa at daytime (A K)
Coalition's fighter jets heavily hovering over #Sanaa at low altitude! Preparations to pound the quiet city!
https://twitter.com/yemen_updates/status/895906185815130112
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
11.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A K PS)
The fall of an Apache plane belonging to the UAE forces in Shabwa
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/268916
10.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P T)
Yemen Security Brief
Hadi government-aligned forces repelled an al Houthi-Saleh offensive in western Taiz governorate. Al Houthi-Saleh ground forces attacked Hadi government forces northeast of Yakhtul village in Mokha district, western Taiz governorate on August 9. Hadi government-aligned forces and al Houthi-Saleh forces also exchanged artillery fire in northern Mokha district on August 9. Al Houthi-Saleh forces fired a “Zilzal-2” ballistic missile at Hadi government positions in al Hamli area, Mawza’ district in western Taiz governorate on August 10. The frontlines are largely stalled in Taiz despite the Hadi government’s efforts to advance northward toward al Hudaydah port.[2]
9.8.2017 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Houthi artillery shelling kills woman ,wounds three civilians west Taiz
A woman died and others wounded on Tuesday in artillery bombardment by Houthi militia and forces loyal to the ousted president Ali Saleh on residential areas western the city of Taiz, southwest Yemen.
Suad Hassan,five months pregnant, was killed and 3 civilians injured by katyusha rocket fired by Houthi-Saleh militia on a house in Old Matar area west the city,a local source confirmed to Almasdar Online.
Govt forces launched artillery shelling Houthi sites in Dhanin hill ,50th junction and areas near Soap and butter factory while the latter bombed 35th armored brigade’s headquarters and Old Matar Neighborhood .
Also,Houthis renewed heavy bombing on residential villages and govt. forces’ positions northern district of al-Selw south of Taiz.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/93219
My comment: As seen here, in pro-Hadi reports anti-Houthi forces of course only shell “Houthi sites”.
9.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P T)
Yemen Security Brief
Clashes between forces aligned with President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’sgovernment and al Houthi-Saleh fighters intensified in Taiz governorate on August 9 [4]
9.8.2017 – Fars News (A K PH)
Yemeni Army Warns to March on Saudi Cities
Senior Yemeni military officials warned that the country's army and popular forces might go on the offensive to capture Saudi cities in imminent ground operations if Riyadh persists in continuing the war.
Speaking to the Persian service of Iran's Mehr News Agency on Wednesday, Deputy Spokesman of the Yemeni Army General Aziz Rashid blasted the US for supporting the Saudi war on his country and warned, "If they don't cease their aggression, we will go for conquering Saudi cities."
The army general said his country has a bank of information of sensitive and vital Saudi targets, specially the oil and economic centers and facilities of the rich Arab nation, and said the army has improved its Borkan missiles to bring all designated targets in Saudi Arabia within reach.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960518001295
and
9.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (* A K)
Houthis threaten to attack Saudi cities if Yemen war not halted
Rebel leader says modified missiles are now capable of reaching cities and targets across Saudi Arabia
A senior Houthi general has warned that if the war against Yemen is not halted, the rebels will start targeting cities and oil facilities across Saudi Arabia.
In a recent report, intelligence firm Stratfor noted that the Houthis' "Borkan missiles are also likely modifications of missiles previously in the Yemeni arsenal".
"In pictures, the missiles appear to be similar in shape and dimensions of Scud missiles. Yemeni forces are likely modifying Scud missiles in the same way North Korea, Iran and Iraq did before them."
But it expressed scepticism over the extent of the Houthi claims.
"If a number of these Borkan missiles really are capable of reaching Mecca, Riyadh or other cities, as claimed, regardless of whether they strike their targets, then Yemeni engineers really are pushing the boundaries of what simple modifications to Scud missiles can achieve."
My comment: Yemeni army loyal to ex-president Saleh, fighting alongside the Houthis.
Pro Houthi / Pro Saleh reports:
https://twitter.com/AggressionY/status/895670049008123905
https://twitter.com/AggressionY/status/895662219417051136
Pro-Hadi / Pro-Saudi reports:
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/268908
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/268388
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
11.8.2017 – Naji Alkaladi (A)
Despite the war and siege, opening wonderful stores daily in #Sanaa ! And this one is fresh ! (photos)
https://twitter.com/NajTV/status/895963602632531968
10.8.2017 – The Independent (* B P)
If you're wondering why Saudi Arabia and Israel have united against Al-Jazeera, here's the answer
There are still honourable Israelis who demand a state for the Palestinians; there are well-educated Saudis who object to the crazed Wahabism upon which their kingdom is founded; there are millions of Americans, from sea to shining sea, who do not believe that Iran is their enemy nor Saudi Arabia their friend. But the problem today in both East and West is that our governments are not our friends
When Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite channel has both the Saudis and the Israelis demanding its closure, it must be doing something right. To bring Saudi head-choppers and Israeli occupiers into alliance is, after all, something of an achievement.
But don’t get too romantic about this. When the wealthiest Saudis fall ill, they have been known to fly into Tel Aviv on their private jets for treatment in Israel’s finest hospitals. And when Saudi and Israeli fighter-bombers take to the air, you can be sure they’re going to bomb Shiites – in Yemen or Syria respectively – rather than Sunnis.
And when King Salman – or rather Saudi Arabia’s whizz-kid Crown Prince Mohammad – points the finger at Iran as the greatest threat to Gulf security, you can be sure that Bibi Netanyahu will be doing exactly and precisely the same thing, replacing “Gulf security”, of course, with “Israeli security”. But it’s an odd business when the Saudis set the pace of media suppression only to be supported by that beacon of freedom, democracy, human rights and liberty known in song and legend as Israel, or the State of Israel or, as Bibi and his cabinet chums would have it, the Jewish State of Israel.
So let’s run briefly through the latest demonstration of Israeli tolerance towards the freedom of expression that all of us support, nurture, love, adore, regard as a cornerstone of our democracy, and so on, and so on, and so on.
Nor must we forget that America’s insane President and his weird regime is also part of the Saudi-Israeli anti-Shiite confederation.
Netanyahu wants to close down Al Jazeera’s office in Jerusalem. Crown Prince Mohammad wants to close down Al Jazeera’s office in Qatar. Bush actually did bomb Al Jazeera’s offices in Kabul and Baghdad. Theresa May decided to hide a government report on funding “terrorism”, lest it upset the Saudis – which is precisely the same reason Blair closed down a UK police enquiry into alleged BAE-Saudi bribery 10 years earlier.
And we wonder why we go to war in the Middle East. And we wonder why Sunni Isis exists, un-bombed by Israel, funded by Sunni Gulf Arabs, its fellow Sunni Salafists cosseted by our wretched presidents and prime ministers. I guess we better keep an eye on Al Jazeera – while it’s still around – by Robert Fisk
10.8.2017 – Aljazeera (A)
Yemen's capital Sanaa experiences flash flooding
No casualties reported but streets of the Old City submerged by floodwater.
7.8.2017 – New Delhi Times (* B P)
Disintegrating Muslim ummah augurs well for world peace
The ummah is disintegrating and disintegrating too fast. It is having a free fall. It is a split personality that is at perpetual war with self. That explains the brutal bloodbath by Muslims of Muslims in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Turkey, and, of course, Pakistan.
The Saudi based 57- member group- the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)- was set up to spearhead political ummah.OIC prided itself as ‘the collective voice of the Muslim world’ but did nothing to prevent wars in Syria, Iraq, Libya, or Yemen. Even refugees had to rely entirely on the West for survival without a single penny from OIC coffer. So much for ummah. Having failed to consolidate political solidarity, OIC should be given a decent burial, silently and peacefully. There is another thought. Why should the OIC exist at all? There is no organization for Christian, Hindu or Buddhist countries and they are at peace.
The Muslim world today is replete with selfish, dictatorial, brutal, tyrant regimes that ruthlessly perpetuate their power at any cost. Anointed by colonialists to take care of their dominions, these rulers no more represent the people.
Violence rules the roost as terror groups slaughter thousands of co-religionists. Free thinking is banished forever. There is no space for modern innovations like democracy, secularism, human rights, equality, freedom of individuals, gender equality and education for all based on science and reason. Modern society eulogises respect for other religions while Islam has no respect and all hatred for various sects within its mainframe. Tolerance for sects and other religions are anathema to Muslim societies. Stuck to perceived beliefs of fourteen centuries old desert living Muslims are awfully at odd with modern societies and refuse to hear, read or speak the truth about the dangers religion poses to all aspects of state and public policies.
Religion is one’s personal matter and should be relegated to the private space where it actually belongs. It should be kept apart from politics but fundamentalists and Islamists attempt the heady mix.
http://www.newdelhitimes.com/disintegrating-muslim-ummah-augurs-well-for-world-peace/
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-332-yemen-war-mosaic-332
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-332 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-332:
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 und / and http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
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