... Die drohenden Umweltkatastrophen – Machtkampf in der Provinz Shabwah – Die Außenpolitik der Emirate – und mehr
Feb. 14, 2020: The war correspondent’s dilemma in Yemen, a travel report – Humanitarian aid: Fraud and obstruction – Migrants from Ethiopia – Looming environmental disasters – Power struggle in Shabwah province – Foreign policy of the Emirates (in German) – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-624b-yemen-war-mosaic-624b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Wachsende Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Mounting tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp12b Sudan
cp13 Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Older introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H K P)
Komplizin in Jemen: Die Kriegsreporterin im Dilemma zwischen Wahrheit und Propaganda.
Jeder Krieg birgt für den, der darüber ohne die üblichen Stereotype berichten will, ein ethisches Dilemma.
Jede Partei im Konflikt verfolgt ihre eigene Agenda. Und damit auch ihre eigene Propagandastrategie. Im Fall von Jemen kommen zu den Interessen der beiden Konfliktparteien die Agenden von Drittländern hinzu, die starken Einfluss haben.
Als Berichterstatter muss man sich Raum schaffen zwischen all der Propaganda, die sich in Treibsand verwandeln kann. Es gibt keine magischen oder alchemistischen Regeln, um über einen Konflikt gut zu berichten. Unparteilichkeit ist auch keine Lösung. Man kann nicht unparteiisch bleiben angesichts von Kindern, die vor Hunger sterben.
Man kann jedoch konkret und rational agieren und sich fragen, wer wirklich ihren Hungertod verantwortet. Vor allem, ob ein Teil dieser Verantwortung nicht bei uns, in unserem westlichen Teil der Welt, liegt.
Als Berichterstatter muss man denjenigen, die alles aus einer bequemen Distanz betrachten, die Opfer näherbringen und erklären, aus welchen Elementen dieser Krieg zusammengesetzt ist.
Ehrlichkeit in einem komplexen Konflikt wie demjenigen in Jemen bedeutet, ein vernünftiges Mass zu finden zwischen dem, was sie dich sehen, filmen oder fotografieren lassen − weil derjenige, der dich begleitet, das braucht, um seine Gründe darzulegen. Und dem, was du nicht siehst, dir aber leicht vorstellen kannst.
Der erste Termin, den die Huthi uns auferlegten, war im Informationsministerium, einem leeren Gebäude mit deutlichen Spuren von Bombardements.
Auf dem Tisch lag eine Landkarte vom Norden des Landes und eine Liste von Orten, die zu besuchen uns erlaubt wurde. Und dann, informell, aber bindend, die zu befolgenden Regeln: keine Bilder von den Kämpfern oder von verwundeten Soldaten, nie Zivilisten fragen, ob sie Tonaufnahmen oder Filme registrieren könnten, es sei denn mit ausdrücklicher Genehmigung des Informationsministeriums. Ausserdem: nie allein losziehen, nie.
Wir wurden nie allein gelassen, kein Interview fand ohne das Beisein der Rebellenfunktionäre statt. Keine Mahlzeit, kein Aufwachen, das nicht von ihren Augen und Ohren begleitet wurde.
Das beeinflusste natürlich das Verhalten derer, denen wir begegneten. Wie in jedem autoritären Regime waren wir einer verschleierten Erpressung unterworfen. Wir sollten dazu gebracht werden, die offizielle Erzählweise der Mächtigen wiederzugeben. Das passiert nicht selten im Krieg.
Und dennoch war es in Jemen ein besonders tiefes ethisches Dilemma, vor dem wir standen, tiefer als andere auch sehr schmerzhafte Erfahrungen.
Denn das Schlachtfeld, auf dem der Propagandakrieg in Jemen tobt, sind die Körper von Tausenden, Millionen von Kindern. Sie werden zum Opfer der schlimmsten Kriegswaffe, des Hungers. Die Huthi kontrollieren die Essenslieferungen des World Food Programme. Nur wer auf ihrer Seite ist, bekommt Essen. Eine Zeit lang stoppte das World Food Programme deshalb die Lieferungen. Jemen wird ausgehungert. Die Huthi zwangen uns zu einer makabren Tour zu den unterernährten Kindern. Und Tag für Tag, während wir ikonenhafte Bilder suchten, die perfekt wären zum Publizieren, kraftvolle Bilder vom Leid der Menschen, stellte sich uns eine immer drängendere Frage: «Machen wir uns, während wir diese Kinder aufsuchen, die nur noch aus Haut und Knochen bestehen, zu Helfershelfern der menschengemachten Hungersnot?»
Das heisst, dass die internationale Koalition die Lebensbasis der Jemeniten im Norden zerstört hat. Aber es sah hier nicht aus wie im zerstörten Mosul mit seiner in Trümmern liegenden Altstadt, es war nicht wie die zerbombten Überreste von Aleppo, das beschossene Sirte oder das verwüstete Rakka.
Den jemenitischen Krieg beschreibt der Satz einer Frau im Wartezimmer des Spitals von Hajjah, die ein abgemagertes Kind im Arm hält und sagt: «Der Krieg? Den Krieg siehst du nicht, denn die Bomben machen die Dörfer nicht dem Erdboden gleich. In den Wohngebieten zerstören sie nur das Spital und die Schule. Sie lassen uns zurück ohne medizinische Versorgung und unsere Kinder ohne Unterricht. Sie töten heute und bereiten eine Wüste von morgen vor.»
Jemen durch die kleinen Fenster unseres gepanzerten Fahrzeugs zu betrachten oder zu Fuss durch Dörfer und Städte zu gehen, war wie eine Art Spurensuche eines auf den ersten Blick gar nicht sichtbaren Krieges. Eines versteckten, subtilen, bis ins Kleinste hineinreichenden Krieges.
Im Bemühen, die schiitischen Huthi-Rebellen zu bezwingen, die von Iran unterstützt werden, hat die Koalition dem Land restriktive Einfuhrbestimmungen aufgezwungen, die auch Nahrungsmittel, Treibstoff und Medizin betreffen.
Wenn ich berichte, denke ich immer: Wo ist die Grenze? Was behalte ich in der Geschichte, weil es gesehen und gewusst werden muss, was kann ich beiseitelassen? Und vor allem: Wie kann ich das sichtbar machen, was sich hinter den von der Propaganda gesetzten Grenzen verbirgt?
Jemen konfrontierte mich täglich mit diesem Dilemma.
Ich wurde konfrontiert mit den Grenzen meiner Geschichte durch die Begrenztheit meines Blickes.
Zu viel Nähe schafft Undurchsichtigkeit.
Die ikonische Fotografie eines verhungernden Kindes zum Beispiel emotionalisiert, aber sie erklärt nichts. Sie banalisiert.
Und wieder das moralische Dilemma: Macht meine Präsenz in Jemen, stets unter Kontrolle der verschiedenen Propagandaträger, aus mir einen Zeugen, der die Wahrheit hinaus in die Welt trägt − oder ein unfreiwilliges Instrument der Agenda von anderen?
«Das Haus hat gebebt, es war Abend. Unsere Cousins und Onkel hatten sich in den Hof gesetzt, um zusammen zu Abend zu essen. Sie warteten nur noch darauf, dass Ahmed mit frischem Brot aus der Bäckerei zurückkommen würde. Bei seiner Rückkehr wollte ihn der Hund nicht in den Hof lassen. Ahmed verlor die Geduld, nahm einen Stein und warf ihn nach dem Hund, um ihn zu verscheuchen. Aber das Verhalten des Hundes war eine Warnung, eine Prophezeiung. Kaum war Ahmed eingetreten, wurde das Haus von einer Rakete getroffen. Die Verwandten, zehn insgesamt, waren alle tot.» Das erzählt mir Ibrahim al-Abid, er ist 14 Jahre alt, trägt einen sandfarbenen Kaftan. Er steigt über die Trümmer eines Altstadthauses von Sanaa. Sein Haus liegt gegenüber dem beschossenen Gebäude, er hörte die Angriffe. Im Krieg lernst du schon als Kind, dass es zu spät ist, wenn du die Einschläge der Bomben und die Schüsse hörst.
Er spürte, wie die Wände wackelten, und stürzte hinaus, um dabei zu helfen, die Toten auszugraben und Überlebende zu suchen.
Und doch bildet der Suk, das Marktviertel in der Altstadt, mit seinem Räucherwerk, den Gewürzen und Farben einen Kontrast zu den Blockaden der Huthi und der allgegenwärtigen Propaganda.
Einer der vielen Widersprüche in der langen, ungelösten jemenitischen Krise.
Ich schaue mich um, sehe Marktstände voller Früchte, Gemüse und Khat, der traditionellen, hier angebauten Droge, gekaut von allen – Erwachsenen und Jugendlichen. Sie erregt und euphorisiert.
Die Regale der Läden sind voller Brot und Mehl. Die Apotheken haben jede Medizin. Sie gelangt jedoch nur in die Häuser derjenigen, die noch Ersparnisse haben, Teil des Machtapparats sind oder wenigstens beschützt von den Huthi-Funktionären.
Aber in den Häusern der normalen Bevölkerung fehlt alles. Und in den Spitälern sterben die Kinder massenweise an Hunger – von Francesca Mannocchi
https://reportagen.com/content/komplizin-jemen?pass=ya87cpvsao1972
Kurze Auszüge: https://www.mdr.de/altpapier/das-altpapier-1360.html
(** B H P)
US, UK threaten to cut Yemen aid due to fraud and obstruction
‘We all agree the current situation is not tenable, but we need to find a way forward we all agree on.’
“Decisive” action is required to stem aid fraud and obstruction to millions who need it in Yemen, according to the US and British governments. In a strongly worded letter, obtained by The New Humanitarian, both say they will take “unilateral” action to reduce funding if the relief operation – one of the biggest in the world – is not trimmed and better controlled.
The 5 February draft letter to UN relief chief Mark Lowcock throws down a challenge to the UN, NGOs, and other donor countries as they prepare to meet in Brussels this week to discuss long-simmering concerns about Houthi rebel obstruction of assistance.
Together the countries gave $1.16 billion in 2019, about a third of the more than $3 billion UN-coordinated response. In the letter they call for a “reduction and re-focusing of all bilateral and UN assistance”, and less funding to Houthi-controlled institutions as part of a new “posture” towards the group, which runs much of north Yemen, including the capital city of Sana’a.
Half a dozen aid workers with the UN and NGOs – all of whom spoke to TNH on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to jeopardise their safety or ability to work in Yemen – said that multiple factors, including red tape, movement restrictions, and concerns over safety all make it extremely difficult to deliver assistance. A spokesperson for OCHA, the UN’s aid coordination body that Lowcock heads, was not able to comment in time for publication.
Rising tensions
The Brussels meetings, hosted by the EU and Sweden and scheduled to begin on Thursday, come after months of rising tensions over the humanitarian response, including Houthi detentions and expulsions of aid workers. Various UN aid agencies and high level UN officials have been negotiating with the rebel group’s aid coordination wing, SCMCHA, over these and other issues for more than a year, but failed to make significant headway.
One aid worker, who told TNH that “it has basically become impossible for us to operate in the north”, said problems had escalated after SCMCHA issued a decree late last year that would require two percent of all NGO aid budgets to go to the authorities.
It is a ruling humanitarians have so far refused to agree to, and that has played a major role in the United States saying it may suspend its contribution to the aid programme.
SCMCHA head Abdel Mohsen al-Tawoos ramped up the pressure in a Monday television appearance, saying the UN-led aid operation only reached a small proportion of those who need it, and described the threat of suspending aid as “extortion”.
But a representative of a donor country, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak with the media, said the aim of the Brussels gathering was not to end aid to Yemen, but to get everyone involved in the massive response on the same page. That includes finding a common understanding of just how bad aid obstruction and diversion really is and what to do about it, and how it compares to other war zones around the world.
“I think that we all agree about the gravity of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen,” said the representative. “But we do face significant obstacles and restrictions and challenges in terms of a principled humanitarian approach.”
Bureaucracy, obstruction and interference
The Brussels meetings will include top aid officials, countries that give money to the UN response, and representatives from international NGOs. Notably, no local NGOs have been invited, despite the outsized role they play in humanitarian response.
It comes hot on the heels of a recent report by the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, which said that Houthi rebels were increasingly getting in the way of the delivery of humanitarian assistance, both by arresting and intimidating aid workers, as well as by putting up bureaucratic obstacles.
All aid agencies and NGOs are required to periodically sign a “principal agreement” with SCMCHA, as well as with the Hadi-aligned authorities in the south, in order to work in the areas they control.
In the north, aid workers said that when the agreements were up for renewal, SCMCHA often demands changes and clauses one humanitarian said they “could not abide by”, for example requiring the handing over of beneficiary lists to the Houthis.
In addition, each project requires at least one “sub-agreement” with SCMCHA. According to OCHA statistics, that takes more than six months on average.
The UN, which keeps statistics on these steps – seen by TNH but not made public – says that 39 percent of all projects that NGOs submitted to SCMCHA for approval in 2019 are pending; holding up aid worth an estimated total of $130 million that is meant to reach 3.2 million people.
“You have a paralysis of the aid system where we are not able to deliver because of these systems,” said one aid worker, while another described staff in constant meetings, with piles of paperwork, unable to get much of anything done.
Hadi’s government also requires agreements, and approval can be a lengthy process, but aid workers said the difference was that his government was internationally recognised, making it easier for donors and aid agencies to negotiate with.
In addition to bureaucratic delays, the UN’s World Food Programme announced its concerns in December 2018 about wholesale aid fraud – by Annie Slemrod and Ben Parker
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2020/02/12/Yemen-Houthis-aid-corruption-UN-US-UK-Saudi
My remark: More on this subject in cp5.
(** B H)
International Organization for Migration: Journey from Africa to Yemen Remains World’s Busiest Maritime Migration Route
On average, 11,500 people boarded vessels each month from the Horn of Africa to Yemen in 2019, making it the busiest maritime migration route on earth.
Data collected by the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) shows that over 138,000 people crossed the Gulf of Aden to Yemen last year. More than 110,000 migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean to Europe during the same period.
This is the second year in a row that the so-called Eastern Route has reported more crossings than the Mediterranean. In 2018, roughly 150,000 people made the journey.
Nearly 90 per cent of those who arrived in Yemen in 2019 intended to continue on to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Often coming from the rural regions of Oromia, Amhara and Tigray, approximately 92 per cent of people making the journey were Ethiopian nationals.
“While tragedies along the Mediterranean routes are well reported, our staff bear witness daily to the abuse suffered by young people from the Horn of Africa at the hands of smugglers and traffickers exploiting their hopes for a better life,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa.
Not only has migration on the Eastern Route not been reduced by five years of conflict in Yemen, migrants appear undeterred by the Gulf’s strict immigration policies for undocumented migrants.
“To get to Yemen, they crammed about 280 of us into one boat,” a thirty-two-year-old Ethiopian man told IOM in Aden, Yemen. “There was no oxygen, and some people committed suicide by throwing themselves into the sea.”
Most are unaware of the security situation in Yemen where they face serious protection concerns, including active fighting or abuses such as kidnapping, torture for ransom, exploitation and trafficking.
“When we arrived in Yemen, smugglers held us for a month,” said one eighteen-year-old Ethiopian migrant. “We were beaten, tortured, abused and threatened for ransom. My family sent USD 900 to save my life so I was released with some other people who had paid.”
IOM works across the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Gulf, providing life-saving emergency support to migrants in need and supporting development in home communities.
“However, the most effective protection mechanism for migrants remains the establishment of legal pathways for migration. IOM is committed to supporting all authorities along the Eastern route to better manage migration, ensuring the safety and dignity of migrants.”
A 2019 agreement between KSA and the Government of Ethiopia on a recruitment system for domestic workers, followed by a first request for 100,000 Ethiopian workers to travel to KSA, is an encouraging step towards harnessing the economic and development potential of migration from the Horn of Africa, while protecting migrants.
Those making the perilous journey to the Gulf cross deserts with little food or water and territories controlled by armed groups. Most are travelling in search of economic opportunities unattainable at home, while others are fleeing insecurity, human rights abuses and adverse living conditions.
Smugglers and traffickers operate boats from Obock in Djibouti and Bosasso in Somalia. Last year, thirty-eight per cent of migrants arrived from Djibouti, while the majority (62 per cent) arrived at Yemen’s southern coast from Somalia. For most migrants, the journey from their home to KSA can take a few months. However, it can be longer depending on whether the person stops to work or is detained along the way.
https://www.iom.int/news/journey-africa-yemen-remains-worlds-busiest-maritime-migration-route
and
(** B H)
Film: The Ethiopian migrants who make the desperate journey to Saudi Arabia via Yemen
Every day, thousands of Ethiopians set off on foot on a desperate 2,000-kilometre trek in the hope of reaching Saudi Arabia. Their route takes them across the Djibouti desert, the Red Sea and Yemen, a country ravaged by civil war. Every year, hundreds die of exhaustion in the desert or drown while crossing the Gulf of Aden. Those who make it to Yemen, often having starved for days on end, are easy prey for the local mafia who kidnap them for ransom. Our reporters followed these migrants on their journey and documented, with exclusive footage, the extent of human trafficking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKrMOoFPK-k
and
(** B H)
Ethiopians face deserts and smugglers on the way to Saudi
The flow of migrants taking this route has grown. According to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration, 150,000 arrived in Yemen from the Horn of Africa in 2018, a 50% jump from the year before. The number in 2019 was similar.
They dream of reaching Saudi Arabia and earning enough to escape poverty by working as laborers, housekeepers, servants, construction workers and drivers.
But even if they reach their destination, there is no guarantee they can stay; the kingdom often expels them. Over the past three years, the IOM reported 9,000 Ethiopians were deported each month.
Eissa was one of them. This will be his third trip to Saudi Arabia.
In his pockets, he carries a text neatly handwritten in Oromo, his native language. It tells stories of the Prophet Muhammad, who fled his home in Mecca to Medina to seek refuge from his enemies.
“I depend on God,” Eissa said.
For most migrants, the trip starts with a “door opener” -- a broker who would link him to a chain of smugglers along the way.
Eissa decided he would not use smugglers for his journey.
Without a smuggler, his third attempt would be cheaper. But it would not be safe, or easy.
The 100-mile (120-kilometer) trip across Djibouti usually ends on a long, virtually uninhabited coast outside the town of Obock, the shore closest to Yemen.
Migrants will sometimes stay here for several days, waiting for their turn on the boats that every night cross the narrow Bab el-Mandab strait to Yemen.
Eissa paid about $65 to a boat captain for his trip -- the only payment to a smuggler he would make.
Once in Yemen, he made his way across the country alone. At times, Yemenis gave him a ride. Mostly he walked endless miles down the highways.
“I don’t count the days. I don’t distinguish, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday,” he said in audio message to the AP via Whatsapp.
One day, he reached the town of Bayhan, southern Yemen, and went to the local mosque to use the bathroom. When he saw the preacher giving his sermon, he realized it was Friday.
It was the first time in ages he was aware of the day of the week.
He had traveled more than 250 miles (420 kilometers) since he landed in Yemen and still had another 250 miles to go to the Saudi border. That journey would take him into Houthi territory through the town of Hazm, a run-down city divided down the middle between the rebels and anti-Houthi fighters. It’s a 3-mile (5-kilometer) no-man’s land where sniper fire and shelling are rampant.
Once across Hazm, it is another 120 miles (200 kilometers) north to the Saudi border.
Eissa walked that final stretch, a risk because the militiamen have a deal with migrant smugglers: Those who go by car are allowed through; those on foot are arrested.
“Walking in the mountains and the valleys and hiding from the police,” Eissa said in an audio message to the AP.
He traversed tiny valleys winding through mountains along the border to the crossing points of Al Thabit or Souq al-Raqo.
To see the full photo essay on the migrants’ journey, click here.
To see a photo essay, “Portraits of Ethiopian girls, women on the march to Saudi,” click here – By MAGGIE MICHAEL, NARIMAN EL-MOFTY and MAAD AL-ZEKRI
https://apnews.com/bb8c5238d1977410fa10f5b4e586a90c
with Photos, film: https://apimagesblog.com/blog/2020/2/14/ethiopians-brave-deserts-and-smugglers-on-the-way-to-saudi
https://apnews.com/9e317dcc046103015226f1bbedb8d0e7
and
(** B H)
Determined: Ethiopian female migrants risk all for Saudi
They are among the most vulnerable of the tens of thousands of migrants making the long and perilous trek from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia in search of jobs: Women and girls as young as 13. They endure hunger and exhaustion walking through deserts, the dangers of a sea crossing and, often, rape and torture at the hands of traffickers.
Still, they are fearless and determined to reach the oil-rich kingdom and work as maids and domestic servants in Saudi Arabia’s lavish households. Dreaming of improving their lives, many of them sneak away from home in the night because their parents don’t want them to take the risk.
Around 150,000 migrants made the journey each of the past two years, and the proportion of women and girls is rising. According to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration, the number of women making the trip jumped from nearly 15,000 in 2018 to more than 22,000 in 2019. The number of girls had an enormous increase, quadrupling from 2,075 to 8,360.
Associated Press photographer Nariman El-Mofty traveled with a number of women and girls along the trail, in Djibouti and Yemen, capturing intimate moments of their journey and talking with them about their reasons for leaving home and the dangers they are willing to face in hopes of a better life.
THE TREK THROUGH DJIBOUTI
The journey to Saudi Arabia begins with a trek through Djibouti, a tiny country in the Horn of Africa that sits on the Gulf of Aden. Some migrants remain in Djibouti to work, while others travel across the desert to the uninhabited coast outside Obock, where smugglers launch boats to Yemen. Along their journey, many women are tortured or raped by smugglers. That’s why some women, as soon as they enter Djibouti from Ethiopia, stop at the hospital in the border town of Dikhil and ask for birth control.
THE CROSSING
Dozens of Ethiopian men, women and children sat in total silence after being loaded into the smugglers’ 50-foot-long open boat. They were ordered to crouch in the bottom and not move or say a word during the crossing to Yemen or they’d face a beating by the captain or his crew. Fear, hope and expectation tensed their faces. Most of the migrants had never seen the sea. They would be packed on the boat for hours on open water in total darkness.
THE LANDING
After their six-hour journey from Obock, Ethiopian migrants finally arrived in Yemen, at the beaches near the tiny fishing village of Ras al-Ara. As they waded through the surf, they washed out clothes soiled in the long trip. Some will make their way to the road and continue their trips. Many are immediately met on shore by traffickers who load them on trucks and take them to ramshackle compounds in the desert where they rape and torture migrants, demanding more money.
THE HOSH
Dozens of Ethiopian women sat inside a compound, known as “hosh” in Arabic, as they wait for the next leg of their journey to Saudi Arabia in Ras al-Ara. While some “hosh” are horrific torture and detention centers, others are simply way stations for migrants. It all depends on the trafficker. Reliable organized smugglers transport migrants in stages across Yemen in relative safety. For thousands of others without a guide, it’s a confusing and dangerous march alone down unfamiliar roads and highways – By NARIMAN EL-MOFTY and MAGGIE MICHAEL (with photos)
https://apnews.com/0b6a085b26c2ecee0f9f188c6d5a46af
(** B P)
Yemen Hopes and Expectations - Part 4: a looming environmental disaster
Risk of a catastrophic oil spill, alarming water shortages and pollution, climate change, and other environmental disasters are adding to Yemen’s suffering.
A side but important and urgent issue throughout 2019 has come from the increasingly alarmed statements from the UN and others about the Huthis denying access to the ironically named SAFER Floating Oil Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessel. The saga of this facility is a microcosm of the conflict between the Huthis and the internationally recognised government (IRG) on access to finance prioritising it over the welfare of citizens. It is yet another example of their shocking indifference for the life and welfare of people and their lack of concern about avoidable deaths and destruction.
What is the FSO SAFER? It is a vessel which has been moored off Ras Issa in the Red Sea since 1988 and was used as an export terminal for the oil produced in Mareb. Since 2015 there have been no exports as this terminal is under Huthi control while the oil fields are under the control of the government. It contains 1.14 million barrels of crude oil in 34 storage compartments. For the past four years, it has been rusting and increasingly deteriorating, so the risk of explosion or rupturing and sinking has worsened daily. Conditions at sea accelerate the deterioration process and thus the risks.
Such a spill would be a major threat to the marine environment, fisheries, desalination plants in the Red Sea, and coastal areas. It would cause major health risks to the population in the entire region and possibly close access to ports, let alone the impact on the livelihoods of all. In brief it would bring about a major humanitarian and environmental disaster throughout the states bordering the Red Sea, well beyond Yemen itself.
The Huthis have asked the UN for help in assessing the situation and selling the oil; emptying the vessel would end the risks involved and prevent disaster. Each time agreement was about to be reached, discussions collapsed simply because the Huthis and the Hadi government failed to agree on the use of the funds from the sale of this oil. They prefer to risk the lives of the population and cause a major environmental disaster to losing this potential income. The result is that there is no income, Yemenis remain without salaries, and disaster could strike at any time. The issue was raised again at the January 2020 UNSC meeting, but there is no indication of action being taken. This could bring Yemen back to world headlines anytime.
Small changes in the details of the water crisis.
While the SAFER remains a potentially explosive issue, other environmental issues continue as ‘normal.’ In particular, access to domestic water supplies is mentioned in occasional media coverage, recalling that water scarcity is one of Yemen’s main long-term issues. It is usually mentioned with respect to urban supplies being unavailable due to the increased cost of fuel for pumping and distribution.
Some of these causes also apply to the 70% of the population who are rural, and the additional relevant factor for all is the quality of domestic water. As is so often the case, women and children are the worst affected as they are the ones who collect the water – by Helen Lackner
(** B K P)
Yemen's oil-rich Shabwah province faces a dangerous power struggle
As clashes have once again erupted between the Houthis and the Saudi Arabia-backed government forces in Yemen's West, tensions are quietly brewing over the geostrategic, resource-rich eastern Shabwah governorate, posing another risk to the country's peace.
Following the Southern Transitional Council's [STC] coup in the temporary government capital of Aden last August, its forces expanded and sought to forcibly capture Shabwah, leading to 'a civil war within a civil war'.
Not only did government forces manage to repel STC forces, the Saudi-brokered Riyadh agreement in November sought to unify both sides into a power-sharing administration.
Violence had broken even out in December between the STC and government aligned Islah militias, even though the Riyadh agreement had forged a ceasefire and attempted unification between the separatists and Hadi government.
Though violence has decreased since, the government still seeks to restore its claim over the governorate, while the STC seeks to include it as part of an independent southern Yemen state per pre-1990 unification lines – its long-term ambition.
Presenting itself as the successor to South Yemen, the STC and its armed wing the Security Belt and other southern militias, often led by Salafist figures, are financed and empowered by the United Arab Emirates. Though the UAE supports the Shabwani Elite Forces under the guise of counterterrorism, the faction serves to consolidate southern separatist control over the governorate.
"The UAE is backing these separatist militias to control the Shabwah governorate, particularly for its oil and gas fields, and the Balhaf area to use for gas exports," Nabil al-Boukiri, an independent Yemeni researcher, told The New Arab.
By January Hadi government forces were mostly in control of the Shabwah governorate, according to a report assessing southern Yemen's political divides by Helen Lackner and Raiman al-Hamdani.
Both the government and STC have criticised each other over seeking to take control over Shabwah's hydrocarbons.
An official STC Arabic statement from January indicates that the faction seeks to control Shabwah and its resources for the long-term goal of a southern independent state, while countering its Islah opponents.
"Since the Elite Forces failed in their initial attempts to gain control over the Shabwa governorate, they have remained in place and have continued to sow chaos against the governor and have threatened social and political stability," Adel al-Hasani, a Yemeni analyst and human rights activist, told The New Arab.
Analysts focus on how the UAE is driving the STC in order to consolidate its own control over the governorate for its geopolitical ambitions.
Shabwa's governor Mohammad Saleh bin Adyo tweeted that "It is very unfortunate that the Emirates are financing the chaos in Shabwah," adding that Emirati finance should be spent on "providing services or helping people fulfil their needs" – by Jonathan Fenton-Harvey
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Regionalmacht Vereinigte Arabische Emirate
Abu Dhabi tritt aus dem Schatten Saudi-Arabiens
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1 Problemstellung und Schlussfolgerungen
2 Entscheidungsprozesse in den VAE
2.1 Der Aufstieg Muhammad Bin Zayids
2.2 Zentralisierung der Macht in Abu Dhabi
2.3 Der autoritäre Sicherheitsstaat
3 Alte Bündnisse, neu aufgelegt
4.1 Anführer der Gegenrevolution
4.2 Eindämmung des Iran im Jemen
5 Regionalmacht am Golf von Aden und Roten Meer
6 Deeskalation im Jemen und am Persischen Golf
7 Empfehlungen für die deutsche Politik
Problemstellung und Schlussfolgerungen
Seit dem Arabischen Frühling 2011 verfolgen die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE) eine zunehmend aktive Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik und sind eine wichtige Regionalmacht geworden. Seit 2017 profitieren die Emirate davon, dass sie sehr gute Beziehungen zur Trump-Administration unterhalten, die die Regionalpolitik der emiratischen Führung entschlossen unterstützt und wie sie eine aggressive antiiranische Linie verfolgt. Erst Mitte 2019 zeigte sich ein Dissens, als die Emirate gegenüber dem Iran auf eine vorsichtigere Politik setzten.
All diese Ereignisse demonstrieren, dass die VAE nicht mehr der Juniorpartner Saudi-Arabiens sind, als der sie bis 2011 und teils darüber hinaus galten. Seither häufen sich vielmehr die Berichte, dass gemeinsame außenpolitische Projekte der beiden Partner (wie beispielsweise der Jemen-Krieg und die Blockade Katars) auf die Initiative Abu Dhabis zurückgehen. Es wird immer deutlicher, dass die Emirate im Nahen Osten längst nicht mehr der zweitrangige Akteur sind, der nicht mit den regionalen Schwergewichten Ägypten, Türkei oder Iran konkurrieren kann. Vielmehr nimmt das Land heute weit jenseits seiner eigenen Grenzen Einfluss und hat zuletzt durch seinen Teilabzug aus dem Jemen im Jahr 2019 gezeigt, dass es in der Lage ist, auch gegenüber Saudi-Arabien einen unabhängigen Kurs zu verfolgen.
Aus diesen Beobachtungen ergibt sich jedoch die Frage nach den Grundlinien und Prioritäten der emiratischen Außenpolitik. Folgen die vielfältigen Aktivitäten der VAE gegenüber Katar, im Jemen, in Ägypten, Libyen und im Konflikt mit dem Iran einer Strategie oder sind es lediglich mehr oder weniger opportunistische Reaktionen auf die Krise der arabischen Welt seit 2011? Die in dieser Studie vertretene These ist, dass die neue Regionalpolitik der Emirate trotz vieler reaktiver Elemente von drei deutlich erkennbaren Leitlinien geprägt ist:
Erstens bekämpfen die VAE die Islamisten in der Region, weil sie in der Muslimbruderschaft, der größten und wichtigsten Bewegung des politischen Islam in der arabischen Welt, eine ernsthafte Bedrohung für die Regimestabilität im eigenen Land ausgemacht haben.
Zweitens richtet sich die neue emiratische Regionalpolitik gegen die iranische Expansion im Nahen Osten. Seit 2015, als die VAE und Saudi-Arabien einen Krieg gegen die lose mit dem Iran verbündeten Huthi-Rebellen begannen, ist der Jemen aus Sicht Abu Dhabis der wichtigste Schauplatz dieses Konflikts. Die antiiranische Dimension der emiratischen Außenpolitik ist aber deutlich schwächer ausgeprägt als die Abneigung gegenüber den Islamisten.
Drittens ist Abu Dhabi an der Kontrolle der Seewege vom Golf von Aden in das Rote Meer gelegen. Zu diesem Zweck haben die VAE seit 2015 mehrere jemenitische Häfen und Inseln übernommen und Basen in Assab in Eritrea und Berbera in Somaliland eingerichtet. Auf diese Weise haben sie ein kleines Seereich rund um den Golf von Oman gegründet und sich als eine Regionalmacht im Südwesten der arabischen Halbinsel und am Horn von Afrika etabliert.
Die Prioritäten der Führung in Abu Dhabi zeigten sich in aller Deutlichkeit im Juli 2019, als die VAE einen Großteil ihrer Truppen aus dem Jemen abzogen und die meisten Positionen lokalen Verbündeten überließen. Ein wichtiger Grund für diesen Schritt dürfte gewesen sein, dass die VAE eine weitere Eskalation des Konflikts mit dem Iran fürchteten.
Entscheidungsprozesse in den VAE
Es sind vor allem drei inneremiratische Entwicklungen, die den Wandel hin zu einer aktiven und oft aggressiven Regionalpolitik der VAE angebahnt haben: Erstens der Aufstieg von Muhammad Bin Zayid Al Nahayan, des Kronprinzen von Abu Dhabi, zum starken Mann der Emirate. Bin Zayid ist seit 2003 zum Architekten der emiratischen Regionalmachtpolitik geworden. Zweitens wirkt sich eine inneremiratische Machtverschiebung aus, in deren Folge das vor allem kommerziell orientierte Dubai an Einfluss verlor und Abu Dhabi den außen- und sicherheitspolitischen Entscheidungsprozess dominierte. Und drittens setzt die emiratische Regierung seit 2011 innenpolitisch auf Repression, so dass sie keinen internen Widerstand gegen ihre Außenpolitik fürchten muss. Von Guido Steinberg
https://www.swp-berlin.org/publikation/regionalmacht-vereinigte-arabische-emirate/
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
(B H)
There have been approximately 1,200 cases of [dengue] fever in Aden since the beginning of this year.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1227773889482280960
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update for Thursday, February 13th, 2020
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=11179
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression has made a new military violation of Hodeidah Agreement , targeting a water project in Kilo-16 area with an airstrike.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=11180
(A K pS)
Film: Hodeidah ... catastrophic failure and heavy losses for the Houthi militia
Houthi militias have again raised the pace of their breaches of the ceasefire agreement in Hodeidah, west of Yemen, amid heavy losses among its elements and a catastrophic failure to achieve any progress on the ground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ooZzr3MXkQ = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2EVyJPmNBI
(A K pH)
Ein Zivilist getötet, seine Tochter verwundet, Häuser niedergebrannt bei neuen Verstößen der Aggression in Hodeidah
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3087673.htm
(A K pH)
Civilian Killed, His Daughter Injured, Two Houses Burned in Hodeidah
A civilian was killed and his child was wounded when their house was hit by a mortar shell fired by the US-Saudi aggression and its mercenaries, Thursday, at their house, while two houses were burned by the aggression forces machine guns
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=11174
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update for Wednesday, February 12th, 2020
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=11173
(A K)
Latest clashes between rebels, government forces break out in coastal province of Al-Hudaydah
In the coastal province of Al-Hudaydah, clashes broke out on Thursday between government forces and Houthi rebels.
In a statement, the Giants Brigades affiliated with the government forces said: "The combined forces [the Giants Brigades, the National Resistance, and the Tuhami] have inflicted heavy losses on Houthi militias in terms of equipment and lives as violent clashes erupted when the militias attempted to infiltrate and attack the positions of the forces east of the city of Ad-Durayhimi, south of Al-Hudaydah."
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/6-houthi-commanders-killed-in-clashes-with-yemen-forces/1732884
(A K pH)
Häuser und Eigentum der Zivilbevölkerung wurden durch Verstöße der Aggression in Hodeidah beschädigt
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3087591.htm
(A K pS)
Houthis target civilians in in Bait al-Faqih, south Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/18401
(A K pS)
Film: Hodeidah: A citizen in Hayes was wounded by artillery shelling by Houthi militia on his house
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcXiKnNJH5c
(A K pS)
According to local sources, #Houthis have targeted 22 May Hospital in the port city of #Hodeidah with artillery shells.
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1227663331730903041
(A K pH)
Aggressionskräfte verschärfen Verstöße gegen Hodeidah-Abkommen
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3087521.htm
(A K pH)
Verstöße in Hodeidah dauern an
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3087488.htm
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update for Tuesday, February 11th, 2020
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=11162
(A K pH)
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni Army Repels US-Saudi Aggression Attack on Hodeidah
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=11160
(A K pS)
Yemen naval forces find more Houthi planted mines in Red Sea
Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said the mines had been planted by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Naval forces fighting on behalf of the internationally recognised government of Yemen have discovered additional naval mines located off the Red Sea island of Sana, days after similar mines killed Egyptian fishermen in close proximity.
Navy patrols of the Yemeni army's 5th Military Zone found and dismantled seven unexploded naval mines located off the western coast of the island of Sana, which is situated off the coast of Yemen's Hajjah Province, Al-Masdar Online reported.
https://thearabweekly.com/yemen-naval-forces-find-more-houthi-planted-mines-red-sea
(A K pS)
Top Houthi field leader killed in Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/18399
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON FEBRUARY 12, 2020 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-february-12-2020-map-update/
(* B K)
ACLED Regional Overview – Middle East (2 - 8 February 2020)
In Yemen, major clashes were reported in areas near Marib city, northern Ad Dali, Hodeidah, and Taizz. Most frontlines remained static, with minor territory retaken by anti-Houthi forces in Sanaa and Al Jawf governorates. Significant fighting also continued northeast of Sanaa and in two areas of Al Bayda governorate. Saudi-led air raids increased throughout Yemen, with nearly 50 airstrikes recorded during the week. Most targeted positions were along the frontlines in Al Jawf, Sadah, Sanaa, and Marib governorates. ACLED also records an increase in violence in Hodeidah governorate, where clashes were reported in addition to daily artillery fire. Conversely, relative calm took hold in Hajjah, with no battles reported in the governorate last week.
Implementation of the ‘Riyadh Agreement’ effectively came to a halt.
At the same time, Islamic State (IS) forces clashed repeatedly with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on the Qayfa front at the Al Bayda-Marib border last week.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/acled-regional-overview-middle-east-2-8-february-2020
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USA: Iranische Waffen im Arabischen Meer beschlagnahmt
Die USA haben an Bord eines Segelschiffs im Arabischen Meer eine Lieferung iranischer Waffen entdeckt. Darunter seien unter anderem 150 Panzerabwehrlenkwaffen und drei Boden-Luft-Raketen aus iranischer Herstellung gewesen, erklärte die Kommandozentrale des US-Militärs im Nahen Osten. Viele der sichergestellten Waffen seien identisch mit denen, die Ende vergangenes Jahr bei einer Kontrolle eines Frachters gefunden worden seien. Auch diese Waffen seien für die Huthi-Rebellen im Jemen bestimmt gewesen, was gegen das geltende Waffenembargo verstoße.
https://www.stern.de/panorama/usa--iranische-waffen-im-arabischen-meer-beschlagnahmt-9137684.html = https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/waffen-usa-iranische-waffen-im-arabischen-meer-beschlagnahmt-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-200213-99-907066 = https://www.weser-kurier.de/schlagzeilen_artikel,-usa-iranische-waffen-im-arabischen-meer-beschlagnahmt-_arid,1897266.html
und
(A K P)
USA beschlagnahmten iranische Raketen – Pompeo
„Die US-Marine hat 358 Raketen aus iranischer Herstellung und andere Waffenkomponenten auf ihrem Weg zu den Huthis im Jemen beschlagnahmt. Dies ist ein weiteres Beispiel für den weltweit größten staatlichen Sponsor des Terrors, die Islamische Republik Iran, der sich weiterhin dem UN-Sicherheitsrat widersetzt“, schrieb der Minister auf Twitter am Freitag und postete dazu ein entsprechendes Foto.
https://de.sputniknews.com/politik/20200214326465846-usa-beschlagnahmen-iranische-raketen--pompeo-/
Mein Kommentar: Die USA liefern unendlich mal mehr Waffen ins Kriegsgebiet, unterstütz(t)en Terroristen in vielen Ländern, widersetzen sich jeder Menge UN-Beschlüsse…
(A K P)
Pompeo calls for action against Iran after US Navy seizes weapons sent to Yemen
“The U.S. Navy interdicted 358 Iranian-made missiles + other weapons components on their way to the Houthis in Yemen. This is another example of the world’s largest state sponsor of terror the Islamic Republic of Iran continuing to defy the UN Security Council,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter.
My comment: The US delivers extremely much more weapons into the Yemen war, supports(ed) terrorists in a lot of countries and defies plenty of UN decisions – so what?
(* A K P)
US Central Command, Press release
US Navy seizes illegal weapons in Arabian Sea
On Feb. 9, 2020, USS Normandy (CG 60), while conducting maritime security operations in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, boarded a dhow in accordance with international law and discovered a large cache of weapons.
The weapons seized include 150 'Dehlavieh' anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), which are Iranian-manufactured copies of Russian Kornet ATGMs. Other weapons components seized aboard the dhow were of Iranian design and manufacture and included three Iranian surface-to-air missiles, Iranian thermal imaging weapon scopes, and Iranian components for unmanned aerial and surface vessels, as well as other munitions and advanced weapons parts.
Many of these weapons systems are identical to the advanced weapons and weapon components seized by guided-missile destroyer USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98) in the Arabian Sea on Nov. 25, 2019. Those weapons were determined to be of Iranian origin and assessed to be destined for the Houthis in Yemen, which would be in violation of a UN Security Council Resolution that prohibits the direct or indirect supply, sale, or transfer of weapons to the Houthis.
The seized weapons are in U.S. custody awaiting final disposition. The assessment of the materiel will be an interagency and international effort. International partner nations and organizations have also been invited to inspect the cache.
The operation is ongoing, and further information will be shared as it becomes available.
Additional imagery associated with the dhow boarding and weapons seizure is located on DVIDS at the following link: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6095917/normandy-intercepts-illicit-shipment-advanced-weapons
Film also here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb4iILRK7BA
And also
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/u-s-seizes-boat-allegedly-carrying-iranian-missiles-to-yemen-1.1389983
https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/us-seizes-shipment-iranian-made-weapons
My comment: All this is rather ridiculous when looking at US, European arms exports to Saudi Arabia and Emirates.
(B K P)
The Real ‘Deal Of The Century:’ Sanctions Relief For Iran In Exchange For Peace In Yemen
Saudi Arabia is trapped between a wrathful Iran and its own disastrous war in Yemen. Both places are bristling with missiles that pose virulent threats to a safe and successful G20.
Could a multi-party compromise help? Maybe.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, are a key source of the danger to Saudi Arabia. The Houthi control the Yemeni capital and a generous complement of missiles and drones that occasionally hit targets inside the kingdom. But the Houthi also appear ready to stand down in hopes of halting the destruction of their homeland.
The Trump administration, too, is on the failing end of a reckless gamble.
Like the Saudis, Trump needs some sort of face-saving de-escalation.
Fortunately, the planets are lining up for a solution holding plausible “wins” for Trump, as well as the Iranian supreme leader, the Saudi crown prince, and the Yemeni Houthi.
The path involves Trump trading partial relief of Iran sanctions for Tehran’s help in ending both the war in Yemen and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia – just in time for the G20.
Can the Saudis and Iranians do business? Might the US be willing to trade sanctions relief for an Iranian climbdown in Yemen? Might the Houthis go along? Hard to say. Is it worth exploring? I think so.
My comment: It’s always a good thing to ease tensions, to lift sanctions, to deal for peace. But the author idea does not survive a reality cheque. The US is not at all interested in easing tensions with Iran; to US politics, Yemen is of little importance and is only treated as an annex to the fight against Iran, never, for the benefit of Yemen, the US would try to come on terms with Iran; the author seems to be infected by the US anti-Iranian paranoia, which assumes Iran would have an important leverage in Yemen. Well, Iran doesn’t. Much more helpful for reaching a peace for Yemen would be if the US would use its leverage on Saudi Arabia.
(A K P)
[Hadi gov.] Yemeni Diplomat Urges UNICEF to Save 30,000 Children from Houthi Grip
Yemen’s Ambassador to the United Nations has accused Houthi militias of recruiting child soldiers, saying more than 30,000 children are at risk of death or their rights violated.
Abdullah Al-Saadi urged the United Nations Children's Fund to review its monitoring mechanism of violations against children in Yemeni areas falling under the control of Houthis.
He said current data on the recruitment of child soldiers does not reflect the situation on the ground.
My comment: The other sides in this war are hardly better. Simply stop the war.
(A P)
[Sanaa-]Kommunikationsministerium: Internetdienste werden vollständig wiederhergestellt
Eine offizielle Quelle des Ministeriums für Kommunikation und Informationstechnologie gab heute bekannt, dass der Internetdienst wieder normal ist.
Die Quelle erklärte in einer Erklärung gegenüber der jemenitischen Nachrichtenagentur (Saba), dass die technischen Teams die ersten Phasen der Kabelreparatur (Falcon) abgeschlossen haben.
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3087602.htm
(A P)
[Sanaa gov.] Ministry of Telecommunications announces Internet service return
The Yemeni Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology announced on Thursday the return of internet service in Yemen .
The ministry confirmed on Twitter that the technical teams have completed the early stages of repairs to the Falcon submarine cable, which was cut last month in the Gulf of Suez.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3087676.htm
(B K P)
Film, in Arabic: Rezaee admits to transferring Iran's military techniques to a number of Arab countries
Military experts and political analysts confirmed that the secretary-general of the Iranian regime’s statement Mohsen Rezaee shows the reality of Iranian interference in Arab affairs, especially in Yemen, pointing out that Tehran has provided the Houthis with all the military and logistical support and modern missiles which of a large number of them were launched to Saudi Arabia under Iranian guidance, Rezaee said in a television interview on a channel that Tehran had transferred its military techniques to Yemen, Palestine and Lebanon via Qassem Soleimani.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7S0HYJwiEg
(B K P)
All articles by Nadwa Dawsari here:
https://yementribalvoices.org/
(A K P)
Britain and United States asked to investigate UAE 'war crimes' in Yemen - sources
Britain, the United States and Turkey were on Wednesday formally asked to arrest senior officials from the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of carrying out war crimes and torture in Yemen, three sources told Reuters.
British law firm Stoke White filed the complaints to Britain’s Metropolitan police and the U.S. and Turkish justice ministries on behalf of Abdullah Suliman Abdullah Daubalah, a journalist, and Salah Muslem Salem, whose brother was killed in Yemen.
The complaint, filed on Wednesday, says the UAE and its mercenaries were responsible for torture and war crimes against civilians in Yemen in 2015 and 2019. A spokeswoman for the UAE could not be reached for immediate comment.
and
(A K P)
YEMENIS DEMAND U.S. ARREST AMERICAN MERCENARIES ACCUSED OF 'BLATANT' WAR CRIMES
Victims of alleged war crimes in Yemen have demanded that American authorities act on what they say is "compelling evidence" of offenses by American mercenaries acting under the direction of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
On Wednesday, lawyers representing Abdullah Suliman Abdullah Daubalah and Salah Muslem Salem held a press conference in London to announce they had filed a complaint along with evidence they had collected of the alleged crimes.
The team urged U.S., British and Turkish authorities to open investigations and even arrest accused American mercenaries or the UAE officials said to have directed them.
The lawyers did not identify those involved, but said the UAE officials were "high ranking officials" in the government and ministry of defense, while at least some of the Americans involved have worked for the Spear Operations Group.
Those accused live in either the U.S. or the UAE but are known to travel to the U.K. regularly, the complaint said. The legal team has submitted its evidence to the U.S. and Turkish justice ministries and Britain's Metropolitan Police.
(* A B K P)
UAE commander discusses ongoing shift in Yemen war strategy from direct to indirect
The Emirati commander said air operations will continue
A top UAE military official on Sunday said that after five years of war in Yemen, Abu Dhabi has shifted from a direct to an indirect approach, which will be implemented by the Yemeni forces the Emiratis formed, trained and equipped.
In a speech delivered at a ceremony in the UAE capital on the occasion of the return of Emirati forces involved in the war, Lt. Gen. Issa Saif Bin Ablan Al-Marzoui, the deputy chief of staff of the UAE Armed Forces, said they fought three enemies in Yemen at the same time: the Houthi rebels, the Muslim Brotherhood and the terrorist forces of ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
The Emirati military commander praised his soldiers for participating in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and said that UAE forces would continue air operations to maintain the security and stability of the region, reiterating what Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed said in a recent speech.
Al-Marzoui said that the UAE armed forces carried out more than 130,000 air operations, while more than 1,000 naval shipments were used to transport weapons, ammunition, equipment.
The Emiratis recruited, trained and equipped more than 200,000 Yemeni soldiers in the areas liberated from Houthis, he said.
This isn’t the first time the UAE forces have announced a military drawdown in Yemen.
One of those UAE officials, who spoke to Agence France Presse, said that the withdrawal of some of its forces was part of a redeployment plan for strategic and tactical reasons
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/325
(* B P)
2170 Violations of Human Rights Committed in January: Report
A report conducted by Future Partners for Development, a non-governmental organization, has shed light on the deteriorating situation of human rights in war-torn Yemen, noting that its monitoring team documented a number of 2170 violations of human rights in January, ranging from killing and sexual assault to forcible disappearance.
Only in January, 79 civilians were killed, including 8 women and four children, and 27 others wounded, the report said.
It also highlighted how Houthi-laid landmines pose a great danger to civilians lives, noting that 8 people were killed and 13 others wounded as a result of these mines.
According to the report, 70,8% of the documented violations was committed in the rebel-held capital Sana’a.
“Sana’a ranked first with 1429 cases of violations them came Marib province with 513 violations {…},” the report said.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/22965
My remark: From an anti-Houthi organization and anti-Houthi news site.
(* B P)
Film: Wüste Prinzenspiele: Der neue Golfkrieg
Zwischen 2013 und 2015 fand in den Königshäusern der drei wichtigsten Golfmonarchien ein Generationswechsel statt. Er brachte drei Männer auf den Thron, die zu den reichsten und mächtigsten der Welt gehören. Sie unterdrücken brutal jede Form von Opposition und liefern einander einen geradezu lächerlichen Ego-Krieg, der in der sensiblen Golfregion zu einer neuen Krise führte.
Als Erster kam der katarische Emir Tamim al-Thani an die Macht. Der begeisterte Hobbysportler kontrolliert die Mediengruppe BeIN, das weltweit größte Übertragungsnetzwerk von Sportereignissen. Dadurch konnte er zum Neid seiner Nachbarn die Fußball-WM 2022 nach Katar holen. Seinen Einfluss macht Emir Tamim al-Thani zudem über den regional bedeutsamen Sender Al-Dschasira geltend. Seine Nachbarn beschuldigen ihn, islamistische Gruppierungen zu unterstützen und ein allzu enges Verhältnis zum Iran zu pflegen. Dem katarischen Staatchef stehen zwei Kontrahenten gegenüber: Da ist zum einen der ehrgeizige Kronprinz Saudi-Arabiens, Mohammed bin Salman (genannt MbS), der sein Land in einen blutigen Krieg in Jemen verwickelte. Um seinen regionalen Führungsanspruch zu verwirklichen, sicherte er sich die Unterstützung eines Verbündeten und Mentors: Mohammed bin Zayed (genannt MbZ), Kronprinz von Abu Dhabi und Regent der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate. Der gewiefte Militärstratege rüstete sein kleines Land zur wichtigsten Militärmacht der Arabischen Halbinsel auf. Legten ihre Väter und Großväter Streitigkeiten noch in der diskreten Stille der Beduinenzelte bei, tragen die heutigen Herrscher ihre Konflikte mittels Cyberattacken, Wirtschaftsblockaden und Invasionsdrohungen aus.
https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/085423-000-A/wueste-prinzenspiele/
(A P)
[Sanaa gov.] Ministry of Communications: Forces of US-Saudi Aggression Behind International Connections Cut off
The forces of the US-Saudi aggression cut off the international connections, causing the deterioration of the internet services in Yemen, an official source in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said Monday.
“The deterioration of the internet services and the critical situation it reached is due to the repercussions of what the coalition soldiers recently made of cutting alternative international connections. It’s also because of the coalition’s continued prevention of the Yemeni communications from using its ownership in other international maritime cables, while the international community is still silente towards these crimes,” Saba News Agency quoted the source as saying.
The source confirmed that the procedures for repairing the marine cable, Falcon, are continuing
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=11153
and also https://www.uprising.today/yemeni-internet-outage-caused-by-saudi-attacks/
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Houthis selecting more UAVs over ballistic missiles in Arabian Peninsula attacks
In 2019, UAVs became the primary long-range weapon used by the Houthi movement in attack operations against Saudi and Yemeni forces and infrastructure. Of all identified Houthi attacks between January and October 2019, 68% were conducted using attack UAVs, whereas 32% were carried out with ballistic missiles, a significant shift compared with previous years. The Houthis have demonstrated that their UAV technology has greatly improved since the weapons were first introduced to their military arsenal. No other known non-state armed group (NSAG) across the MENA region and beyond has demonstrated the same level of UAV technological sophistication. Three quarters of recorded Houthi UAV and ballistic missile attacks since 2015 have been directed at Saudi territory, whereas 24.5% were mounted against targets in Yemen and 0.5% against targets in the United Arab Emirates.
Outlook
We assess that the increasing use of UAVs in Houthi attack operations is likely to be due to their higher success rate compared with ballistic missiles; this is expected to sustain Houthi commitment to maintaining and improving UAV capability. The Houthis are highly likely to further increase investment in human and technological resources to develop their UAV capabilities and to deploy attack UAVs against strategic targets, especially military, energy and aviation assets, in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as on the battlefield in Yemen, and they are likely to receive greater Iranian support to refine and improve their UAV technology.
IHS Markit's Houthi media monitoring suggests that, major obstacles remain before any progress on a Saudi-Houthi peace agreement can be expected. Moreover, our media monitoring suggests that the UAE will be targeted in coming weeks and months.
Barring a general ceasefire agreement between the Houthi movement and Saudi Arabia, and a full UAE withdrawal from Yemen, which we assess to be unlikely in the six-month outlook, and as long as the Saudi air campaign in Yemen continues, the Houthis are likely to continue UAV attacks against targets in Yemeni and Saudi, and, in the near future, UAE territory at varying frequencies.
(* B K P)
UN report details missiles seized on way to Yemen
The latest report from the United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen has revealed that a Quds-1 cruise missile, a C802 anti-ship missile, and what it believes were surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) of a previously unseen type were seized by destroyer USS Forrest Sherman on 25 November 2019.
The seizure was announced soon after the event, with the Pentagon saying on 4 December 2019 that advanced missile components that were believed to be of Iranian origin and destined for the Houthi rebels in Yemen were found when sailors searched a dhow in the Arabian Sea.
"The seizure includes sophisticated weapons, sophisticated components of anti-ship cruise missiles, land-attack cruise missiles, air-defence missiles, and anti-tank missiles," US Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook told a press briefing the following day. "The weapon components comprise the most sophisticated weapons seized by the US Navy to date during the Yemen conflict."
He showed photographs of what appeared to be the radar seeker from an anti-ship missile and Kornet anti-tank missiles but no other details were forthcoming at that time.
Released on 6 February, the UN report included photographs showing the anti-ship missile was marked as a C802: a Chinese type that is in service in Iran, which produces its own version called the Noor. The report said the 21 Kornets that were on the dhow had the same markings as the Iranian-made Dehlavieh version.
More significantly, the seized cache included a cruise missile of the same type as the ones used in a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia, most notably against the Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities on 14 September 2019. The Houthis have identified the missile as the Quds-1 (the name used by the panel), while the Saudi military has referred to it as the Iranian-made Ya Ali.
https://www.janes.com/article/94231/un-report-details-missiles-seized-on-way-to-yemen
and
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The UN Exposes Houthi Reliance on Iranian Weapons
In addition to dispelling any lingering notion that last year’s Aramco attack came from Yemen, the report documents Iran’s efforts to help the rebels acquire advanced missiles, weapons components, and training.
On January 27, the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen submitted its latest annual report on the conflict, with large portions of the text focusing on the government’s ongoing failure to establish adequate command-and-control over coalition forces—a topic covered in another recent PolicyWatch. Other sections discuss weapons developments on the Houthi rebel side, analyzing their supply chain, their claimed role in last year’s major attack on Saudi oil facilities, and their broader reliance on Iranian technology.
ARAMCO EVIDENCE
The mountain of evidence provided in the document supports at least one clear conclusion: the September 14 attack on Saudi Aramco facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais could not have originated from Yemen. This conclusion is based on a wide range of known information about the drones and cruise missiles used in the operation, from their maximum range to their flight trajectory.
WEAPONS SUPPLY CHAIN
According to the panel report, the Houthis continue to receive off-the-shelf parts for their drones and missiles via a network of intermediaries, as well as complete systems (including Iranian weapons) overland via Oman and by sea along Yemen’s southern coast. The smuggled components have come from Japan (parts for UAVs and waterborne improvised explosive devices, or WBIEDs), China (UAV parts), Iran (UAV engines and rocket-propelled grenades), Belarus (optical sights for rocket-propelled grenades), the Czech Republic (fuel system components), and Germany (UAV engines).
Intermediaries enabling these deliveries have been discovered in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Athens, Tehran, Muscat, and Abu Dhabi (Annex 18, page 114). Hong Kong companies have sent parts to Yemen’s al-Jawf province by air (via Bangkok and Muscat) and smuggled them across the Omani border. The panel also established that the Houthis are still using sea routes to obtain weapons and components, in violation of the arms embargo.
In addition, the panel examined the items seized during the November dhow interdiction and found the following
CONCLUSION
The UN panel’s findings confirm longstanding concerns that Iran has been violating the international embargo by supplying the Houthis with advanced weaponry and high-tech components for their indigenous systems. The report also shows how easy it is for the Houthis to obtain foreign components themselves using front companie
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
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Yemen: UN Medical Air Bridge Little More Than Saudi PR Stunt Say Desperate Patients
Many Yemenis have described the much-lauded UN medical air bridge as little more than a public relations stunt aimed at improving Saudi Arabia’s image in the world.
However, the humanitarian non-profit the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said that move comes too late. The NRC confirmed that thousands of Yemenis had been handed down a death sentence when the Saudi-led military coalition waging a war on Yemen closed down the Sana’a International Airport in 2016.
Director-General of Sana’a International Airport, Khalid al-Shaif said two flights that have taken place were not part of a medical air bridge but were cherry-picked cases that flew out on the UN special envoy’s own plane. “In fact, there is no air bridge in the country as the United Nations and coalitions countries claim. Just cases evacuated by the special envoy’s plane. There are no medical aircraft that have taken off or landed at Sana’a airport so far. Patients have also not been scheduled [for flights] by the United Nations,” al-Shaif said.
Every day, the blockade on Sana’a International Airport, imposed by the Saudi-led coalition and supported by the United States, has killed dozens of times as many people as the much-hyped coronavirus.
Ten days after the UN first announced the “medical air bridge,” which was supposed to be a rare glimpse of hope in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, flights have not proceeded as planned causing patients and their families to lose their last hope of keeping their loved ones alive. On the first civilian flight, only seven children were evacuated to Jordan to treatment on the special envoy’s plane, a diplomatic aircraft with no medical equipment available inside. Only 25 of the tens of thousands of critically ill Yemenis that need medical treatment abroad have reached Jordan as of Friday, February 8.
The UN’s air bridge led to growing disappointment among Yemeni patients. Many Yemeni described it as little more than a public relations move aimed at improving Saudi Arabia’s image in the world. If it proceeds at its current rate, transferring 28 patients a month, it would take 15 years to evacuate all 32,000 patients currently in urgent need of medical treatment abroad.
According to a health official in Sana’a, at least 250 patients have died since February 3, when the first air bridge flight took place. Moreover, the number of patients who need to evacuate abroad has rapidly increased, meaning the gesture is little more than that, and cannot hope to address the deteriorating health situation in the country, according to Yemen’s medical officials.
Frustrated patients, activists and doctors describe the air bridge, accompanied by all of its media hype, as a big lie that has no purpose other than to exacerbate the suffering of patients who travel from far-flung districts and die waiting for a chance to board one of the UN flights – by Ahmed Abdulkareem
https://www.mintpressnews.com/yemen-un-medical-air-bridge-saudi-pr-stunt/264944/
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Wikipedia: Blockade of Yemen
The blockade of Yemen refers to a sea, land and air blockade on Yemen which started with the positioning of Saudi Arabian warships in Yemeni waters in 2015 with the Saudi invasion of Yemen. The United States had joined the blockade in October 2016,[1] and the blockade was further constricted following the November 2017 launch of a missile from Houthis in Yemen towards Riyadh.[2] The blockade of Yemen has resulted in widespread starvation, to the extent that the United Nations has raised concerns about the possibility of it becoming the deadliest famine in decades.
As a result of the blockade there is a desperate shortage of necessary supplies such as food, water and medical supplies, to the extent that children are at risk of disease due to lack of drinkable water.[17]
A limited number of aid ships can unload, and the bulk of commercial shipping, on which the desperately poor country depends, is being blocked, creating a state of emergency for Yemenis.[18] In spite of entreaties, Saudi Arabia has failed to pay out any of the $274 million it promised to invest into humanitarian relief.[19][20]
Although Saudi Arabia pledged on 20 December 2017 to lift the blockade for a month,[38] there is no reported aid or commerce coming in Yemen via the port of Hudaydah which is considered as a key port in Yemen.[39] After Houthi fighters fired a missile at the capital of Saudi Arabia on 4 November 2017, Saudis sealed sea, air and land access to Yemen. Saudi officials did consent that they will lift the blockade of Hudaydah for a period of time. In the meanwhile, Riyadh mentioned that “The port of Hudaydah will remain open for humanitarian and relief supplies and the entry of commercial vessels, including fuel and food vessels, for a period of 30 days". Two weeks later, after Saudi Arabia's declaration, Hudaydah stayed empty. There is no relief vessels or trader to be seen anchored there. The manager of the port substantiated that the sea-hub did process merely two vessels whose permits were old.[40][41]
According to the international law of naval blockade the naval measures conducted by the coalition led by Saudi Arabia do not amount to a naval blockade in the legal sense.[46] It is said that neither the international law of contraband nor the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216 of 14 April 2015 cover the extensive enforcement measures.[47] Due to the devastating famine in Yemen and supply shortage of essential goods, which are caused by the enforcement measures, the naval operations off the coast of Yemen are criticized as a violation of international humanitarian law.[48]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_Yemen
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp2a, cp5
(* B H K)
Health crisis in light of Saudi-led aggression on Yemen
The war have destroyed much of the country's public infrastructure, including health facilities. Following the imposition of a blockade by the Saudi-led coalition (SLC) in 2015, import restrictions coupled with high inflation have crippled Yemenis’ access to healthcare and other essential services. Furthermore, many of the country’s 50,000 health workers have not been paid since August 2016 and have consequently left the public health system, forced to look for other sources of income. Yemen is facing a growing humanitarian catastrophe as health workers there risk their lives to help civilians caught up in the deadly war. The emergency health-care needs of the population have now become so great that health workers are struggling to provide essential health care. “The health system is on the brink of collapse,” says Dr Ahmed Shadoul, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for Yemen. The Yemeni health system is in a state of near-collapse: the population has very limited access to health facilities, either because they are damaged or not fully functioning. The direct consequences are the recent resurgence of outbreaks of preventable diseases
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3087636.htm
(* B H)
Yemen patients finally treated in Jordan after years of war
"They told us she had had the disease for about four years," said Hussein, a 50-year-old farmer from Hajja, northwest of the capital, which is under siege by a Saudi-led coalition backing the government.
"We couldn't get her treated in Yemen because of the war, the siege, the lack of medical personnel and treatment, and I couldn't take her outside the country because I could barely afford to feed our six children," he said with tears in his eyes.
"Life in Yemen is harder than you can possibly imagine."
The couple waited four months in a small hotel in Sanaa before they could leave Yemen.
They arrived in Amman on February 8, on a flight from Sanaa airport organised by the World Health Organization and carrying 24 patients, including children.
It was the second of what the UN agency hopes will be many "mercy flights".
Hospital director Hani al-Kurdi said the facility was treating 19 Yemeni patients, including seven children, for "heart and kidney disease, cancer, birth defects" and other disorders.
"Most of them need surgery because they have not received proper medical treatment in the past, which has complicated their cases," he said.
WHO spokeswoman Inas Humam said the organisation was covering the costs of their medical treatment, transport and accommodation.
"These are innocent Yemenis, they don't deserve to suffer because of what is happening in Yemen and because of the war," she said.
"It's our duty, as WHO and UN and as an international community, to make sure that they get the lifesaving care that they need until a political solution to the crisis is found.
"This is their one and only hope of survival."
https://www.france24.com/en/20200213-yemen-patients-finally-treated-in-jordan-after-years-of-war = https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-7999519/Yemen-patients-finally-treated-Jordan-years-war.html
(* B H)
United Nations Population Fund: UNFPA Humanitarian Response in Yemen - 2020
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen remains the worst in the world. Nearly five years of conflict has led to the collapse of the economy and social services. Millions of Yemenis are hungrier, sicker and more vulnerable than a year ago.
An estimated 24 million people – over 80 per cent of the population – are in need of some kind of assistance, including 14.4 million who are in acute need – nearly two million people more than in 2018.
An estimated six million women and girls of childbearing age (15 to 49 years) are in need of support. Rising food shortages have left more than one million pregnant and lactating women malnourished, who risk giving birth to newborns with severe stunted growth. In addition, an estimated 144,000 women are likely to develop childbirth complications.
Nearly half of the health facilities are not functioning or only partially functioning. Only one-third of the functioning health facilities provide reproductive health services due to staff shortages, lack of supplies, inability to meet operational costs or are damaged due to conflict.
Equipment and medical supplies are inadequate or obsolete. Health workers have not been paid or been paid only irregularly for more than two years, has now left Yemen with only 10 health workers per 10,000 people – less than half the WHO minimum benchmark.
In a country with one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the Arab region, the lack of food, poor nutrition and eroding healthcare, worsened by epidemics such as cholera, can mean an increase in premature or low-birth weight babies and post-partum bleeding. As many as 4.3 million people have been displaced in the last three years, while some 3.3 million people remain displaced. About half of the displaced are women, 27 per cent of whom are below age 18. Their coping mechanisms are stretched to the limit and they are paying the heaviest price, as is so often the case in humanitarian crises.
With limited shelter options, displaced women and girls tend to suffer most from lack of privacy, threats to safety and limited access to basic services, making them ever more vulnerable to violence and abuse.Displaced girls are more likely to lose access to schooling as families with limited resources de-prioritize their right to education.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unfpa-humanitarian-response-yemen-2020-enar
(* B E H)
Food prices surge amid worsening crisis in Yemen
World Food Program, locals blame inflation on devaluation of Yemeni riyal
Food prices have significantly risen in conflict-ridden Yemen over the past few weeks, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has said.
"There has been another sharp increase in the price of food and other essential goods in Yemen," WFP Yemen said in a statement on Twitter Wednesday. "Prices are becoming increasingly inaccessible for millions."
It attributed the food inflation to the devaluation of the local currency.
"The value of the Yemeni riyal has dropped 15 percent in the south and about 7 percent in the north in the last 5 weeks," it said. "This made life even harder for many families in Yemen, particularly those living across frontlines."
Locals confirmed the depreciation of the riyal, saying there had been a noticeable rise in the price of consumer goods.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/food-prices-surge-amid-worsening-crisis-in-yemen/1733103
(* B H)
Solar energy helps Yemeni hospitals save lives
Public health services in Yemen have worsened significantly due to the conflict, which has been ongoing for five years. According to the UN, about half of health facilities in the country are non-functional or only partially functioning. One of the main reasons are long-lasting power outages that have become all too regular in the country since the star of the war.
One solution presented itself to solve the energy crisis in Yemen: harnessing the abundant supply of sunlight. The World Bank Yemen Emergency Electricity Access Project began installing solar systems in hard-to-reach areas, in particular in schools and health facilities. The World Bank’s International Development Agency, in partnership with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), is working with local providers with the objective to support hundreds of health facilities across Yemen.
As a result, millions of Yemenis will have access to reliable health facilities powered by solar energy, especially in rural areas. Clinics will be able to maintain the cold-chain necessary for immunization to help with access to essential vaccines, as well as other medicine and basic health services.
Poor and vulnerable women in remote areas are generally the least likely to receive adequate health care in Yemen, in particular for pregnancies. But the Yemen Emergency Electricity Access Project also helps ensure that health care workers can reach them.
The Al-Salam Hospital in the Lahj Governorate was one of these facilities that had to close after the start of the war. It recently received new solar installations and is now able to receive patients again. Before the intervention, the lack of electricity prevented medical staff from providing vital health services, in particular at night. In particular, the hospital could not admit patients for emergency and critical cases, child delivery, or obstructed labor cases. After receiving modern and efficient solar power systems, Al-Salam Hospital now operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It has also recently opened a special wing for child delivery and newborn care services.
Health workers in the Al-Salam hospital reported that they no longer see electricity as an issue. They are enthusiastic to see the women in their community being able to deliver their babies in much safer conditions.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/02/12/solar-energy-helps-yemeni-hospitals-save-lives
(B H)
US Agency for International Development: Yemen - Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #4, Fiscal Year (FY) 2020
USAID/FFP partner WFP reaches 12.7 million people with food assistance for second consecutive month
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-complex-emergency-fact-sheet-4-fiscal-year-fy-2020
Yemen ‑ Active USG Programs for Yemen Response (Last Updated 02/12/20)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-active-usg-programs-yemen-response-last-updated-021220
(A H)
Help Yahyia
My friend Yahyia is a young man from Yemen who has been tortured and threatened with death by his family because he is transgender. With the help of a few kind strangers (like you), he has been able to leave his home city. He is now in hiding, but will not truly be safe until he is able to relocate to a country that protects LGBTQ people's right to exist, where neither his family nor the state will harm him just for being who he is. To help him get to safety, we need money for airfare and temporary living expenses. Even outside of Yemen, Yemenis are subject to taxing visa requirements for almost any destination, so the process will take some time.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-yahyia
(* B H)
Film: For a better life: Enhanced Rural Resilience in Yemen
Though the Enhanced Rural Resilience in #Yemen (ERRY) programme CARE has provided 250 grants to people from #Lahj governorate to establish and develop their small businesses, all of which has created income for them and their families. Along with other farmers, Ammar was able to develop his farm and employ more than 25 workers - men and women - to plough, irrigate, fertilize, and harvest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoqK3AAZQ_s
(* B H)
Action plan seeks to reach 48 million women and girls in humanitarian crises
When Yemen’s unrelenting conflict arrived in Taizz City late last year, Ashwaq saw her neighbourhood fall to pieces. Amid the bombardments, her house caught fire. She, her husband and their four children – including a son who is paralyzed – fled for their lives.
When they arrived in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, Ashwaq found that the influx of displaced people had caused rents to skyrocket. She was unable to afford even the most basic accommodations.
Her family found temporary shelter with a relative. “There was not enough room for the six of us,” Ashwaq remembered. “We were all squeezed into a single bed. Within two weeks we searched again for a house. We were lucky to find a room and a bathroom in exchange for taking care of a larger house. However, we soon realized we were running out of money to buy daily essentials and medicines for our paralyzed son.”
Tens of millions of women and girls in crises
There are tens of millions of women and adolescent girls living through humanitarian crises today. Yet their reproductive health needs – including family planning information and care, maternal health care, access to menstrual hygiene supplies, as well as protection from, and treatment for, sexual and gender-based violence – are often overlooked.
And when these needs are neglected, the consequences are simply unbearable.
More than half of all the world’s maternal deaths take place in countries affected by crises and fragile conditions. Vulnerability to gender-based violence spikes in crisis settings, with risks ranging from domestic violence to rape as a weapon of war.
UNFPA works with partners around the world to address these needs. In 2020, UNFPA plans to reach an estimated 48 million women, girls and young people, including 4 million pregnant women, in 57 countries.
https://www.unfpa.org/news/action-plan-seeks-reach-48-million-women-and-girls-humanitarian-crises
(B H)
UN Children's Fund, Nutrition Cluster: Yemen: Nutrition Cluster Dashboard (January to December 2019)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-dashboard-january-december-2019
Yemen Nutrition Cluster: Hard to Reach Districts (CMAM Service Presence) (as of 31 Dec, 2019)
and more infographics:
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-bsfp-plw-gap-analysis-31-dec-2019
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-bsfp-u2-gap-analysis-31-dec-2019
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-iycf-gap-analysis-31-dec-2019
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-mam-u5-gap-analysis-31-dec-2019
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-mnp-gap-analysis-31-dec-2019
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-plw-am-gap-analysis-31-dec-2019
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-sam-gap-analysis-31-dec-2019
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-sam-and-mam-services-presence-31-dec-2019
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-gam-rate-classification-31-december-2019
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H)
IOM: Mehr Migranten-Ankünfte im Jemen als an Europas Mittelmeerküsten
Im vergangenen Jahr sind mehr Migranten aus Afrika im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen angekommen, als über das Mittelmeer nach Europa kamen. Das berichtete die UN-Organisation für Migration (IOM) am Freitag in Genf. 138 000 Menschen, mehr als 90 Prozent aus Äthiopien, seien 2019 vom Horn von Afrika per Boot an der jemenitischen Küste angekommen. Knapp 60 Menschen seien bei der Überfahrt ums Leben gekommen. Der Großteil sei weiter nach Saudi-Arabien gezogen, sagte ein IOM-Sprecher. Über die Mittelmeerrouten kamen nach seinen Angaben im gleichen Zeitraum etwa 110 000 Menschen nach Europa.
Die Menschen seien in Saudi-Arabien in einer prekären Situation, weil das Königreich strikte Gesetze gegen Migranten ohne Papiere habe, sagte der Sprecher. Nur legale Migrationsprogramme könnten das Problem lösen. Die IOM begrüßte ein Abkommen zwischen Saudi-Arabien und Äthiopien aus dem vergangenen Jahr über Arbeitsvisa für Migranten. Äthiopien habe bereits Anträge für 100 000 Personen gestellt.
(* B H K)
Film: Al-Meel camp sheltered run away IDPs from houthi bombing
Hundreds of families from the camps in Sanaa and Ma'rib governorates have been displaced to Al-Meel camp on the outskirts of Ma'rib after their camps have been bombed by Houthis, the Nser Nasser family is one of those families who were displaced from the Al-Khaniq camp, east of Sanaa, to Al-Meel camp, without being able to bring their belongings due to the vehicles' owners exploiting the state of war and asking for high sums to transport their belongings, what made them sleep in a tent free from the basics of life, according to a statement issued by the United Nations, the number of displaced persons from their camps reached 9,000 as a result of the recent confrontations that broke out between government forces and the Houthis more than two weeks ago in the Nahham district, east of Sana'a, and the governorates of Ma'rib and Al-Jawf in northeastern Yemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LWMJ1UfySY
(B H)
More than 5 thousand internally displaced people in al-Abar desert in Hadhramaut complain that the drinking water supply has been interrupted since the beginning of this year.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1228041586543661057
(B H)
CrisisInSight Weekly Picks, 13 February 2020
Fighting which escalated in mid-January in Sana'a, Marib, and Al Jawf governorates displaced more than 26,800 people, including about 15,000 in Marib. Many of the IDPs have suffered repeated displacement due to the conflict and depleted all their resources. The IDPs are in urgent need of food assistance, non-food items, clothing and protection. Civilian infrastructure is increasingly affected by the conflict, with residential neighbourhoods, health facilities, and IDP camps suffering damages, mostly by shellfire.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/crisisinsight-weekly-picks-13-february-2020
(* B H)
Film: Yemen: the forced march.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVzkZyietGc
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Ethiopia: Refugees and Asylum-seekers as of 31 January 2020
From Yemen: 1,386
https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/73931
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A E P)
Houthis officials in Dhamar make illegal wealth from propane gas
Official of the Houthis militia continue mismanagement of propane gas allocated for households’ consumption in Dhamar governorate.
The Marib-based Yemeni Gas Company, a government-run company sends every day between six to eight propane gas trucks to Dhamar governorates at official price that does not exceed YR1,200 per 20-Kg cylinder.
However, the Houthis officials in Dhamar unload the allocated daily quantity of the gas to their private gas stations and sell it later to the black market in Dhamar city.
The Houthis officials sell little part of the daily gas ration to citizens at much higher price that exceeds YR3,000 per 20-kg cylinder.
The YR1,800 extra charge goes to private accounts of the Houthis officials who use this illegal gains for financing their war against the people of Yemen.
The average price of the 20-kg propane gas cylinder in the black market is YR8,000 which suggests huge illegal affluence by the Houthis officials from this ill process.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-37844
My remark: As claimed by a pro-Islah Party news site.
(A K P)
6 Houthi commanders killed in clashes with Yemen forces
Yemen’s Houthi rebel group said six of its commanders have been killed in recent battles with the government forces, according to the group-run Saba news agency.
According to the news agency, the funeral of the bodies of "Col. Abd al-Latif Saleh al-Ghafari, Col. Moeen Abdullah Mar'i, Col. Abd al-Badi` Abd al-Rab al-Houthi and Col. Ali Yahya al-Wajih" were held in Sanaa on Wednesday, while the funerals of Brig. Yahya Abdel-Jabbar Hassan Jahdan and Brig. Abdullah Muhammad Hanash took place on Tuesday.
The news agency said that the officers were "killed while defending national sovereignty” in the face of what they described as invaders and mercenaries on several fronts.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/6-houthi-commanders-killed-in-clashes-with-yemen-forces/1732884
and also https://al-masdaronline.net/national/331
(A P)
Parliament listens to Interior Ministry's reply on pensions
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3087557.htm
(A P)
Präsident Al-Mashat gratuliert dem iranischen Präsidenten zum Nationalfeiertag
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3087494.htm
(A P)
Yemeni Ansarullah congratulates Islamic Revolution victory anniv
Spokesman for the Yemeni Ansarullah movement Mohammed Abdul Salam in a message late on Tuesday congratulated the Iranian nation and leaders on the victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
He wrote on his telegram account that the Islamic Revolution of Iran aroused determination of Muslim nations to confront arrogant powers.
https://en.irna.ir/news/83671430/Yemeni-Ansarullah-congratulates-Islamic-Revolution-victory-anniv
(* A H P)
Huthi-Rebellen im Jemen verzichten auf Steuer auf Hilfslieferungen
Die Huthi-Rebellen im Jemen verzichten auf die angedrohte Erhebung einer Steuer auf Hilfslieferungen. In einem Brief an die UNO schrieb die Miliz am Freitag, sie werde die Abgabe in Höhe von zwei Prozent in diesem Jahr doch nicht erheben. Es werde nun nach Alternativen gesucht, um die Kosten für die Verteilung von Hilfsgütern zu decken, hieß es in dem Schreiben, das der Nachrichtenagentur AFP vorliegt
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Humanitäre Hilfe im Jemen ist gefährdet
Auf einer Konferenz zur humanitären Lage in Jemen, die in dieser Woche in Brüssel stattgefunden hat, haben sich die hochrangigen Teilnehmer auf einen gemeinsamen Ansatz zur Bewältigung der zunehmenden Herausforderungen für humanitäre Hilfe geeinigt. Dazu gehört auch die Unterbrechung bestimmter Operationen, wenn die Bereitstellung humanitärer Hilfe im Einklang mit den humanitären Grundsätzen nicht länger möglich ist. „Es ist ein Punkt erreicht, an dem die Bereitstellung lebensrettender Hilfe gefährdet ist“, sagte der Kommissar für Krisenmanagement, Janez Lenarčič.
Die Konferenz wurde gemeinsam von der Europäischen Kommission und der schwedischen Regierung organisiert. Kommissar Lenarčič und der schwedische Minister für internationale Zusammenarbeit, Peter Eriksson, sagten nach dem Treffen: „Wir haben die wichtigsten humanitären Akteure in der Jemen-Krise, der größten humanitären Krise der Welt, zusammengebracht. Die Bedürfnisse im Jemen sind beispiellos. Alle humanitären Akteure sind nach wie vor fest entschlossen, der Bevölkerung des Jemen im Einklang mit den humanitären Grundsätzen weiterhin lebenswichtige Unterstützung zukommen zu lassen.“
Die humanitäre Lage im ganzen Land habe sich jedoch extrem verschlechtert. Lenarčič und Eriksson sagten weiter: „Es ist ein Punkt erreicht, an dem die Bereitstellung lebensrettender Hilfe gefährdet ist. Um die Bevölkerung des Jemen weiterhin unterstützen zu können, ist ein konkreter Wandel erforderlich. Alle Beschränkungen, Hindernisse und Einmischungen, die gegen die humanitären Grundsätze verstoßen, sollten unverzüglich und ein für allemal beseitigt werden.“
Weiter betonten die Teilnehmer, dass die kürzlich angedeutete Bereitschaft die Beschränkungen zu beseitigen und Hilfe vor Ort zu ermöglichen, weiterverfolgt werden muss. Sie rufen daher zu verstärktem Engagement durch Missionen der Vereinten Nationen und der Geber im Jemen auf.
https://ec.europa.eu/germany/news/20200214-humanitaere-hilfe-im-jemen_de
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Geldgeber besorgt über Behinderung von Hilfslieferungen
Für diesen Donnerstag ist in Brüssel eine Geber-Konferenz geplant. Dort soll es vor allem um ein gemeinsames Vorgehen gegen die Behinderung von Hilfslieferungen durch Huthi-Rebellen gehen. Im Raum stehen auch Vorschläge, die internationale Hilfe zurückzufahren oder vorübergehend ganz einzustellen.
Die UNO-Hilfekoordinatorin für den Jemen, Lise Grande, sagte der britischen BBC, für Hilfsorganisationen müssten Arbeitsbedingungen herrschen, unter denen humanitäre Prinzipien aufrecht erhalten werden könnten.
Die Vereinten Nationen und Hilforganisationen beklagen, die Verantwortlichen vor Ort verschleppten Liefergenehmigungen. Auch gebe es Berichte darüber, dass Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter bedroht oder festgenommen worden seien. Bürokratische Genehmigungsverfahren zögen sich häufig so lange hin, dass Haltbarkeitsdaten von Lebensmitteln oder Medikamenten abliefen und die Güter nicht mehr verteilt werden dürften. Außerdem erwägten offzielle Stellen, in den von den Huthi-Rebellen kontrollierten Gebieten eine Abgabe auf die Hilfslieferungen zu erheben. Offiziell soll die Steuer die Koordinierung der Vergabe vor Ort finanzieren. Hilfsorganisationen befürchten Vorwürfe, Spendengelder würden zur Finanzierung des Bürgerkriegs missbraucht.
https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/jemen-gespraeche-ueber-gefangenenaustausch.1939.de.html
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Houthis admit stealing 120 metric tons of WFP food in eleventh-hour plea to avert humanitarian aid freeze
“When we escalate they’ll give on a few points, but do the fundamentals actually change?” said one UN official of attempts to stop Houthi interference
The Houthis have quietly retreated in their latest battle with the World Food Programme (WFP) and other United Nations aid organizations, as UN leaders meet in Brussels to discuss a potential aid freeze in Houthi-controlled areas due to ongoing obstruction, theft and diversion of humanitarian aid.
In a letter dated Feb. 12 to the top UN humanitarian official in Yemen, Houthi Prime Minister Abdulaziz Saleh Bin Habtoor listed three concessions: the rebels had returned 120 metric tons of lentils stolen from the UN food agency last month, released WFP equipment being held at the airport in Sana’a and agreed to cancel a controversial tax on international humanitarian operations.
The seeming compromise come in the wake of months of accusations that the Houthis’ humanitarian oversight body, the Supreme Council for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and International Cooperation (SCMCHA), has been holding aid work hostage in parts of the country where people are starving.
Almasdar Online viewed Arabic and English copies of Bin Habtoor’s letter to UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, which haven’t been made public.
“About 120 MT of food that was taken by SCMCHA branch office in Hajjah Governorate is returned,” Bin Habtoor said in the letter, taking responsibility for the brazen theft of about 2,000 bags of lentils from a WFP warehouse by armed men in northwest Yemen, where the UN body had requested cooperation from Houthi officials in multiple letters amid ongoing interference with food distribution over the past year.
Next, Bin Habtoor said that a 2 percent tax SCMCHA recently demanded from all humanitarian operations in the country was canceled.
Formed in November as a successor to the Houthis’ National Authority for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (NAMCHA), SCMCHA was given expanded financial oversight by coordinating directly with international humanitarian donors, an authority that previously belonged to the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
SCMCHA was also given the authority to collect 2 percent of the expenditures of all humanitarian projects in the country, define aid priorities and have a national security figure sit on each agency’s board of directors, effectively exerciscing control over ever aid project from start to finish.
While Bin Habtoor’s commitments appear conciliatory, it’s unclear to what extent they will be implemented, given the rebels’ history of exploiting the aid community.
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/332
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Yemen's Huthis drop 'tax' threat that jeopardised aid: UN official
Yemen's Huthi rebels have dropped a threat to tax aid, a UN official told AFP Friday, in a significant step towards resolving a crisis that has jeopardised the world's biggest humanitarian operation.
United Nations leaders and humanitarian groups held crunch talks in Brussels on Thursday to address obstruction by the Iran-backed militia that has threatened to sever the lifeline to millions at risk of starvation.
They heard that vital supplies could be cut off, after humanitarian agencies complained of a deteriorating situation in the Huthi-controlled north where aid workers face arrest and intimidation.
But a UN official in Sanaa said the rebels had backed away from a proposed 2.0 percent levy on NGOs pushed by the Huthi aid body SCMCHA, criticised for hobbling aid with interference and layers of bureaucracy.
The rebel administration "in its meeting on 12 February, has decided to cancel the 2.0 percent that was included in SCMCHA regulations," said the official, who asked not to be named.
"The cancellation of the tax is a positive development for sure," he said, noting that other issues that still need to be dealt with relate to "access and bureaucratic impediments".
The outcome of the Brussels meeting has not been released.
and
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Commission: Yemen is the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis
Obstruction by the rebel Huthi authorities in northern Yemen has put the world’s biggest humanitarian lifeline at risk, threatening millions with starvation.
Senior officials, UN leaders and humanitarian groups met on Thursday (13 February) at the European Commission in Brussels, and heard that vital aid supplies could be cut off.
“It cannot continue, the biggest lifeline on earth is at stake. There are 20 million people in need in Yemen,” Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told AFP.
Earlier, Egeland had addressed the meeting, called by the European Commission and the government of Sweden, to address the latest crisis in the five-year-old civil war.
Before the talks, The European commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarčič, declared: “Yemen is the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.
“The parties to the conflict must uphold international humanitarian law and guarantee safe and unimpeded access to humanitarian organisations.”
The Brussels meeting heard that, while both sides have made trouble for humanitarian and UN agencies, the Huthi attempts to tax shipments triggered the latest crisis.
“It’s always been very difficult to work in Yemen,” Egeland, a former senior Norwegian diplomat and UN undersecretary general, told AFP in an interview.
For a long time, he said, the Saudi-led blockade of the port of Hodeida and bombing campaign had been the problem.
“But today it is the authorities in the north who are sitting in Sanaa, Ansar Allah, that have the majority of the restrictions,” he said, using the Huthi movement’s official name
“It’s also difficult to work in the south with the Hadi government, but the main interference, the main problems we have are in the north,” he said.
Egeland said — in addition to various other forms of harassment and interference — the northern authorities had threatened to impose a two percent levy on NGOs.
“We cannot pay donated aid money to one of the parties to the conflict. So that is one of the many red lines that we are fearful of having to cross. We cannot do it,” he said.
Statement: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_20_255
and also https://ec.europa.eu/echo/news/humanitarian-community-reaffirms-commitment-yemen_en
and
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Yemen aid effort threatened by Huthi 'obstruction'
The massive aid operation for war-torn Yemen is under severe threat in the face of mounting obstruction from Huthi rebels, officials told AFP Tuesday ahead of a crunch meeting expected to be held in Brussels.
Humanitarian agencies describe a deteriorating situation in the Huthi-controlled north where aid workers face arrest and intimidation as they attempt to distribute food to millions in dire need after five years of conflict.
But the Yemen government sounded the alarm at reports the United States is considering suspending much of its humanitarian assistance by March 1 in response to the pressures that include a new two-percent rebel "tax" on assistance projects.
Abdul Raqib Fateh, a minister and the head of Yemen's relief committee, said although the government believes the militia misuses aid "as a cover to finance its war efforts", cutting off supplies would hurt the wrong people.
"Scaling back on aid in governorates under Huthi control will affect citizens, not the armed Huthi militias," he told AFP.
The Huthis hit out at the criticism, which includes allegations of systematic interference and layers of bureaucracy imposed by SCMCHA, the rebel's aid body that was created late last year.
"Some UN agencies play a political role and use aid as a card with which to threaten the Yemenis," said the head of SCMCHA, Abdul Mohsen al-Tawoos.
"This blackmail of reducing aid doesn't work on Yemenis, and if they continue with this threat, then things will turn against them," he said according to Huthi media.
Film: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=507295070171154
and
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European Union holds meeting on humanitarian situation in Yemen
The European Commission this week co-organised in coordination with the Swedish government, a high-level meeting on the pressing humanitarian situation in Yemen.
The aim of the meeting is to bring together international donors and aid agencies to discuss measures to improve and address the deteriorating operating environment and working conditions of humanitarian organisations in Yemen.
On this occasion, Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said that “Yemen is the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis. Without secure access to aid, millions of lives are at stake. The parties to the conflict must uphold international humanitarian law and guarantee safe and unimpeded access to humanitarian organisations.”
https://www.uprising.today/european-union-holds-meeting-on-humanitarian-situation-in-yemen/
and
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Yemen - Conflict, humanitarian access (ECHO Daily Flash of 14 February 2020)
On 13 February, the European Commission and Sweden hosted a Humanitarian Senior Officials Meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, with the participation of the main humanitarian actors. Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
All participants expressed their concerns on the dramatically shrinking the humanitarian space, in particular in the North. Participants unanimously stated that this situation is untenable and has reached a breaking point. They agreed on moving forward with a common plan re-calibrating humanitarian aid activities, including a phased downscale, or even interruption, of certain operations, if and where principled delivery is impossible and as long as this occurs.
and
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UN agencies meet in Brussels to discuss Yemen aid freeze
The UN organisations are coordinating their response to interference by Iran-backed Houthi rebels
UN aid agencies met with donor nations in Brussels on Thursday to discuss a freeze in aid to Yemen, a response to demands by Houthi rebels for a two per cent levy on supplies.
The United Nations agencies, which included the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), have held two days of talks as they grapple with interference by the Houthis to aid distribution in areas under the Iran-backed group’s control.
Last month, aid workers said their agencies would have no choice but to reduce assistance provided by organisations like the WFP, which currently feeds more than 12 million people a month, in Yemen.
Resisting the militia’s demands for revenue from aid shipments into the country is particularly key in the context of the US policy on Iran, which has seen transfers to the Houthi camp from Tehran dry up. “There is a window to achieve something in Yemen because of the policy of maximum pressure,” officials close to the Arab coalition said.
My comment: As the last paragraph quoted here clearly shows, one important reason for this planned cut of humanitarian aid seems to be US pressure, the US once again treating everything related to Yemen as simply an annex to their paranoia-driven fight against Iran – seeing Iranians behind every tree.
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Film: Rushes the meeting of the member of the Supreme Political Council, Muhammad Ali al-Houthi, with the press delegation of the BBC
who accompanied them on a tour inside Sanaa International Airport to inform them of the damages caused to him by the airstrikes of the American-British Saudi Emirati aggression and his allies, and he stopped working under the decision of the opposing aggression coalition International humanitarian law, which exacerbated the suffering of the Yemeni people as a result of the unjust blockade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSdtn6YQIc0&t=501s
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp6 – cp18
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-624b-yemen-war-mosaic-624b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-623-yemen-war-mosaic-623
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-623 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-623:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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