... Tausende von Migranten sitzen im Jemen in der Falle – Bundesverwaltungsgericht: Deutsche Bündnisverpflichtungen stehen über dem Menschenrecht auf Leben – und mehr
Dec. 3, 2020: Fear of a heavy famine in Yemen – By designating the Houthis as “terrorists”, Trump could cause famine in Yemen – A report from Shabwah – Thousands of migrants trapped in Yemen – German court: NATO commitments prevail over human right to life – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-698b-yemen-war-mosaic-698b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavitrus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Großer Gefangenenaustausch / Most important: Great prisoner swap
cp2 Allgemein / General
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: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Older introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H K)
Führt das UNO-Gelddesaster zur Katastrophe? Schwere Hungersnot im Jemen befürchtet
Vom Krieg verheert, wirtschaftlich am Boden, Heuschreckenplagen, Überschwemmungen – und dann kam Corona. Die UNO warnt vor einer gigantischen Hungersnot im Jemen. Und ausgerechnet jetzt geht ihr das Geld aus.
Es sind dramatische Appelle und sie kommen von den höchsten Stellen in den UNO-Institutionen. In einer Welt aber, in der die Wortführer unter den Industriestaaten mit einer lange nicht gekannten Gesundheitskrise ringen, verhallen sie fast ungehört: Im Jemen droht eine Katastrophe.
Das klingt nur allzu bekannt, spricht die UNO doch seit Jahren von der «schlimmsten humanitären Krise der Welt». Nun aber werden die Mahner lauter, ihre Worte dringlicher. Sie wollen nicht als moderne Kassandra enden, die Lage im Land an der Südspitze der arabischen Halbinsel aber spitzt sich mehr und mehr zu. Sie gewinnt laufend an Bedrohlichkeit.
Tomson Phiri, Sprecher des World Food Programme (WFP), sagt: «Wahrscheinlich unterschätzen wir die Krise. Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich, dass die Situation noch schlimmer ist. Die Preise für Lebensmittel sind im Vergleich zum Beginn des Konflikts um 140 Prozent gestiegen. Für die, die am meisten verwundbar sind, ist selbst ein geringer Anstieg absolut verheerend.»
Das WFP geht davon aus, dass bis Ende 2020 40 Prozent – oder rund 3,2 Millionen Menschen – in den untersuchten Gebieten von Hunger bedroht sind. UNO-Generalsekretär António Guterres warnt vor Millionen von Toten.
Nicht nur die akute Gefahr, die von einer Hungersnot ausgeht, bedroht die Menschen. Philippe Duamelle, Jemen-Gesandter für das Kinderhilfswerk UNICEF, warnt vor Langzeitschäden: «Akute Mangelernährung bei Kleinkindern verursacht irreversible Schäden im Gehirn und Schäden, was die kognitiven Fähigkeiten anbelangt. Es ist absolut schrecklich. Nicht nur ist das Leben der Kinder akut in Gefahr, der Hunger hat auch gewaltige Konsequenzen für ihre Zukunft.»
Die Zahl der akut mangelernährten Kinder hat 2020 noch einmal zugenommen – um rund 10 Prozent, auf knapp 600'000. Im Süden des Landes wurden zuletzt die höchsten Raten an mangelernährten Kindern unter fünf Jahren verzeichnet, die man je festgestellt hat.
Das Land befindet sich in einer beispiellosen Abwärtsspirale.
Die Corona-Pandemie ist für das kriegsgebeutelte Land doppelt verheerend. Zwar kommt dem Jemen mit seiner jungen Bevölkerung die Tatsache entgegen, dass SARS CoV-2 einerseits vornehmlich für ältere Menschen ein Risiko darstellt, die um sich greifende Mangelernährung macht diesen Vorteil aber wieder zunichte. Denn tatsächlich lässt sie das Risiko, dass Betroffene an einer Krankheit sterben, explosionsartig wachsen. Um das Zehnfache. Das gilt für im Jemen seit längerem kursierende Krankheiten wie Cholera, Durchfall oder Malaria. Aber auch für Atemwegsinfektionen. Hunger macht Kinder zu Risikopatienten.
Dunkle Wolken ziehen aber auch von anderer Seite auf: Der UNO geht das Geld aus. Zwar ist die UNO-Hilfsmission für den Jemen seit Jahren chronisch unterfinanziert, die Geldprobleme haben sich in der Corona-Krise allerdings noch einmal stark akzentuiert.
Die Zahlungsmoral erodiert in einem Masse, dass der Leiter des UNO-Amts für die Koordinierung humanitärer Angelegenheiten (OCHA) Mark Lowcock im September erstmals einige arabische Länder attackierte, die sich finanziell gar nicht an der Geberkonferenz beteiligen wollten oder aber sich als säumige Schuldner entpuppten. Darunter war, neben Kuwait und den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten, auch Saudi-Arabien.
Grösster Geldgeber der UNO ist traditionell die USA. Präsident Trump hat einiges dafür getan, diesen Geldfluss zu verringern.
All das hat drastische Folgen. Die UNO musste in den letzten Monaten ihre humanitäre Hilfe teilweise massiv kürzen, konkret ist etwa von medizinischer Hilfe für neun Millionen Menschen die Rede oder von Nahrungsmittellieferungen, die für acht Millionen Menschen reduziert wurden.
Nur etwa die Hälfte der medizinischen Einrichtungen im Land ist noch in Betrieb. Ihnen fehlt es selbst an basalster Ausrüstung: Gesichtsmasken und Handschuhe sind ebenso Mangelware wie Sauerstoff-Flaschen – in Pandemiezeiten fatal.
Mein Kommentar: „dass die Experten der Vereinten Nationen zu den Millionen Menschen in den von den aufständischen Huthi-Milizen im Westen des Landes kontrollierten Gebieten keine Angaben machen können“ ist Unsinn. Die aktuelle Untersuchung der Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) beschränkt sich auf Südjemen, für den Norden wir eine eigene Untersuchung erscheinen, s. folgenden Artikel.
(** B H P)
Yemeni children and the silent death
However, the real victims of this war are innocent civilians and children who have had to face dire conditions which caused what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis in the poorest country in the Middle East.
As a direct result of the ongoing and often brutal armed conflict during the past five years, children’s lives in Yemen have been torn apart. Children have faced daily challenges to both survive the conflict and access enough food, safe drinking water and basic health care.
The future for those that survive is uncertain as the number of children who are not attending school has more than doubled during the past 12 months and now equates to nearly half of the school-age population.
Many children have also been psychologically scarred and need significant support to recover from their experiences and to be able to live normal, productive lives in the future.
A recent analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the global standard for gauging food insecurity, revealed that in some areas in Yemen, more than one in four children were acutely malnourished. The acute malnutrition rates among children under 5 years old are the highest ever recorded in parts of southern Yemen.
This new analysis puts the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition this year at 587,573, which is an increase of around 10% since January this year.
Nearly 100,000 children are at risk of death and need urgent treatment.
Although the IPC analysis looked at southern parts of Yemen, a forthcoming analysis of northern areas is expected to show equally concerning trends.
UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado said the most significant increase in southern areas was a 15.5% rise in children with severe acute malnutrition, a condition that leaves children around 10 times more likely to die of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, malaria or acute respiratory infections, all of which are common in Yemen.
World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Tomson Phiri said the IPC forecast showed that by the end of 2020, 40% of the population in the analyzed areas, or about 3.2 million people, would be severely food insecure.
As for the devastating food price increases, Phiri stated: “In fact, food prices have skyrocketed and are now on average 140% higher than pre-conflict averages. For the most vulnerable, even a small increase in food prices is absolutely devastating.”
Some families were being displaced for the third or even the fourth time, he said.
“And each time a family is displaced, their ability to cope, let alone to bounce back, is severely diminished," he said.
As for the response to COVID-19, Yemen has been hampered by limited testing, lack of health care centers and severe shortages of medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE).
Scores of health care workers, underpaid or not paid at all and with little or no access to PPEs, have left their posts, forcing even more health centers to close.
Despite the magnitude of the humanitarian and security crisis, the international response has to date been wholly inadequate both in terms of funding the humanitarian response and pushing for a political solution.
Jens Laerke, the spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told the Geneva briefing that Yemen needed help.
“We have been warning for several months now that Yemen was heading towards a cliff. We are now seeing the first people falling off that cliff," he said.
A staggering 80% of Yemen’s population – over 24 million people – require some form of humanitarian assistance and protection, including about 12.2 million children. A total of 230 out of Yemen's 333 districts (69%) are at risk of famine.
Despite a difficult operating environment, humanitarians continue to work across Yemen, responding to the most acute needs. However, funding remains a challenge: As of mid-October, only $1.4 billion of the $3.2 billion needed in 2020 has been received.
The U.N.’s Humanitarian Response Plan was only 56% funded in 2015 while this year it currently sits at just 12% of the $1.8 billion required to provide assistance to 13.6 million people most in need.
Today, Yemeni children are suffering from the actions of the regional powers who turned their country into an arena for proxy conflicts that have little to do with the actual needs of the Yemeni people, and the world is watching the worst humanitarian crisis with indifference.
https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/op-ed/yemeni-children-and-the-silent-death
(** B H P)
Trump könnte im Jemen eine furchtbare Hungersnot auslösen
Dieser Schritt könnte für den Jemen verheerende Folgen haben: US-Präsident Trump erwägt, die Huthi-Rebellen auf die Terrorliste zu setzen. Humanitäre Helfer schlagen Alarm – die Lage wird immer bedrohlicher.
Im Jemen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel hat sich das zusammengebraut, was Beobachter als "perfekten Sturm" beschreiben: ein bewaffneter Konflikt mit inzwischen 128.000 Kriegstoten sowie 131.000 weiteren Opfern, die wegen eines Mangels an Lebensmitteln oder der schlechten Gesundheitsversorgung starben. Drei Viertel der Bevölkerung leben nach Schätzungen der Weltbank in Armut. Dazu kommen eine kollabierte Wirtschaft, Cholera, knappes Trinkwasser, Überschwemmungen und eine drohende Hungersnot – von der Corona-Pandemie mal ganz abgesehen.
Ausgerechnet diesen bettelarmen Staat könnte Donald Trump in seinen letzten Wochen als US-Präsident zum Spielball seiner Außenpolitik machen. Trump plane, die jemenitischen Huthi-Rebellen vor dem Ende seiner Amtszeit am 20. Januar als Terrororganisation einzustufen, schreibt das Magazin "Foreign Policy" unter Berufung auf Diplomaten. Solch ein Schritt gegen die mächtige schiitische Miliz ist seit Monaten im Gespräch. Nun könnte er Trumps Zunder werden in einer "Politik der verbrannten Erde", zitiert das Magazin einen Diplomaten.
"Humanitäre Hilfe könnte illegal werden"
Die Vereinten Nationen und humanitäre Helfer schlagen Alarm. Denn die "Unterstützer Gottes" (Ansar Allah), wie die Huthis sich offiziell nennen, beherrschen weite Teile des Landes und haben im Nordjemen faktisch einen Staat im Staat errichtet. 70 bis 80 Prozent der Bewohner des Jemens leben in von den Huthis kontrollierten Gegenden. Sollten die Huthis auf der US-Terrorliste landen, würde die Arbeit von Organisationen wie dem Welternährungsprogramm, Care, Oxfam oder dem UN-Flüchtlingshilfswerk dort schwierig bis unmöglich.
"Ich könnte für schlichte humanitäre Hilfe kriminalisiert oder strafrechtlich verfolgt werden", sagt Sultana Begum, die für die Norwegische Flüchtlingshilfe (NRC) in der jemenitischen Hauptstadt Sanaa arbeitet. "Humanitäre Arbeit im Jemen könnte faktisch illegal werden." NRC und andere Organisationen müssen mit den Huthis verhandeln, um etwa Lebensmittel, Wasser oder Medizin ins Land bringen und um sich dort sicher bewegen zu können.
Auch der Strom von Geld, Benzin und Nahrung aus dem Ausland – der Jemen importiert 90 Prozent seiner Lebensmittel – könnte versiegen und die Hungersnot näherrücken lassen. Händler, Banken, Lieferanten und Versicherungen könnten ihre Geschäfte aus Sorge vor US-Sanktionen einstellen. Auch die für viele überlebenswichtigen Überweisungen von Verwandten, die als Arbeitsmigranten etwa in Saudi-Arabien leben, würden gekappt. Andere Staaten könnten ihre Hilfszahlungen ebenfalls aussetzen. Von den benötigten 3,4 Milliarden Dollar für humanitäre Hilfen im Jahr 2020 fehlt immer noch mehr als die Hälfte.
Donald Trump könnte all das wenig kümmern. Die USA sehen die Huthi-Rebellen als Handlanger des Irans, der mit einer Politik des "maximalen Drucks" in die Schranken gewiesen werden muss. Der Griff zur Terrorliste könnte ihn in seinen letzten Amtswochen als stark und entschlossen wirken lassen im Kampf gegen Teheran und dessen Verbündete. Und es wäre eine Art Abschiedsgeschenk an Saudi-Arabien, das den Iran als Erzfeind betrachtet und das im Jemen gegen die Huthis kämpft.
Humanitäre Helfer bereiten sich schon auf den Ernstfall vor. Die UN ließen Berichten zufolge einige US-amerikanische Mitarbeiter aus dem Jemen evakuieren, um sie vor den Huthis zu schützen. NRC und andere Organisationen hoffen auf eine Ausnahmegenehmigung der US-Regierung, sollten die Huthis auf der Terrorliste landen. Aber die Beantragung dieser "General License" könnte sich über Monate hinziehen.
Die Stimmung erinnert an Somalia im Jahr 2008, als die USA die Miliz Al-Shabaab als Terrororganisation einstuften. Von einer Zeit der "Verwirrung und Angst" erzählt NRC-Mitarbeiterin Begum. Aus Sorge vor US-Sanktionen hätten Hilfsorganisationen damals von bestimmten Gebern kein Geld mehr angenommen und sich "selbst zensiert". Die humanitäre Hilfe erlitt einen Rückschlag. Bald darauf kamen bei einer Hungersnot im Land zwischen 2010 und 2012 mehr als 250.000 Menschen ums Leben.
Eine solche Katastrophe von möglicherweise noch viel schlimmerem Ausmaß könnte auch dem Jemen drohen, warnte UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres zuletzt. Dafür gäbe es "in der jüngeren Geschichte vermutlich kein Beispiel außer Äthiopien", wo 1984 schätzungsweise mehr als eine Million Menschen verhungerten.
(** B P)
Trump Will Name Houthis A Terrorist Group To Box In Biden On Iran. This Will Lead To Death And Diplomacy Demise In Yemen.
No matter the final U.S. decision on licensing and waivers related to the impending Houthi designation, only one thing is clear: the job of staving off the world’s worst humanitarian disaster will be unnecessarily complicated by a terrorist designation that lacks efficacy.
As President Trump’s stay in the White House winds down, the series of misguided terrorist designation decisions his foreign policy team have made, especially those related to Iran, look to continue unabated. According to November 16, 2020 Foreign Policy Magazine reporting, the Department of State will soon add the Houthis to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
While the Houthis are infamous for their anti-US and anti-Semitic slogan, material support from Iran, and carrying out acts of violence that may meet the legal criteria for FTO listing, affixing the terrorist label to the Houthis would result in no gains and many negative consequences.
First, the FTO designation of the Houthis may contribute to the famine in Yemen.
An important consequence of any FTO designation is that it criminalizes material support provided to sanctioned groups. Since the inception of the FTO list, the non-governmental community and other government related humanitarian aid providers have raised concerns about FTO designations in areas in which they have delivered critical life saving aid. In the case of Yemen, the concern among the humanitarian community is that the United States government may pursue criminal prosecutions against the aid workers who were involved in the diversion of aid to the Houthis – even if the diversion was inadvertent.
Second, if the State Department designates the Houthis as a terrorist group, the U.S. Treasury Department could issue a general license to make the operating environment more permissible for aid delivery. However, the processing of a license, as I noted to the Washington Post recently, can be time consuming. Nor is it likely to satisfy all NGOs operating in Yemen, many of whom would like to receive iron-clad protection from FTO prosecution.
Third, the U.S. FTO designation of the Houthis will damage the chances of reaching a diplomatic agreement between the warring parties (Saudis/UAE vs. Iran/Houthis). Slapping the FTO label on the Houthis and calling it a terrorist group will, at least in the short-term, destroy chances of bringing the group to the negotiating table.
Fourth, once a group is designated as an FTO it can take years to rescind a group’s listing. It takes years, as I recently wrote in Foreign Policy, to remove even defunct groups from U.S. terrorist lists, much less a group like the Houthis that effectively runs Yemen and is allied with Iran
Fifth, the Houthis are not an especially ideal candidate for FTO delisting under any of these three scenarios with only a discretionary decision being viable. The sanctioning of the Houthis, however, is in fitting with President Trump’s determination to box in the Biden Administration from the start in Iran.
Boxing in the Biden team on Iran, of course, is the primary point. In pursuing these empty designations, the Trump team is trying to create an atmosphere where the impending Biden administration will need to think twice before delisting Iranian linked groups like the Houthis because doing so may make it more challenging to work with what it appears will be a Republican controlled Senate. The Trump team’s bet is that Biden, especially early on, will not risk looking weak on Iran when his political hold in Washington is so tenuous, especially when he will need the Republican Senate to support his domestic policies.
The Houthi FTO designation will represent one of the final examples of Trump’s foreign policy legacy – an indifference to human suffering. The designation’s many negative effects are overwhelming and pursuing it during a war and famine is a tragedy – by Jason M. Blazakis
and
(** B P)
Labeling the Houthis as ‘terrorists’ might actually cost Yemeni lives
Humanitarian groups in Yemen are worried that a designation by the US State Department of the movement as a "terrorist organization" would endanger aid activities in the war-torn country.
Aid organizations that rely on donations by Americans to fund their work in war-ravaged Yemen are on edge.
Media reports have suggested that the Trump administration, in its waning days, may designate Yemen’s governing Ansar Allah movement — also called the Houthis — as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
If the United States labels the Houthis as an FTO, many aid activities in Yemen will stop.
“Designation would make it generally illegal for anyone to transact with Ansar Allah armed group [the Houthis] or the government they control in Sana'a,” said Scott Paul, humanitarian policy lead for Oxfam America. “And depending on how it's designated, it might also prohibit the provision of any form of support, anything as small as a slice of pizza at a training.”
The US aims to increase pressure on the Houthis — who receive support from Iran — to negotiate a settlement with the opposing Yemeni government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. A US State Department spokesperson told The World, “Our focus is on supporting a comprehensive political agreement that will end the conflict and resolve the dire humanitarian situation.”
“We can't simply go without interacting with the government in a place like Yemen,” said Paul. “Much of what we do is focused on strengthening public and social services.” He added, “Groups could be subject to fines or even criminal penalties for doing the work that they've been doing for the last five and a half years in this humanitarian response.”
Aisha Jumaan, a Yemeni American, runs a US-based charity that works in some of Yemen’s most inaccessible places. “We're not going to be able to send funds to Yemen anymore for any of our operations,” said Jumaan. Her charity, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction, distributes food baskets to thousands of families in need.
“And these people, we’re their last chance," she added. "These people have nothing to eat. These people will know that the rest of the world, led by the US, says you don't matter.”
Some Yemenis support the idea of designating the Houthis as terrorists. "There was a protest last week,” Afrah Nasser, a Yemeni researcher who works with Human Rights Watch, said of a demonstration in the besieged central Yemeni city of Taiz.
While a designation may not bring justice to Yemeni victims of the Houthis, some observers believe it could pressure the Houthis into negotiating with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
“This is what the Trump administration and people such as Secretary of State [Mike] Pompeo have been arguing,” notes Gregory Johnsen of the Brookings Institution. “They’re saying that the international community does not have a great deal of leverage over the Houthis, and designating them as a foreign terrorist organization would give us a stick to compel them to make a deal with the Saudi-led coalition.”
Johnsen, who served on the UN panel of experts which oversees a sanctions program in Yemen, does not believe that a terrorist designation would have the intended effect.
“Designating them as a foreign terrorist organization and essentially criminalizing activity, which would cut off humanitarian aid into Houthi-controlled areas, it's not going to do much good.”
The State Department has not yet made the designation.
“From everything that I'm seeing from people that I've been speaking with in Washington, it appears as though the Trump administration really wants to make this happen,” Johnsen told The World.
“I know that internally there has been significant resistance from a number of different departments, whether that's in the Department of Defense or the State Department,” he added.
“It's unclear whether the Trump administration will be able to override those professional concerns and make this designation on their way out the door,” Johnsen said, predicting that a decision could come in the next couple of weeks – by Stephen Snyder
https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-12-02/labeling-houthis-terrorists-might-actually-cost-yemeni-lives
and
(** B P)
The Houthis and misuse of the terrorist organization list
The Trump administration is reportedly pressing ahead with a plan to designate the Houthi movement in Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). This move, likely to be completed next month, worries officials of aid organizations and others concerned with alleviating suffering in the Yemeni civil war, which is sometimes described as the worst current manmade humanitarian disaster.
The worry is well-founded, especially when considering the original purpose of the official U.S. list to which the Houthis would be added. The list was established by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which among other things criminalized material assistance to foreign terrorist organizations. Defining this crime required a precise definition of an FTO — hence the need for such a list.
The basis for the concern among aid organizations is obvious. The very purpose of the U.S. list of FTOs is to be able to prosecute anyone who provides material support to a listed group. “Material support” can include anything of value. There is some talk about the administration issuing licenses or waivers to permit aid organizations to operate in Houthi-held territory, but such arrangements failed to overcome a similar problem in Somalia when the Somali group al-Shabab was designated as a terrorist organization.
The statute specifies three criteria for designating a group as an FTO: that it is foreign organization, that it engages in terrorist activity, and that this activity “threatens the security of United States nationals or the national security of the United States.” I was deputy chief of the Counterterrorist Center at CIA when the 1996 law was enacted, and people working for me were among those who — along with officials from the Departments of Justice, State, and Treasury — prepared the justifications for the original listing of 30 groups. This involved much analytic work assessing the nature of groups’ operations and whose interests those operations affected.
The statute gives the final say over listing or delisting, however, to the secretary of state, and there always has been the potential for political and policy concerns to diverge from the criteria spelled out in the law. The Trump administration is not the first to abuse this discretion, but it has been the most conspicuous to do so. This was especially true of its designation last year of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is a branch of the Iranian regime’s armed forces.
Designating the Houthis as an FTO would be another abuse of the list. The Houthis are a Yemeni movement that has been fighting a civil war ignited by what the Houthis and their supporters consider to have been short shrift that past Yemeni governments have given to tribal and regional interests in the part of northern Yemen the Houthis call home. The Houthis have shown no interest in doing international terrorism. Their only lethal activity across international boundaries has consisted of sending some rockets and drones into Saudi Arabia as retaliation for the far larger Saudi aerial assault that has been mostly responsible for the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.
The Houthis also are not threatening U.S. security. The Trump administration portrays the Houthis as an instrument of Iran — and an FTO designation would be another part of the administration’s effort to pile on as many anti-Iran measures as it can think of — but that portrayal is deceptive. Iran had nothing to do with the outbreak of the current Yemeni civil war. As long as Iran’s rival Saudi Arabia has been determined to stay involved in that war, Tehran has been happy to help the Saudis bleed by providing aid to the Houthis, although the scale of that aid always has paled in comparison with the Saudi involvement and the earlier involvement of the United Arab Emirates. The Houthis are happy to accept the aid but are not proxies of Iran and have made their own decisions, including the one to capture the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in 2014.
An FTO listing also can complicate efforts to resolve the war and bring peace to Yemen – by Paul R. Pillar
(** B H P)
A Spark of Optimism in the Yemen Civil War
The province of Shabwa in Yemen has become home to a minor miracle. First, a hospital was built, and now a holiday resort is in the works. The local governor would like to see the province provide a model for the country's future.
For years, Yemen has been shorthand for plagues both ancient and novel: war and cholera, corona and spindly, undernourished children. Ever since dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled the country with an iron fist for several decades, was toppled in 2012 as part of the Arab Spring, the country has been wracked by warfare.
These days, if you approach Ataq after an hours-long drive through the steppe, the road suddenly turns to asphalt. It is one of many roads that have been improved in recent months. In addition, a 20-year-old unfinished building – occupied by the advancing Houthis in 2015 and then bombed, likely by the U.S. Air Force – is currently being expanded into a modern hospital with 240 beds, a central climate-control system and fire doors. Next door, divided among several buildings, a corona quarantine station has been set up, complete with seven ventilators, two intensive-care stations and a test laboratory.
How, though, was it possible to inject life into this backwater? Governor Mohammed Bin Adio, a friendly, soft-featured man in his mid-40s, says he was able to negotiate a deal with the exile government in Saudi Arabia according to which a fifth of the rather sparse oil revenues from Shabwa would remain in the province from now on.
First, though, he had to reconquer his own province – from the UAE, which had originally come as allies. Bin Adio's story says a lot about the megalomania of the competing powers and their failures, about the influence of tribal traditions and about the importance of having the right people in the right positions.
The decision by the government in exile to appoint Bin Adio as governor at the end of 2018 was an unusual one. He arrived not as a lackey of the power-hungry president, nor as a heavily armed local potentate. Rather, he is an expert for infrastructure who spent years handling social issues in the Ataq city council. And Bin Adio's leadership team is perhaps even more unusual.
Initially, the UAE forces were welcome in Shabwa, say the governor's men, as do shopkeepers and local journalist Awad Saleh: "We thought they were helping us against the Houthis and al-Qaida. And they were," he says. They hit the battlefield with Apache combat helicopters, drones and Caiman armored vehicle made in America.
But the fewer of the original enemies remained, the more personnel the Emiratis recruited, ultimately establishing a fighting force more than 7,000 strong, one that was feared across the province. "They would head out at night and raid entire villages, haphazardly seizing men and carrying them off," journalist Saleh recalls. "A commander
The more obvious the failure became, the further the UAE pulled back from the goal of conquering the whole of Yemen. Instead, they began focusing on establishing a hold on the half of the country they hoped to control: a territory once known as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, commonly called South Yemen.
The would-be liberators quickly turned into an occupying power that began casting a covetous eye on Shabwa and its oil fields, hoping to add them to the new southern realm. Residents of the province, though, wanted to remain part of united Yemen and not be transferred from one dictatorship into the next.
In August 2019, the Emirates issued an ultimatum: All regular troops in the province had to turn in their heavy weapons and pull out of Ataq. Units totaling more than 7,000 fighters began ruling toward the city from all directions. It didn't look good for the defenders.
"We had 300 men and two or three roads under our control," says Brigadier General Laakab
The showdown began on the evening of Aug. 21."We were ready to fight to the death," says Laakab. But then, the local fighters who belonged to the Emirates' mercenary troops couldn't agree on what to do. Should they really fire on their own cousins at the behest of foreigners? Through the night and over the next two days, sheikhs from local tribes spoke to both sides on the phone, begging their kinsmen in the Emirati mercenary units to cease fire. More and more elite fighters gave up, leaving their positions and vehicles. By day three, it was over.
Now, Shabwa is free, for the first time in decades. Bin Adio has become famous in all of Yemen for his bravery in standing up to the UAE. And his independence was on full display when he overcame the resistance of the foreign powers present in Yemen, and that of his own government, to bring a group of foreign reporters to Shabwa in cooperation with the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies. "We don't even want complete independence," he insists. "We just want to be governed fairly."
These days, the city is gripped by a mood of cautious optimism.
But it is an uncertain peace, the duration of which is anybody's guess. The Emiratis continue to occupy the Alam military camp, located between the oil fields in the north and the liquid natural gas terminal in Balhaf. The UAE maintains a military base at the vast site along with a secret, extralegal prison, the existence of which has been confirmed by the United Nations, Amnesty International and doctors from the state hospital in Ataq.
UAE officers and their Yemeni militia leaders aren't interested in speaking with foreign media. As such, there are no answers forthcoming to a number of urgent questions.
The trial-by-fire for this newly won independence is currently underway within eyesight of the UAE military camp in Alam. Dozens of residents from Hajr have been camped out there for weeks demanding justice following a raid on their village. "The elite forces came at night and immediately started shooting," says Sheikh Ahmed al-Mehdar. "I ran to the mosque, calling on them over the loudspeakers to stop shooting. Then, the Emiratis bombed us from the air." Nine residents died in the attack.
The villagers believe they were attacked because they rebuffed a recruiter for the elite force – by Christoph Reuter
My comment: The author came to Shabwa with a group of foreign journalists invited by governor Adio. Might-be Adio is painted in a too friendly way here – anyway, this is quite an interesting articleshowing the way UAE rule, violence and opression in Southern Yemen actually work. The German version is for subscribers only.
(** B H)
‘We’re not alive, we’re not dead’: Thousands of migrants are trapped in war-torn Yemen
they find themselves trapped in Yemen, ensnared by the country’s multi-sided civil war and its labyrinthine front lines. They have little chance to escape the limbo.
Thousands wait here in Ataq, the capital of Shabwa province, eking out a threadbare existence on the streets.
“We’re not alive, we’re not dead. We’re just sitting here,” said Ahmad Ali Abdo, 40, who had come from Somalia nine months ago. Unable to get across the border into Saudi Arabia, he now carries a bucket and sponge and offers an indifferent carwash to passing motorists, often making less than a dollar a day.
“I know there’s a war here, but I want Saudi Arabia. At least there, if they catch me, they’ll send me back to Somalia,” he said.
Last year, almost 140,000 migrants from the Horn of Africa attempted to traverse Yemen, a record number. Even with the coronavirus sealing borders, more than 34,000 migrants have attempted the crossing this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, or IOM.
The journey is long, complicated and perilous. It often begins in Ethiopia, where about 94% of the migrants in Yemen originate, most of them farmers and a little more than half of them with only a primary school education. For many, it’s not the first time they’ve tried to emigrate.
Passage to Saudi Arabia is now closed. With no money, Mahmoud has been sleeping on Nasr Street, Ataq’s main boulevard, at night, and scrounging for work in the mornings.
“There are no jobs here, and there’s no road to Saudi Arabia. I’ll try to go back home soon,” he said.
Still, he is one of the luckier ones.
Despite the war, migration continues across the border through smuggler crossings that snake through the mountainous terrain between the two countries.
The coronavirus has meant tighter border controls. The Houthis caught Abu Bakr and kept him in prison for 50 days, he said. Ordinarily he would have had to pay what the Houthis called an exit fee of 1,000 Saudi riyals — or $267 — to get out, but the prison became so overcrowded that his captors loaded him and about 180 others into cattle trucks, drove them across battle lines again to the south and dumped them in the desert.
Abu Bakr was able to make his way back to Ataq, where, like Abdo, he tries to make some money washing cars.
Houthis aren’t the only danger. Checkpoint guards frequently take migrants’ money and cellphones, said Dabisi, the smuggler. Some of his competitors, often in collusion with local authorities, round up migrants after they come ashore or pay rival smugglers to give up their clients, whom they then spirit away to dens to be tortured and beaten until their families pay ransom.
“My competitors offer to pay me 20,000 Saudi riyals per person — more than I would get from the migrants,” Dabisi said. “But it would ruin my reputation. Why do people come to me? Because I offer a good service.”
Even a return to East Africa by boat, back across the Gulf of Aden, is difficult.
“Smugglers take them close to the coast and make them swim the rest of the way because there are possibly coast guard or security forces,” said Olivia Headon, public relations officer for IOM in Yemen. “So they’re doing it to protect their own necks while putting migrants’ lives at risk.”
Information on migrants who lost their lives in the crossing is sparse, Headon said, but “whatever figure there is is way too low.”
That comes as little surprise to Aidrus. The dead migrants in Dabisi’s makeshift graveyard, Aidrus said, were probably buried quickly to avoid the inevitable bureaucratic tangle.
Dabisi demurred when asked how his clients died, amid rumors that some had been shot in a quarrel with other travelers. In any case, he had collected the bodies, sent pictures of them to their families to confirm their identities and then brought them to the field for burial.
But the resting place is likely to be temporary. The last time he had come to dig a grave, Dabisi said, residents had threatened him and ordered him to remove the bodies; some construction was to start soon on the field – by Nabih Bulos
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-12-01/migrants-trapped-in-limbo-yemen-saudi-arabia
(** A P)
Bundesverwaltungsgericht: Deutsche Bündnisverpflichtungen stehen über dem Menschenrecht auf Leben
Staatsbürger aus dem Jemen haben gegen die Bundesrepublik geklagt, weil die Drohneneinsätze der USA, bei denen Verwandte von ihnen getötet wurden, von Ramstein aus gesteuert werden. Die Bundesrepublik sei verpflichtet, diese völkerrechtswidrigen Einsätze von deutschem Boden aus zu beenden. Das Bundesverwaltungsgericht hat die Klage mit einer sehr bemerkenswerten Argumentation abgewiesen.
Letzte Woche haben Medien berichtet, dass die Klage der Jemeniter gegen die Bundesrepublik abgewiesen wurde. Interessant wird es, wenn man sich die in der Pressemeldung veröffentlichte Argumentation des Gerichts anschaut.
Das Bundesverwaltungsgericht hat die Hürde, nach der Deutschland eine Schutzverpflichtung für Menschenleben im Ausland hat, recht hoch gehängt:
„Vielmehr entsteht die Schutzpflicht erst, wenn aufgrund der Zahl und der Umstände bereits eingetretener Völkerrechtsverstöße konkret zu erwarten ist, dass es auch in Zukunft zu völkerrechtswidrigen Handlungen kommen wird, durch die grundrechtliche Schutzgüter beeinträchtigt oder gefährdet werden.“
Bei tausenden zivilen Opfern der US-Drohnenangriffe, die die USA selbst eingestanden haben, verstehe ich nicht, wie das Gericht in Zweifel ziehen kann, dass es auch in Zukunft zu solchen Vorfällen kommen kann. Und dass die Drohnenangriffe völkerrechtswidrig sind, kann man kaum bestreiten.
Damit aber nicht genug, das Bundesverwaltungsgericht hat der Bundesregierung noch weitere Hintertüren geschaffen:
„Ferner bedarf es eines qualifizierten Bezugs zum deutschen Staatsgebiet. Hieran fehlt es jedenfalls dann, wenn sich der auf das deutsche Staatsgebiet bezogene Teil der grundrechtsbeeinträchtigenden Handlungen des anderen Staates in einem rein technischen Übermittlungsvorgang ohne Entscheidungselemente erschöpft.“
Im Klartext: Solange die Entscheidungen über Drohnenmorde nicht auf deutschem Boden getroffen, sondern über deutschen Boden nur umgesetzt werden, braucht die Bundesregierung auch nicht ernsthaft zu reagieren. Sagt das Bundesverfassungsgericht jedenfalls.
Von einer Verletzung der Schutzpflicht für Menschenleben sei darüber hinaus nur dann zu reden,
„wenn die Bundesregierung gänzlich untätig geblieben ist oder die getroffenen Maßnahmen offensichtlich völlig ungeeignet oder unzulänglich sind.“
Was hat die Bundesregierung denn getan, um ihrer Schutzpflicht nachzukommen? Sie hat die USA gefragt, ob all ihre Operationen mit dem Völkerrecht in Übereinstimmung stehen. Und die USA haben geantwortet: „Klar doch“ und damit sind die von der Bundesregierung „getroffenen Maßnahmen“ für das Bundesverwaltungsgericht nicht mehr „ungeeignet oder unzulänglich.“ So einfach ist das!
Offenbar hat man beim Bundesverwaltungsgericht auch nicht genau prüfen wollen, ob die US-Einsätze gegen das Völkerrecht verstoßen, denn weiter heißt es in der Pressemeldung:
„Ob die unter Nutzung der Air Base Ramstein durchgeführten Drohneneinsätze der USA im Jemen regelmäßig gegen Vorgaben des humanitären Völkerrechts, insbesondere die Verbote unterschiedsloser Angriffe oder von Angriffen mit unverhältnismäßigen Kollateralschäden verstoßen, kann unter Berücksichtigung der vertretbaren Bandbreite von Rechtsauffassungen ebenfalls nicht ohne ergänzende Tatsachenfeststellungen (…) entschieden werden.“
Wozu gibt es eigentlich Bundesgerichte, wenn diese nicht in der Lage sind, die „Bandbreite von Rechtsauffassungen“ zu prüfen und zu beurteilen? Kann es sein, dass die Richter das gar nicht rechtsverbindlich tun wollten und deshalb die Klage der Einfachheit halber abgewiesen haben?
Bündnisverpflichtungen gegenüber den USA wichtiger als Menschenleben
Das beste kommt aber ganz am Ende der Pressemeldung. Nachdem ausführlich erklärt wurde, dass die Bundesregierung über mehrere Kanäle immer wieder in Washington angefragt hat, ob auch wirklich alle US-Maßnahmen dem Völkerrecht entsprechen und die USA immer wieder „Klar doch!“ geantwortet haben, kann man in der Pressemeldung lesen:
„Weitergehende Schritte, wie insbesondere die von den Klägern letztlich geforderte Kündigung der völkervertraglichen Grundlagen für die Nutzung der Air Base Ramstein musste die Bundesregierung wegen der massiven nachteilhaften Auswirkungen für die außen-, bündnis- und verteidigungspolitischen Belange der Bundesrepublik Deutschland nicht in Betracht ziehen.“
Was sind die „außen-, bündnis- und verteidigungspolitischen Belange der Bundesrepublik Deutschland„, von denen das Gericht spricht? Das sind die vertraglichen Verpflichtungen Deutschlands gegenüber der Nato und den USA. Diese Verträge hat das Bundesverwaltungsgericht damit de facto über das im Völkerrecht und im deutschen Grundgesetz festgeschriebene Menschenrecht auf Leben gestellt.
Wenn das deutsches Recht ist, dann müssen wir uns über gar nichts mehr wundern.
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
(B H)
Yemen COVID 19 stats tracker
https://visalist.io/emergency/coronavirus/yemen-country
(* B H)
Audio: Yemen: In a country stalked by disease, COVID barely registers
At the beginning of 2020, as COVID-19 began to spread from China and around the world, health workers and aid agencies predicted that the virus’s impact on Yemen’s vulnerable population would be catastrophic, forecasting a 90 percent infection rate (download file)
(B H)
Expert Round Table Session 3 War and Disease: Living with Covid-19 in Syria and Yemen
The entire Yemeni health sector is not equipped to deal with Covid-19. This is a country that has been at war for 6 years, the UN has labelled it the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
The most devastating impact was economic, remittances collapsed; they are the main source of income for most Yemenis’ reaching 3.8 billion dollars in 2019, informally 10 billion. Without that many families found themselves without income and vulnerable.
I believe COVID has shown pre-existing conditions that our international humanitarian system is broken and we need to renew it and revive it.
https://twitter.com/trtworldforum/status/1333800088968130560
(* B H)
Covid-19 impact on vulnerable households in Yemen (November 2020)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The COVID-19 pandemic is amplifying Yemen’s underlying vulnerabilities as it comes on top of multiple challenges that the country is already facing including conflict, economic collapse, hunger, diseases, and displacement.
The objective of this study conducted by the Cash Consortium of Yemen (CCY) in August 2020 was to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy of vulnerable households in Yemen. The findings from this study provide an entry point to understand the following:
The potential effects of the COVID-19 crisis and its related containment measures on income and job security
The communities’ basic needs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
How the communities perceive potential disruptions to markets’ access and changing prices caused by COVID-19
The assessment is based on data obtained from sample surveys of 5711 households conducted across nine governorates (Aden, Al Dhale’e, Al Hudaydah, Amran, Hajjah, Lahj, Marib, Sana’a City, and Taiz).
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/covid-19-impact-vulnerable-households-yemen-november-2020
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K pH)
Entire mercenary brigade defects to National Salvation Government side
A senior commander loyal to the Saudi-led coalition forces has on Wednesday fled to the capital Sana’a.
Private sources told Yemen Press Agency that the commander of the al-Ezz Brigade, Hamad Rashid Al-Hazmi, announced his defection, together with all his officers and recruits, and joined the side of the National Salvation Government.
The al-Ezz Brigade had previously been subjected to a coalition bombing in al-Yatmah desert, Jawf province, the last of which took place on March 15, which led to the death and injury of dozens of the brigade’s members.
(A H K)
Twelve Yemeni fishermen illegally detained by Saudi forces
The Red Sea Fisheries Authority has condemned the invading coalition’s detention of five boats with 12 fishermen on board near Bahis Island, in northwest Yemen’s province of Hajjah.
The authority said in a statement issued on Tuesday that the coalition insists on preventing fishermen from practicing their profession and earning their day’s livelihood.
“This act is part of the sordid plans it is carrying out to kneel and subdue the Yemeni people,” the statement read.
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/02/twelve-yemeni-fishermen-illegally-detained-by-saudi-forces/
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-21553.html
(A K P)
In Saleh uprising anniversary, nephew vows to restore Sana'a
Commander of 'Guards of the Republic' brigades on Tuesday vowed to go ahead with the battle of restoring Sana'a, whatever the sacrifices are.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21550.html
(* B H K)
UNICEF: 11 children killed in Yemen in the past three days
“The killing of children is appalling. Children should be protected at all times. We call on all parties to the conflict to spare children and keep them out of harm’s way. Attacks on civilians including children and attacks on civilian-populated areas violate international humanitarian law.”
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/11-children-killed-yemen-past-three-days
(* B H K P)
Yemen, the dirty war dragged on
The Saudi kingdom, one of the actors in the conflict, bought from France for nearly 1.4 billion euros of war material, and French weapons were found in Yemen. A dozen French, international and Yemeni NGOs, including Amnesty International, Oxfam, FIDH, Médecins du Monde, have therefore just launched an appeal to "put an end to the French opacity on arms sales and establish real control. Parliament, on the occasion of the publication of the report of the information mission on the control of arms exports on November 18, 2020 ". So that" France respects its international commitments relating to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and the common position 2008/944 / CFSP of the European Union ", while" since 2016, twelve European countries including Germany, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom have announced measures to suspend or to limit arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ".
Sadek Alsaar left his post as a diplomat at the Yemen Embassy in France to create Salam for Yemen , Peace for Yemen, which signed the appeal, joining this NGO coalition against arms sales to the Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. With petitions which "have gathered more than 250,000 signatures asking President Emmanuel Macron to stop fueling the Yemeni conflict by exporting French arms".
Why did you go from diplomat, general counselor at the Yemen Embassy in France, to an activist for peace in Yemen and against the export of military equipment to Riyadh?
The situation was so catastrophic in Yemen, my country of origin, that we were forced to create an association that joined all the French, international and Yemeni NGOs to advocate and tell what is happening there. We talk about the war and very little about the blockade which is very harsh, even criminal. This means that initially there was an arms blockade for the whole region, including Yemen. But Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with the support of great powers like the United Kingdom, the United States and France because they have interests in selling them weapons, have turned a blind eye to this. blockade. However, this blockade is total, maritime, air and land and it complicates the lives of Yemenis who depend 90% on food and medical imports.
https://www.franceculture.fr/geopolitique/yemen-la-sale-guerre-seternise
(B H K)
8 Thousand, 951 Women, Children Killed by US-Saudi Aggression in Yemen
The Pioneers in Justice for Development and Rights Organization revealed in a report that two thousand and 381 women have been killed, and two thousand and 780 others have been injured by the US-Saudi aggression on Yemen since March 2015.
According to the report, the number of children who were killed is three thousand and 790, and four thousand and 89 children were injured, some of whom were permanently disabled. The number of civilians who were killed reached more than 16 thousand and 978 and more than 26 thousand and 203 civilians were injured.
The report pointed out that the coalition caused the displacement of "four million 168 thousand and 301 persons. More than 606 thousand and 694 families were displaced due to the targeting of cities, villages, housing, schools and health centers."
(* B H K P)
UN: Mehr als 230.000 Tote im Jemen-Krieg
Der Krieg im Jemen und seine Folgen haben nach Schätzungen der Vereinten Nationen schon 233.000 Menschen das Leben gekostet. Der 2015 begonnene Konflikt habe zur schlimmsten humanitären Krise weltweit geführt, beklagte das UN-Büro zur Koordination humanitärer Angelegenheiten (Ocha), am Dienstag (Ortszeit) in New York. In diesem Jahr habe sich der Krieg auf nunmehr 47 feststellbare Fronten ausgeweitet.
Etwa 131.000 Menschen im Jemen sind seit 2015 den Schätzungen zufolge durch Hunger, Krankheiten, Armut und andere Kriegsfolgen gestorben. Durch Kampfhandlungen wurden allein in den ersten neun Monaten diesen Jahres 1.500 getötete Zivilisten gezählt. Heftiger Regen, Benzinknappheit, die Corona-Krise und Heuschreckenschwärme haben den Kollaps der Wirtschaft in diesem Jahr beschleunigt.
https://www.evangelisch.de/inhalte/179221/02-12-2020/un-mehr-als-230000-tote-im-jemen-krieg
und auch https://de.sputniknews.com/politik/20201201328459649-jemen-konflikt-todesopfer/
(* B H K P)
UN says 233,000 killed in Yemen war in last 6 years
UN humanitarian office says Yemen has reached critical point, needs urgent cease-fire
The UN Tuesday said the conflict in Yemen has claimed 233,000 lives over the last six years.
In a report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the conflict in Yemen has so far claimed the lives of 233,000 people, adding that "this large number is unfortunate and unacceptable."
It stressed that these people have lost their lives since the start of the war in Yemen either directly due to the conflict or for reasons related to it.
According to the OCHA, Yemen has reached a critical point and there is an urgent need for a cease-fire now.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/un-says-233-000-killed-in-yemen-war-in-last-6-years/2061819
and also https://en.mehrnews.com/news/166605/Over-220-000-people-have-been-killed-in-Yemen-UN
(* B K P)
Yemen: Trump is Showering Saudi Arabia with Last-Minute Gifts
Saudi Arabia’s use of American diplomatic cover and weapons alike has taken on a fevered pace as the Kingdom deepens the tragedy it has afflicted upon Yemen.
While the administration of Donald Trump readies its exit from the White House and the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s use of American diplomatic cover and weapons alike has taken on a fevered pace as the Kingdom deepens the tragedy it has afflicted upon Yemen, where millions of forgotten people are struggling against a cold winter, starvation, epidemics, and the worst blockade in the modern era.
Since November 3, 2020, when the fifty-ninth quadrennial presidential election began followed by the widespread controversy, lawsuits, and recounts across several states, the oil-riched Kingdom has waged a scorched-earth campaign against the Yemeni districts of Marib and Al-Jawf, as well as border areas in Sana’a, Sadaa, Hajjah, Amran, and Hodeida.
The unjustified escalation, which came on the back of a brief period of hope that briefly preceded the U.S. pre-election, was not only a last-minute gift to Saudi Arabia from the Trump administration before he leaves the White House in January, but also served to prevent the advance of the Yemeni army supported by Ansar Allah (Houthis) and tribal fighters in the oil-rich province of Marib.
On the Yemen-Saudi border, an intense Saudi bombing campaign aims to force the remaining residents in the area to flee. Saudi Arabia seeks to establish buffer zones on the border inside Yemeni territory in anticipation of any developments made by the incoming U.S. administration after Riyadh failed to achieve that goal through indirect negotiations with Sana’a, sources told MintPress.
In retaliation for Saudi escalation, the Yemeni army, and Ansar Allah targeted Saudi Arabia’s vital oil sector, striking an oil facility in the Kingdom’s Red Sea city of Jeddah.
The spokesman for Yemen’s Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a statement in the wake of the attack that the Saudi oil facility was targeted in response to ongoing Saudi military operations and blockade.
As the kingdom’s policy since 2015, when its war began, Saudi Arabia sold the attack to the world as targeting international interests. The Kingdom went further and accused Ansar Allah of attacking an oil tanker in the Red Sea.
For his part, Muhammad Abd al-Salam, a spokesman for Ansar Allah, said that Saudi wailing following every painful retaliation is what is required. He added, “the international community has to pressure Saudi Arabia to stop the aggression and [the] blockade because the Yemeni people deserve to voice their suffering too.”
Trump’s parting gift
As the Trump administration gets ready to depart the White House, the Saudi-led Coalition is scrambling to get the last-moment boon by pushing the U.S. to designate Yemen’s most powerful resistance force, Ansar Allah, as a terrorist organization in a move that would not harm the “Houthis,” but would punish millions of innocent Yemenis already suffering from widespread malnutrition, starvation, and disease. ِ
According to media reports, the Trump administration is preparing to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization before leaving office in January. U.S. policy in Yemen has been a disgrace for the past five years, drawing ire on U.S. soil and from abroad, and few Yemenis were surprised that the Trump administration would enact such a policy on its way out the door after having already suspended aid to 80% of the population residing in the north of the country.
Designating Ansar Allah as a terrorist organization will make an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis even worse and impede the work of the many NGOs providing lifesaving assistance in the country – by Ahmed Abdulkareem
(* B H K)
Spotlight: Large landmine fields threaten people's lives in war-ravaged Yemen
Yemeni people's lives are threatened by mines which cause casualties almost every day in many conflict-affected areas. Yemen has become one of world's largest landmine battlefields since the World War II.
Lives of thousands of Yemeni people living in various areas affected by the ongoing military conflict are still threatened by the presence of large fields of landmines and explosive remnants.
In the country's turbulent northern province of al-Jawf, explosive hazards affected large residential areas as several months of intense fighting is still taking place between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels there.
Local Yemeni official said that the existence of explosives and landmines prevent the delivery of humanitarian aids and hinder the safe movement of people living in many conflict-affected areas in northern Yemen.
Local residents including women and children frequently die of landmine explosions in al-Jawf and various other regions of the war-torn Arab country.
The local Yemeni authorities confirmed that the strategic province sharing borders with Saudi Arabia is facing a catastrophic situation due to mines.
Abdul Hadi Al-Assar, director of the Human Rights Office in al-Jawf, told Xinhua that the whole province is badly affected as a result of the Houthi continuation in planting landmines in different areas of the province.
"The Houthis not only planted mines near military areas, but also intentionally trapped roads, government buildings, schools, and agricultural farms," said Al-Assar.
He indicated that "almost daily civilian casualties are recorded ... nearly 190 civilians died, 385 cases of injuries, including maiming and permanent disabilities due to incidents of landmines occurred during the past four years in al-Jawf."
Local human rights official urged the concerned international organizations to contribute to clearing contaminated areas of landmines and pressuring the Houthis to immediately stop planting more.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-12/01/c_139553917.htm = https://newsaf.cgtn.com/news/2020-12-01/Large-landmine-fields-threaten-people-s-lives-in-war-ravaged-Yemen-VQL9emFsXK/index.html
(* B H K)
Audio: Inside Yemen’s Hunger Wards
Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and is in imminent danger of descending into the worst famine the world has ever seen.
Years of fighting in a civil war that has been internationalized has ground Yemen’s economy to a halt. The importation of food and fuel has been weaponized by the belligerents, causing increasing levels of acute malnutrition, particularly among children
Earlier this year, filmmaker Skye Fitzgerald documented heroic efforts by doctors and health workers fight acute malnutrition that is inflicting children in Yemen. His new film “Hunger Ward” gives viewers a vivid account of how the war in Yemen is causing widespread starvation and malnutrition among Yemeni children. The film depicts healthcare providers in two separate hospitals who specialize in treating acute malnutrition in children. In both cases, specially trained doctors and nurses fight malnutrition, one child at a time. It is an intense but vital film that in may ways that humanizes statements like this one from the Secretary General.
I speak with Skye Fitzgerald about the film and what he hoped to achieve by making a documentary about these two Hunger Wards.
https://www.undispatch.com/inside-yemens-hunger-wards
(* B H K P)
All the wars of Yemen
The country suffers from the worst global humanitarian crisis after six years of conflict, although dengue and malnutrition cause more deaths than bullets or covid-19
The UN has registered 2,067 infected and 601 deaths from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic throughout Yemen. In Shabwa alone, the director of the Ataq hospital, Ali Nasser Saeed, puts a number of dengue cases at 3,480 - 52,000 across the country -: the mosquito is responsible for 15 of the 60 deaths recorded last month. In addition, diseases that were believed to be banished haunt Yemenis again, such as cholera or diphtheria, and new ones , such as chikungunya, emerge .
A few months ago, the Saudi cooperation provided the province with its first laboratory to carry out more than 3,800 PCR tests. Only 90 tests have detected positive for covid, and in the entire province there have been only 46 deaths. "We haven't registered any new cases in two months," says Hisham Said, who is responsible for the gleaming but empty center. Some of the medical personnel allude to the "high morals of Yemenis" to justify the inexplicable absence of infections, but the United Nations warns of the lack of testing and the stigma that the contagion of the virus generates in society. In a country isolated from the world and with a war silenced by the strong Saudi-Emirati embargo, patient zero (in the southern city of Aden) was a migrant. Tens of thousands of them - the majority Ethiopians - have been stuck in Yemen en route to Saudi Arabia, which has closed its borders for fear of the spread of the virus.
In the Ataq hospital the problem is not covid. Six-year-old Rami Saleh struggles under a mosquito net to overcome dengue fever. The eyes of Fatima, her mother, go into rage behind the slot of her niqab. He complains of the growing shortage of food (prices have increased by up to 15% since 2018 according to the UN, while the Yemeni real loses two thirds of its value), and of a health system in which you have to pay 50 % of each hospital bill: Yemeni 10,000 reais (34 euros) for treating habitual diarrhea in a country where the average salary is around 100 euros. Dr. Mohamad Yiradi visits two severely malnourished babies, while the little ones struggle to breathe. Save The Children has warned about an almost endemic child malnutrition in Yemen: its figures beat a negative record with an increase of 10% in 2020: which leaves 100,000 children under five between life and death.
Added to covid-19, war, famine and poverty is the crisis of access to fuel caused by the commercial lockdown imposed by the coalition on northern Yemen. The crisis makes travel to the city more expensive and not all parents can afford the cost of a taxi to admit their sick children. Access to water, not even potable, is another daily challenge for families in which schooling has long since taken a back seat. "We are very disappointed in the help of the international community," complains the head of the Human Rights unit in the Ataq mayor's office . The UN has only received 24% of the 680 million euros requested this year for the humanitarian response in the country .
https://elpais.com/internacional/2020-11-28/todas-las-guerras-de-yemen.html
My comment: Shabwa province hosted a group of Western journalists. This article mis the best of those seen so far.
(* A P)
Rival presidents congratulate Yemen on its Independence Day
The presidents of Yemen's rival governments have both conveyed their congratulations to the republic as it celebrates its independence day today which marks the withdrawal of the British from the former protectorate of South Arabia in 1967.
The internationally-recognised President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi yesterday called for the implementation of the power sharing deal, the Riyadh Agreement between his Saudi-backed government and the UAE-supported separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) which has so far remained unfulfilled.
While congratulating his country, President Hadi said: "From this vision, we also went on the path of healing the Yemeni rift and attempts to unify the national ranks in order to restore and build the state and its national institutions and unify efforts around this noble goal, so we went to the Riyadh Agreement sponsored by Saudi Arabia."
He also stressed that there is no alternative to the federal state and the efforts in working to end what he called the "coup" and "rebellion" of the Sanaa-based government which is currently only recognised by Iran and Syria.
President of the Supreme Political Council of the Houthi-led National Salvation Government (NSG), Mahdi Al-Mashat, also congratulated all Yemenis, the tribes and the army and "popular committees" on the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of Independence Day.
Al-Mashat said: "We and all honourable people have the right to celebrate this glorious occasion because, thank God, we are in the same trench that where our fathers were against foreign colonialism."
"Independence Day offers the lesson to the aggressor of our country and puts it in front of the woes of this war, as well as it depicts the final scene for every mercenary," he said.
He also called for an end to the aggression and occupation of Yemen and explained that one of the characteristics of Independence Day is that it distinguishes between true patriotism to expose traitors and agents.
and: https://www.saba.ye/en/news3118125.htm
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21505.html
(A K P)
Arab Coalition Continues to Supply Yemen Army with Weapons
The joint forces of the Saudi-led Arab coalition revealed that it was continuing to fully support the Yemeni Defense Ministry.
It is providing it with weapons and ammunition in its fight against the Iran-backed Houthi militias, it added.
Photos showed military supplies being delivered to Yemen’s Marib to back the Yemeni army.
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2655541/arab-coalition-continues-supply-yemen-army-weapons
My remark: There had been reports of a Saudi retreat from Marib.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(B H)
Solar-Powered Water Pumps in Yemen
TEAMKAMPAGNE: Najla Wasfi und Aziz Nasher leiten dieses GoFundMe zugunsten von Yemen Aid Inc
The country's existing fragile water system is failing in many regions due to old technology that is harmful to the environment and the high maintenance and fuel costs.
A solar-powered pumping system is an alternative solution to existing water wells to help communities access clean water using technology that does not require high costs and can be maintained by someone within the community itself. The Yemen Aid project in Qashwa Area of Al Tuheeta District - Al Hodeidah Governorate will help 273 individuals access clean water in a safe and sustainable way.
The funds will be directed to Yemen Aid US, the organization undertaking the project, and is expected to be completed within one month.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/solarpowered-water-pumps-in-yemen
(B H)
Good news, @monarelief's team was able today to reach out 450 students with school backpacks in the capital Sana'a of #Yemen to encourage students to continue studying Today's project was funded by Partners Relief and Development and Karmagawa. CC @monareliefye (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1334168063009296385
https://twitter.com/PartnersRelief/status/1334752259524026368
(B H)
Cash Consortium of Yemen (CCY) - Remittances Tracker (November 2020)
Remittances are cash transfers sent by migrants, usually to family members in their country of origin. International remittances can also make up part of the regular income of some people, for example, those who perform cross-border work, such as seasonal workers who tend crops in neighboring countries. According to UNDESA, migrants send an average of 15% of their earnings back home. Remittances often represent up to 60% of family income. Due to the downturn in the global economy from the COVID-19 pandemic, Yemeni workers abroad may have had difficulty securing work and sending money home, thus impacting the purchasing power of local households.
The Remittance Tracker is a short survey completed monthly and encompasses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on remittances throughout the assessed area. The question center around the impact of COVID-19 and the change in remittances over the previous two weeks.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/cash-consortium-yemen-ccy-remittances-tracker-november-2020
Cash Consortium of Yemen (CCY) - Consolidated Price Monitoring Tool (October 2020)
(B H)
Film von ADRA: Jemen: Wie die kleine Mona gerettet wurde
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhzyBOuZGZU
(* B H)
Kinderärztin im Jemen: "Viele werden völlig allein gelassen"
Die Kinderärztin Werner hat sieben Monate im Jemen gearbeitet, um Kindern zu helfen – mitten in einer humanitären Katastrophe. Sie berichtet von Versorgungsmangel, Corona-Angst und dem Schmerz, nicht helfen zu können.
Werner: Die Versorgungslage an sich ist gar nicht so schlecht. Auf den lokalen Märkten wird genügend angeboten, aber man muss Geld haben, um die Sachen auch kaufen zu können. Die Preise sind enorm gestiegen und viele Menschen können sich das nicht mehr leisten.
Die Familien stützen sich, so gut sie können. Wer noch etwas hat, teilt es mit anderen. Aber viele haben einfach absolut nichts mehr. Ich habe das ganz oft erlebt, dass wir Kinder für eine notwendige Operation oder eine onkologische Therapie in die Hauptstadt hätten verlegen müssen, aber die Eltern hatten dafür einfach nicht die Mittel.
In den Apotheken werden viele Medikamente angeboten, aber die die Sicherheit dieser Medikamente ist fraglich und die Wirkstoffrate unklar. Wir sind von Ärzte ohne Grenzen versorgt worden mit Medikamenten, die meist aus dem Ausland kamen.
Es kam auch für uns immer wieder zu Engpässen, etwa wenn der Luftraum gesperrt war. Vor allem bei Laborausrüstung und -zubehör gab es große Nachschubprobleme wegen der kurzen Haltbarkeit und der langen Importverfahren.
Es gibt wahnsinnig viel Unterernährung. Wir hatten Mangelernährungsstationen für Kinder, die immer überbelegt waren. Viele Kinder sind schwerstmangelernährt, ihr Gesundheitszustand war oft katastrophal. Ich hatte ein vierjähriges Mädchen, das wog sieben Kilo. Dieses Gewicht hat in Deutschland ein Säugling mit einem halben Jahr.
tagesschau.de: Sie waren nahe der Front und haben die Folgen des Krieges im Krankenhaus miterlebt.
Werner: Ja, und zwar direkte und indirekte Folgen des Krieges, von zivilen Opfern von Luftangriffen über die zunehmende Armut bis hin zur katastrophalen Gesundheitslage. Die zivile Infrastruktur wurde in vielen Teilen des Landes zerstört. Es gibt auch indirekte Folgen dieser Luftangriffe. Spät in der Nacht kam zu mir eine Familie mit einem schwerkranken Kind - viel zu spät. Sie haben mir erklärt, dass sie wegen anhaltender Luftangriffe drei Tage nicht aus ihrem Dorf rauskamen. Das macht es für die Zivilbevölkerung extrem schwierig.
tagesschau.de: Sie haben tief in menschliche Abgründe geblickt. Was macht das mit Ihnen?
Werner: Die Rückkehr war nicht ganz einfach. Man fragt sich nach so einer Zeit schon, wo und wie man leben möchte. Wie kann man einfach so weitermachen, wenn man in einem Land gelebt hat, in dem viele Menschen täglich um das nackte Überleben kämpfen müssen? Es verändert einen.
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/jemen-msf-101.html
(B H)
‘A child dies every 10 minutes’ in Yemen: Health Ministry
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni officials have raised the alarm about a worsening humanitarian crisis as a result of the Saudi-led war and blockade against the impoverished Arab country, saying that “a child dies every 10 minutes” in Yemen.
The Yemeni Health Ministry issued the warning on Tuesday and said shortfalls in aid funding were exacerbating the humanitarian situation in Yemen.
According to the United Nations, acute malnutrition rates among Yemeni children under five are the highest ever recorded.
(* B H)
From Yemen, A cry for help
The cost of the humanitarian disaster in Yemen is terrifying: A woman dies every 2 hours in Yemen giving life, and for every woman who dies during childbirth, another 20 suffer injuries, infections or disabilities that are preventable. Six out of ten births take place without a skilled birth attendant, 4 out of 10 women do not receive antenatal care from a skilled provider and one in five people suffer from mental health disorders.
For the past six years, women and families in war-torn Yemen, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, have struggled to survive amidst devastation. Now, with a collapsing economy, rising food insecurity, and COVID-19 claiming lives, global support is needed more than ever. Solidarity can alleviate human suffering and save lives.
The loss of male breadwinners in any family, due to the conflict, adds to the economic burdens faced by women and girls. An estimated 20 percent of displaced women and girls are heads of households. This is especially daunting for girls under the age of 18 who currently head 21 percent of women-headed households.
Three-quarters of those displaced in Yemen are women and children, and the women and girls among them are in a particularly vulnerable situation. There are 6 million women and girls of reproductive age affected by the Yemen crisis. Their everyday reality cannot be escaped and their coping skills are stretched to limit. Women and girls bear a disproportionate burden of the conflict, as they strive to care for their families, and face increased risks of gender-based violence.
In the absence of adequate empowerment, support and economic opportunities, women and girls become vulnerable to negative coping strategies such as child marriage, child labor and human trafficking.
Child marriage rates are escalating as families try to cope with the economic pressures of the conflict. Nearly two thirds of girls in Yemen are married before the age of 18 and many before they are 15.
UNFPA is working with partners to support the health, protection and well-being of women and adolescent girls in Yemen. Yet half of our reproductive health and gender-based violence response programmes remain suspended due to a shortage of funds, leaving hundreds of thousands of women without a lifeline.
To keep reaching the most vulnerable women and girls with lifesaving services this year, UNFPA requires $25.3 million, and an additional $20 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic that is overwhelming the health system.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-cry-help
(* B H)
Aid organisations call for safe and unhindered access to fight impact of hunger and conflict in 2021
With the United Nations estimating some 235 million people across the globe will be in need of life-saving support in 2021, it is vital that aid organisations have unhindered access to those most in need and humanitarian appeals are fully funded, seven* NGOs said today.
Today, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) launched the Global Humanitarian Overview, a projection of the humanitarian needs of people impacted by conflict, acute hunger and the devastating impact of COVID-19. The report estimates 35 billion US dollars are needed to reach 160 million people with life-saving support in 2021.
The NGO signatories - all of whom work on the frontline of conflicts across the globe - call on donors to urgently show their commitment to the most vulnerable by fully funding humanitarian responses. However, they also emphasized that needs cannot be fully met without a firm commitment from armed actors and governments to ensure that humanitarian workers have unimpeded and safe access to people in need of support.
It is vital warring parties adhere to the global ceasefire called for by the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council to prevent further civilian casualties and ensure people in need of assistance have access to life-saving services and protection. To support this, states should curb arms sales to warring parties if they are likely to be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law or against civilians, the aid organisations said.
These efforts are even more important after a year in which COVID-19 has pushed communities into poverty, increased the risk of famine, and stretched health systems to breaking point.
Today, a deadly combination of conflict and bureaucratic impediments is causing major delays to aid delivery. UN data shows that between 2018 and 2019 the number of cases of access being denied to children and their families increased from 795 to 4,402: the highest number ever recorded.
If access continues to be hindered, vulnerable families cannot be reached at a moment when the country is on the brink of famine and infrastructure to deliver support is badly damaged, notably by the extensive use of explosive weapons in populated areas, the NGOs warned.
(B H)
Aktion Deutschland hilft
Hunger im Jemen
Das Leid der Menschen im Jemen ist unermesslich: 24 Millionen Menschen sind auf humanitäre Hilfe und Schutz angewiesen. Darunter sind fast 16 Millionen Menschen, die vom Hungertod bedroht sind. Unser Bündnis steht den Menschen vor Ort bei.
Helfen Sie Leben retten – jetzt mit Ihrer Spende!
https://www.aktion-deutschland-hilft.de/de/hilfseinsaetze/hungerkatastrophe-jemen/
Film: https://www.youtube.com/embed/LkbbsUxjIeo
(* B H K)
2,4 Millionen Kinder im Jemen von Mangelernährung bedroht
Im Jemen droht eine Hungersnot. Fast 100'000 Kinder unter fünf Jahren könnten an Hunger sterben, warnen die Vereinten Nationen
Derzeit ist die Versorgungslage so schlecht wie seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr. Bis Ende des Jahres könnte es laut dem Kinderhilfswerk der Vereinten Nationen (UNICEF) 2,4 Millionen mangelernährte Kinder im Jemen geben. 15 Prozent aller unter Fünfjährigen sind ernsthaft unterernährt, das ist die höchste Quote seit Beginn des Krieges, haben die Vereinten Nationen (UN) vorgerechnet. Fast 100'000 Kinder unter Fünf sind vom Hungertod bedroht. Besonders schlimm ist die Lage im Süden des Landes.
«Wenn der Krieg jetzt nicht endet … riskieren wir den Verlust einer ganzen Generation jemenitischer Kleinkinder», verdeutlichte Lise Grande, die humanitäre Koordinatorin der Vereinten Nationen für den Jemen, gegenüber dem «Guardian». Tausende weitere könnten wegen mangelnder Gesundheitsversorgung sterben. Wegen des Krieges arbeitet die Hälfte aller Spitäler nicht mehr, und wenn, fehlt ihnen oft das Notwendigste, um die Versorgung zu gewährleisten.
https://www.infosperber.ch/Politik/24-Millionen-Kinder-im-Jemen-von-Mangelernahrung-bedroht
(B H)
Ärzte ohne Grenzen im Einsatz für Neugeborene im Jemen
„Es war herausfordernd und bewegend“, sagt Annette Werner, Kinderärztin von Ärzte ohne Grenzen. Hier berichtet sie von ihrem Einsatz im Jemen
Sieben Monate habe ich im Jemen gearbeitet.
20 Millionen Menschen sind auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen. Ärzte ohne Grenzen ist seit Jahren vor Ort. Durch überschwemmte Wege und anhaltende Benzinblockaden brauchten manche Patientinnen und Patienten zwei Wochen, bis sie uns erreichten – viel zu lange, viel zu spät.
Zahlreiche Kinder kamen mit schweren Infektionen und Mangelernährung in unser Krankenhaus. Sie waren teilweise so schwer erkrankt, dass die medizinische Notversorgung zu einem Drahtseilakt wurde.
Wir legten all unsere Energie in diese Kinder, um jede noch so kleine Chance zu nutzen, und erlebten mehr als einmal kleine medizinische Wunder.
In diesen Stunden wurde mir immer wieder bewusst, wie unterschiedlich die Lebensbedingungen in unserer Welt doch sind.
Ich habe im Jemen viel gelernt. Zum Beispiel auch an Wunder in der harten Realität zu glauben und den Zauber des Lebens wieder wahrzunehmen
https://www.17goalsmagazin.de/arzte-ohne-grenzen-im-einsatz-fur-neugeborene-im-jemen/
(* B H)
Yemen Food Security Outlook, October 2020 to May 2021
In Yemen, conflict continues to drive poor macroeconomic conditions and disrupt livelihoods, reducing access to food and income. Though the recent harvest in some areas is expected to have improved food access for many households, Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes remain widespread. Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes are likely to re-emerge in some areas in the February to May 2021 period as the lean season progresses. Overall, an estimated 17 to 19 million people are expected to be in need of humanitarian food assistance throughout the projection period. While not the most likely scenario, Famine (IPC Phase 5) would be possible in the event that food imports are significantly disrupted for a prolonged period of time.
As of September 2020, the Yemeni Rial continued to depreciate in southern areas, contributing to further increases in already above-average prices of food and non-food commodities. The Rial depreciated by 4-5 percent in southern areas from August to September, reaching 793 YER/USD according to data from FAO. According to data from UNVIM, food imports through the Red Sea Ports of Al Hudaydah and Salif have maintained relatively higher levels in recent months, with the July to September 2020 average 65 percent higher than the average from the preceding months from January to June 2020. Despite this, concern is mounting over the possible suspension of Yemen’s import financing mechanism.
Fuel shortages ongoing since June continue to impact Yemen, particularly in the north.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-food-security-outlook-october-2020-may-2021
(* B H)
Central Asia and Yemen Price Bulletin, November 2020
Wheat is the staple food for poor households in Yemen and sorghum is most often consumed as a substitute. The price trends of wheat and wheat flour are generally stable on a month-to-month basis with some variations due to seasonal demand (i.e. during the Ramadan festivities). Rice is important to all wealth groups. Livestock husbandry is important for highland areas of the country. Sana’a market is important in Yemen and supplies other markets within the country. Wheat milling is concentrated at the ports of Aden and Al Hudaydah, which also serve as the main reference and source markets for the southern and northern regions, respectively. Aden is the reference market for the southern region, located in a deficit zone, and is the largest wholesale market with a large storage capacity. Al Hudaydah is an assembly, wholesale, and retail market located on the western coast – one of the most populated areas in the country where many households are staple food market-dependent.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/central-asia-and-yemen-price-bulletin-november-2020
(B H)
Pandemic, funding gaps seen fueling gender-based violence in Yemen
Gender-based violence has surged by 63% since conflict erupted in Yemen in 2015, aid groups said on Monday, warning that the pandemic was exposing inadequate funding for protection services in war zones around the world.
“When people don’t have any other option, they will take desperate measures which put them at high risk of trafficking, sexual exploitation, abuse or forced labour,” said Suze van Meegen, NRC’s interim director of advocacy.
“(We need) to actually start talking about protection and prioritising the protection of civilians because food isn’t enough to keep people alive,” van Meegen told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
In Yemen, more than two-thirds of Yemeni girls are being married off by the age of 18 as economic fallout from COVID-19 exacerbates the country’s woes, the report said.
It said a quarter of poverty-striken families in the war-torn country had lost their income due to the pandemic, with many turning to early marriage as a means of survival.
(* B H)
Yemen: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (September - October 2020)
Humanitarian partners reported 759 access incidents in September and October across 43 districts in 15 governorates in Yemen, an increase of nearly 50 per cent compared with July and August. While humanitarian operations are slowly returning to pre-COVID-19 levels following the lifting of associated restrictions and precautionary measures, reported access incidents are increasing to the scale seen in the beginning of 2020, indicating that the operational environment in Yemen remains extremely challenging for humanitarian partners.
There was a change in areas of control in Marib Governorate during the reporting period. Ongoing hostilities and heightened security measures imposed by local security and military actors have further challenged the humanitarian response and regular programme deliveries, and there has been a ten-fold increase in incidents reported in the Governorate. These mainly relate to movement restrictions, include the detention of and threats against humanitarian personnel, which together with active conflict have resulted in programme suspensions.
Restrictions on the movement of humanitarian organizations, personnel and goods within and into Yemen remained the most widely reported constraint for humanitarian operations, with 492 incidents reported. These mainly relate to long-standing challenges around delays to and denials of travel permits for road movements and arbitrary ad hoc blockages at checkpoints. This was exacerbated by an increase in violence against humanitarian personnel reported both in northern and southern Yemen. In addition, the authorities continued to delay and refuse visas and residency permits for international humanitarian personnel.
Another major constraint was continued interference in humanitarian activities by the authorities in Yemen
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-access-snapshot-september-october-2020
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H)
Building A Data Story For The World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis
I developed a data story to help people better understand this complex emergency through the journey of a family forced to flee their home due to the conflict. Below is a snapshot of how the Yemen data story was developed and the approach I took to building it.
The idea for this data story came from the OCHA Yemen office following the success of the Centre’s data stories on South Sudan, developed by the 2018 Data Storytelling Fellow, and the Central African Republic, released in 2019. Similar to these stories, ‘Displaced In Yemen’ takes the audience on the journey of a single family as they leave their home in Al Hudaydah on the west coast and travel south to Aden in search of safety.
The crisis in Yemen has been going on for almost six years and much has been communicated about the dire humanitarian situation there. My challenge was to help OCHA find new ways to convey the scale and urgency of the crisis and to mobilize much-needed resources. I began my research by understanding the perspective of the OCHA staff in Yemen.
Data storytelling uses techniques – such as zooming in on a specific character whose life is disrupted by an incident – to allow audiences to immerse themselves in the reality of a situation. It combines narrative with data and visual information. It has the potential to enable audiences to connect on a human and emotional level to an experience.
The Yemen data story puts one family’s displacement experience at the center, using a map to show the points in the 462 kilometre journey. The narrative boxes convey the hardships, obstacles and dangers the family faces as they travel by donkey cart and by bus to a displacement camp in Dar Sad, Aden.
For the data, I relied on the datasets from the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) and referenced in the Yemen 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan and the Yemen 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview. I supplemented these sources with data and reports from different external sources.
Given the sensitivity of the context, we had to make sure that the data and information presented would not put anyone at risk. For this reason, although the story is based on the actual experience of a displaced family in Yemen, the names Ahmed and Fariha are fictional.
As I started exploring the different datasets in more depth and working them into my draft mockup and narrative, it became clear that not all of the intended visualisations added value to the overall story. I also realised that I lacked information (or up-to-date data) for some of the planned interactive visuals and had to revisit my initial design several times.
My work on the Yemen data story allowed me to refine my skills and expertise in communications and editing, data visualisation and design, and user experience and engagement. I got to do more data exploration than I usually would have and enjoyed using tools such as MapBox and Flourish to customize the map and create animated and interactive data visuals for a richer user experience. After two months of hard work, I was able to deliver a prototype data story ready for development by the Centre and OCHA Yemen (with film)
https://centre.humdata.org/building-a-data-story-for-the-worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis/
(* B H)
IOM Yemen: Situation Report October 2020
COVID-19 has continued to severely impact the Yemeni economy, resulting in the further depreciation of the Yemeni rial, particularly in the south. The deteriorating currency is compounded by the ongoing fuel crisis, which has resulted in the rising cost of locally produced goods, increased irrigation costs—by up to 80 per cent—and higher transportation costs. Food insecurity indicators are also worsening in southern governorates, with nearly 40 per cent of the population in assessed governorates projected to face acute malnutrition (IPC4) in the coming months.
With almost a year passed since the first wave of escalating conflict along the outskirts of Marib, Al Jawf and Sana’a governorates, hostilities continue to intensify, with new frontlines reportedly opening. Civilians are bearing the brunt of these hostilities, seeing their homes and community infrastructure damaged as they are forced to flee to safer areas. IOM has recorded 158,256 new displacements since the start of 2020, most notably towards Marib city and surrounding areas, and if frontlines advance further, more secondary and tertiary displacements are anticipated as people who previously fled fighting are forced further east or south. In 2020, Marib city district alone has received an estimated 71,456 new IDPs (70% of people displaced into Marib this year) and as Marib city already hosted the largest displacement site (37,498 IDP residents) in Yemen, community and public resources are being further overstretched.
Against this landscape, increased numbers of migrants are becoming stranded in governorates like Aden and Marib— estimated at 5,000 and 4,000 individuals respectively—due to COVID-19 related movement restrictions. In the north, IOM continues to receive reports of indiscriminate arrests, detention and forced transfers of migrants to southern governorates, and continues to advocate against these practices.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-situation-report-october-2020
(* B H)
IOM: Ethiopian migrants in Aden wish to return home
More than 2,600 Ethiopian migrants stranded in Aden wish to return home urgently, said the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The organization indicated that since October, IOM has registered over 2,600 vulnerable migrants in Aden, adding that while they are waiting to travel, IOM and the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office ( ECHO) provide them with access to health care and protection services.
According to IOM, before COVID-19 borders restrictions, migrants traveled through Yemen to reach other Gulf countries. Today, there are 14,500 migrants stranded across the country in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30639
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A P)
Houthis start an arbitrary campaign to crack down on roving and outdoor vendors in the capital Sana’a. Militants on patrol trucks deployed in the capital and forced the vendors to pay “war effort contributions” or evacuate their sites ./Al-Asimah Online
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43597
(A P)
Conflict is creasing between rival Houthi “supervisors” over the division of spoils in Hays, south of Hodeidah./ Bawabati
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43597
(A P)
Houthi female militants “Zaynabiyat” stormed schools in Sana’a and forced students of both sexes to take sectarian pamphlets, threatening opposing teachers with detention or dismissal from job./Multiple websites.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43597
(B P)
The Houthi militia have opened new prisons in the [central Yemen] province of Ibb after the old prisons got stuffed at their capacity./Almashehad Alyemeni.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43583
(B K P)
Yemen Manufactures Smart Weapons
A special leap in the science and manufacture of weapons was made by the Yemeni mind, who is trying hard to develop itself. Yemen was able, thanks to God, with research efforts, to achieve the impossible and develop and manufacture advanced tactical and strategic weapons such as ballistic missiles and drones. It also to develop modern weapons as cruise missiles, high-speed smart missiles and high-precision missiles, which are among the most important and latest technologies of the century.
The aggression, war, and blockade by US, west, Saudi Arabia and UAE did not break the Yemeni will but encourage it to develop itself militarily, scientifically and technically. In the 6-year war, Yemen has golden opportunities to enhance its defense capabilities, especially in making weapons, including deterrence weapons.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/16434/Yemen-Manufactures-Smart-Weapons
(A H P)
Houthis accuse aid agencies in Yemen of double standard
The Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, on Monday expressed its dissatisfaction over double standard of international agencies in Yemen.
Senior Houthi leader, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, said that international organisations always turn a blind eye to challenges they face in regions controlled by the internationally recognised government and the UAE-backed southern transitional council.
"This is evidence of politicising their actions and double standard against the Yemeni capital Sanaa," he said.
Continued criticism of international organisations operating in Yemen has created a crisis between the group and organisations, including the World Food Programme.
The Houthi official urged aid agencies to respect their profession and deliver aid to all Yemenis without discrimination or exceptions.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21520.html
(A P)
Southern Houthi official labels STC as mercenaries
The Houthi prime minister on Tuesday labeled the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), calling for the Arabian south state, as mercenaries.
"The Arabian south is a colonial project frustrated by 14 October revolutionaries who forced Britain out of the south of Yemen," Abdul Aziz Bin Habtoor, who comes from south, said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21535.html
(A P)
14 Indians to return home after 10-month detainment in Yemen
Some 14 Indian nationals have been set free after being detained in Yemen's capital Sanaa since February. The Indian Embassy in Djibouti confirmed their release on Saturday and made arrangements for their return home. The Indian Embassy in Sanaa relocated to the East African country across the Gulf of Aden in 2015 when the war commenced.
The 14 were sailors and part of a crew of 20 including five Bangladeshi nationals and an Egyptian. They were disowned by their Oman-based employer following their arrest after their fleet of three commercial ships carrying 4-wheel vehicles set out from Oman on 3 February and were supposed to reach Saudi Arabia in just over two weeks. However on 12 February the ships were caught up in rough weather in the Gulf of Aden, causing one of the ships to sink.
According to the Mumbai Mirror, the crew unknowingly anchored the remaining ships in war-torn Yemen. Within the hour they were noticed by the Yemeni coast guard, arrested and taken to the port of Salif, which is under the control of the Houthi-led government.
After four days of interrogation they were then moved to a hotel in Sanaa and locked up. "The ordeal we faced in the first two months was the worst," one of the former captives told the Mirror. They were reportedly locked up in five hotel rooms and refused access to their families or any kind of legal or diplomatic aid during their incarceration.
(A P)
Interior Minister: New Colonialists Will be Expelled, Defeated, as British Colonialists
Interior Minister, Major General Abdul Karim Al-Houthi, said that complete victory and liberation of the occupied Yemeni lands is imminent, and as the British colonialists left, the new colonialists, agents of the Zionist enemy and the Americans, will soon come out.
(A P)
Bangladeshis among seamen held captive by Houthis
There is at least one Bangladeshi among a crew of twenty mostly Indian seamen who have been detained by Houthi rebels in Yemen’s capital Sana’a since February this year.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/123094/bangladeshis-among-seamen-held-captive-by-houthis
(A P)
Yemen, Iran discuss higher education cooperation
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3118126.htm
(A K P)
Several army martyrs funeral in Hajjah
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3118219.htm
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
Aden verbleibt in der Hand der Separatisten im Süden. Ihre medien verbreiten eine große Menge von parteiischen Berichten, die das Narrativ der Separatisten überihren Hauptgegner, die Islah Partei (genannt "Muslim-Bruderschaft"), über die Kämpfe in Abyan und Shabwa, ihre Herrschaft in Aden und den von ihnen kontrollierten Gebieten verbreiten.
Aden remains in the hands of southern separatists. Their media are spreading a bulk of biased reports, showing their narrative of their foes from Islah Party (labeled “Muslim Brotherhood”), the fighting at Abyan and Shabwa, their self-rule at Aden and the areas under their control.
(A P)
Film: During school broadcast in Al-Shaida Nema School in the besieged city of Taiz, school girls sing along: "May You Be Safe, Yemen."
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1333832943706443784
(A K P)
Emirati-backed forces intra-tension demands Zobaidi direct intervention
Chairman of the Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) on Tuesday ordered their backup forces to withdraw, after they had tried to storm into the Aden security-run coastal guard camp, which was transformed into police school in 2016.
Eidroos al-Zobaidi orders came after unprecedented tensions between backup and security forces, both affiliated to the STC.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21551.html
(A P)
The Governor of Hodeida cautions against a conspiracy that may eventually leave Hodeida under control of non-Yemenis, without providing further details. Joint Forces are part of the puzzle!
https://twitter.com/Ibrahim4Yemen/status/1333932816409776130
(A P)
Designating Houthis a terrorist organization has become national obligation: Sana’a Mayor
Minister of State, the mayor of Sana’a has told the Yemeni parliament that “designating Houthis a terrorist organization has become national obligation.”
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43598
My remark: Hadi governments Sanaa “mayor” Lackcity.
and
(A P)
Thousands Of Yemenis in #Taiz city today in a protest demand @UN, @SecPompeo and @UNGeneva listing #Houthi militia as a #terrorist group (photos)
https://twitter.com/mohammedalrumim/status/1332364734885220352
My comment: Look at the banners: This was an orchestrated action.
and
(A P)
Activists stage a rally in Aden and demand the Houthis to be designated a terrorist group. /Al-Sahwa Net.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43583
(A K P)
The STC militia declare a new military operation against the national army./Watan Alghad website.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43583
(B P)
Bin Laghbar: Qatar Spends Millions to Undermine Riyadh Agreement
The Qatari intelligence agencies gave a sum of $ 10 million as financial support to Abdul Aziz Jabbari (the advisor to the Yemeni President) with a view to undermining the Riyadh Agreement, said the southern journalist, Salah Bin Laghbar in a tweet on Tuesday.
He added that Jabbari got the money only some months after receiving a sum of $ 20 million when he fled the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Laghbar also revealed that the funds are disbursed by the Qatari government through Tawakkol Karman under the clause (protecting the Yemeni unity).
He explained that Karman supervises the disbursement of the funds among activists, politicians, parties and TV channels in order to target the Arab Coalition and undermine the implementation of Riyadh Agreement.
It's worth mentioning that Jabbari appeared in several interviews on the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel attacking the Arab coalition, in particular the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30646
My comment: from a pro-UAE separatist news site. This smells like propaganda.
and more propaganda by a pro-UAE, anti-Qatar, anti-Turkey news site:
(A P)
US ambassador’s visit to Al Mahra alarms anti-coalition forces
Christopher Hanzel’s visit to Al Mahra comes as the announcement of the new Yemeni government, planned for last week, continues to be delayed.
The visit of US Ambassador to Yemen Christopher Henzel to Yemen’s far eastern governorate of Al Mahra drew concerns from the Qatar-backed camp in the Yemeni government and some Iran-backed forces.
These parties were concerned about the message the US visit could send to those working to increase Turkish and Iranian activity in the country.
The US ambassador’s visit to Al Mahra comes as the announcement of the new Yemeni government, planned for last week, continues to be delayed.
The new government’s announcement, planned as part of the Riyadh Agreement, was postponed due to Al Islah party and elements of the Qatar-backed political camp’s insistence on obtaining sovereign portfolios in the ministries of interior, foreign affairs, defence and finance, which Saudi Arabia rejected.
Soon after Henzel landed in Yemen, media outlets backed by Qatar and Iran discussed the surprise visit and presented it as a violation of Yemeni sovereignty.
Badr Kalashat, a member of Al Islah party, wrote on Twitter about the visit: “Today, the US ambassador to Yemen visited the American and British forces present at Al-Ghaydah airport in Al-Mahra. They rule while we applaud and celebrate independence days. ”
https://thearabweekly.com/us-ambassadors-visit-al-mahra-alarms-anti-coalition-forces
referring to
(A P)
Government's relinquishment of national sovereignty no longer acceptable, says Mahrah sheikh
The chairman of the peaceful demonstration committee in Yemen's eastern province of Mahrah, Hamid Zanabout, condemned on Tuesday a surprise visit by the US and Saudis ambassadors to the province this week.
The visit of the US ambassador to Mahrah marked a dangerous precedent in international relations, he wrote on Twitter.
What the legitimate government and the presidency are doing is a flagrant relinquishment of national sovereignty and no longer acceptable, Zanabout said.
The Yemeni government has not commented on the visit which the US ambassador Christopher Henzel said came within efforts to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terror.
The visit took place on Monday and has raised questions about its goals. Observers argued that it came within recent US military activities in the Arabian Gulf following threats by Iran to avenge the assassination of a top nuclear scientist.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21546.html
and
(A P)
US envoy to Yemen made 'surprise visit' to Mahra, urged implementing Riyadh deal
The US Ambassador to Yemen, Christopher Henzel, made a "surprise" visit to the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra, arriving in the provincial capital of Ghaydah on Monday. According to Al-Mahra Online, the diplomat held a series of meetings with the governor Muhammad Ali Yasser and other local officials to discuss the developments in the province, with a focus on smuggling and terrorism.
Henzel also called for the urgent formation of a new government in accordance with the so-called Riyadh Agreement
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/30640
and
(A P)
US Ambassador to #Yemen makes surprise visit to #Mahra. Praises Mahri & #Saudi forces for recent ops vs smuggling & #terrorism (Note: Some locals question extent to which such ops are choreographed) Separately, Mahra Gov'r met Oman-backed faction y'day
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1333462307775672322
(A P)
New statement from #Socotra's "General Council" reflects tensions on mainland #Mahra & the risk of both getting dragged further into #Yemen's war. Confirms its support for Sultan Abdallah (now perceived as close to #UAE) rather than Sultan Muhammad (backed by #Oman since July)
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1334089441502244866
(* B P)
Occupation forces committed over 200 crimes against civilians in southern Yemen in past two months alone
A recent statistical report issued on Monday by the Media Center for the Southern Provinces, has revealed an escalation of security deterioration in the occupied southern provinces during the months of October and November of this year.
The statistics recorded more than 212 crimes, ranging from assassinations to arrests, looting state funds and property, organized extortion by force of arms in checkpoints and public roads, war crimes, raids on houses and shops and kidnapping of citizens.
The report stated that assassinations ranked first with 32 counts, at a rate of 15.1% of the total crimes committed in these two months, followed by attacks on unarmed civilians by pro-aggression militias with 27 crimes, or 12.7%
The report explained the crimes of blackmail by force of arms ranked third with 23, and armed clashes came fourth with 21, at a rate of 9.4% of the total number of recorded crimes.
Kidnappings of civilians ranked fifth with 20 counts, while homicides ranked sixth as a result of armed clashes between parties to the conflict with 18 confirmed cases.
Moreover, the center monitored 15 assassination attempt operations against pro-coalition military leaders in Aden. Unlawful arrests amounted to 13, some of them collectively against citizens and employees who were subjected by armed militias, followed by the breaking up of seven protests by force ofs arms, according to statistics.
Aden also witnessed 11 armed robberies on the land and property of citizens by force of arms, some of these crimes took place in the vicinity of the headquarters of Saudi-led coalition in the Directorate of Tawahi.
The report revealed that the aggression forces and their mercenaries tortured three detainees to death in the past two months, while 48 detainees are still being held in secret occupation prisons in Aden.
The statistics recorded during the past two months a number of cases of outright banditry on the public roads linking the southern provinces and the city of Aden, as well as six ambushes, some of which were carried out with explosive devices in densely populated neighborhoods and areas of Aden, Dhalea and Zinjibar.
According to the statistics, the checkpoints of the militias of the coalition forces stationed at the entrances and exits of Aden province, specifically the points located in al-Alam area and Rabat area, deliberately blackmail travelers coming from the northern provinces, and impose large royalties on the drivers of heavy trucks.
More than 23 counts of the crimes of assault, shooting and illegal detention of drivers of trucks and multi-sized transport vehicles transporting vegetables, fruits, passengers and Qat have been monitored over the past two months as well.
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/01/occupation-forces-committed-over-200-crimes-against-civilians-in-southern-yemen-in-past-two-months-alone/
My remark: from the Houthi side.
(A K P)
Mercenaries blockade Aden streets in protest over lack of payment by Saudi-led invaders
Dozens of Saudi-led coalition recruits have on Tuesday blockaded several main streets in the southern port city of Aden, according to local sources.
The sources affirmed that the recruits took the streets of Khur Maksar district, calling for the payment of their salaries, which have already been suspended for five months.
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/01/mercenaries-blockade-aden-streets-in-protest-over-lack-of-payment-by-saudi-led-invaders/
(A K P)
Saudi Arabia arrests 15 mercenary commanders under suspicion of cooperation with Sana’a government
Saudi Arabia has on Monday evening arrested about 15 senior leaders and officers loyal to the Hadi puppet government in Ma’rib province, and deported them to its prisons in the Sharorah region.
Sources told Yemen Press Agency that the Saudi Commission of Inquiry, which arrived yesterday,to the city of Ma’rib to investigate the missile attack that hit Tadawin, accused these commanders of being complicit in the attack.
The commission said that the mercenary leaders had sent coordination about the movement of its forces in Ma’rib to the military intelligence services of the National Salvation Government in Sana’a.
The sources explained that the investigation committee arrested eight commanders of the military battalions along with six officers, and investigated dozens of other officers and commanders.
On Monday morning, a Saudi intelligence team arrived to probe the missile attack on the joint operations room in Tadawin Camp,
(A K P)
The UAE has opened the doors for military recruitment in south Yemen’s provinces in preparation for an all-out war with the government./Al-Shahed News
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43563
(A P)
Saudi calculations hinder Yemeni legitimacy return to Aden: Ex-minister
Saudi calculations hold Yemen's legitimate authority back from restoring the interim capital of Aden, Yemeni resigned minister tweeted on Tuesday, noting that the city is now more attainable the ever.
"We'll restore Aden soon," Saleh al-Jabwani added, but "we're only delayed by calculations of the [Saudi-led] coalition, who are hosting the political leadership in Riyadh.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21534.html
and
(* A P)
Yemeni official: Hadi under Saudi pressures over gov't declaration without military section application
Saudi authorities have informed the Yemeni President, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, their objection to his nominees for sovereign portfolios in the next government, and asked for substitutes, Yemeni government source said Monday.
Saudi Arabia demanded Hadi to declare the new cabinet without application the Riyadh Agreement's military section, the source added.
Riyadh proposed a partial, nominal implementation of the pact's military section in return for the government declaration, Al-Jazeera TV quoted the source as saying.
On Sunday, deputy speaker of the Yemeni Parliament tweeted that Saudi Arabia had rejected the names proposed by President Hadi for sovereign portfolios in the new government.
"Out of their care for the President's comfort and to maintain his legitimacy, the brothers refused the proposed names," Abdul Aziz Jobari added.
"Having nominated the prime minister, the general supervisor [Saudi ambassador for Yemen Mohamed] Al Jaber will select ministers for the sovereign portfolios," he claimed.
According to a Yemeni government official, the Yemeni President has refused to sign the declaration of new government before the Southern Transitional Council's application of the military section as stated in the Riyadh pact and its acceleration mechanism.
In many occasions, Jobari accused Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of hindering a Yemeni inclusive agreement and controlling Yemen's political decision for their own interests away from their war's declared goal in the country.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21528.html
and
(* A P)
Saudi disrespect to Yemen president "obvious and deliberate"
The Saudi regime is treating Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi as an employee implementing what he is ordered to do, not as an internationally recognised president of a sovereign and independent state.
Last Wednesday, the Yemeni Saba news agency Saba, which is run by Hadi's government, reported that Hadi received Saudi vice minister of defence prince Khalid bin Salman at his residence in Riyadh. But it did not pay attention to associated photos that showed bin Salman received Hadi, not the opposite.
Government sources ruled out that the meeting dealt with the Houthi attack on the Saudi oil facility, hinting that Hadi is under mounting pressure by the Saudi decision makers over the formation of the new government and other issues.
Away from claims Hadi can not meet with King Salman bin Abdulaziz and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and that his meetings have been restricted to vice minister of defence who is responsible for the Yemen file, observers argued that summoning Hadi by a mid-level official was inappropriate from a protocol standpoint.
Despite the desperate attempt of the Saba agency to cover the Saudi humiliation in its report, Hadi could not hide the look of dismay on his face during the meeting.
The Saudi policy to weaken and subjugate the legitimate government of Yemen is continuing, observers said.
Saudi Arabia is cheating Hadi in order to make him unable to decide on key issues, observers said, adding that such a fact has become so clear to anyone.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21514.html
and
(* A P)
Saudis refused President-proposed sovereign portfolios in new gov't: Yemeni official
Saudi Arabia has rejected the names proposed by the Yemeni President Hadi for sovereign portfolios in the new government, deputy speaker of the Yemeni Parliament tweeted on Sunday.
"Out of their care for the President's comfort and to maintain his legitimacy, the brothers refused the proposed names," Abdul Aziz Jobari added.
"Having nominated the prime minister, the general supervisor [Saudi ambassador for Yemen Mohamed] Al Jaber will select ministers for the sovereign portfolios," he claimed.
According to Yemeni government official, President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi has refused to sign the declaration of new government before the Southern Transitional Council's application of the military section as stated in the Riyadh pact and its acceleration mechanism.
In many occasions, Jobari accused Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of hindering a Yemeni inclusive agreement and controlling Yemen's political decision for their own interests away from their war's declared goal in the country.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21506.html
(A K P)
Film: Separatists and Government Forces Clash in Yemen
Pro-government forces and separatists in southern Yemen exchanged artillery fire, Sunday, November 29, killing at least 13 fighters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXJvlJfypkg
(* B K P)
THE FACILITIES PROTECTION FORCE
Little-Known Military Brigades and Armed Groups in Yemen: A Series
This piece provides a deep dive into an actor that is not yet covered in much detail by traditional media; as such, it draws on OSINT, including new media sources, more than traditional ACLED analyses. Some of these sources are not used in ACLED’s data collection, yet the information garnered from them for this piece has been either triangulated or presented with the appropriate caveats.
After the 2015 war and the Houthi attempt to take over Aden, which resulted in instability in the governorate, armed groups composed of Popular Committees that participated in the fighting against the Houthis took responsibility for protecting government institutions in Aden from looting and robbery. The president of the internationally recognized government, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, reportedly announced in 2015 that the government was recruiting more fighters for the same purpose (Al Jazeera, 15 March 2015).
It was not until the beginning of 2017 (Yafa News, 11 November 2017; Aden Time, 14 November 2017) or the end of 2016, according to one source (Youtube, 9 January 2020), that the FPF was formalized as a brigade under the Support and Reinforcement Brigades (Aden Time, 14 November 2017; ACLED, 22 September 2020) and deployed to Aden and Lahij. The Support and Reinforcement Brigades are pro-Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces, which makes the FPF a de facto pro-STC force (for more on the Support and Reinforcement Brigades, see an earlier installment in this ACLED series). The FPF is sometimes also referred to as the Facilities Protection Brigade Aden-Lahij (Facebook, 19 December 2020).
According to media reporting, the FPF allegedly consists of more than 1,000 fighters (Al Yemen Al Araby, 16 November 2019) and in 2019 controlled around 42 government buildings in Aden and Lahij (Al Arabiya, 12 November 2019; Al Mashreq, 13 November 2019). The forces are led by Brigadier Ahmad Mahdi Al Afifi (a.k.a. Ahmad Bin Afif) who appears to be a young commander. He was born in Aden, but is originally from Shabwah governorate (Facebook, 16 November 2019). Colonel Asaad Abu Ibrahim is his deputy (Aden 24, 13 June 2020). The FPF’s headquarters are in Al Sulban camp in Aden (Crater Sky, 10 July 2020; Al Ayyam, 2 November 2020).
The current role assumed by the FPF of being the main force responsible for guarding state buildings in the southern governorates was established per the 2019 Riyadh Agreement between the STC and the internationally recognized Hadi government, fostered under the auspices of the Saudi king. The agreement stipulated the unification of all the FPF under one force that would be tasked with the protection of civilian facilities, government and ministry headquarters, the central bank, Aden ports, Aden’s airport, and other state facilities in Aden. In addition, there were plans to secure vital facilities — like the Mukalla, Dhabba, Mocha, and Balhaf ports — in other governorates within 90 days of the agreement. However, at time of writing, this has not come to fruition (Al Mashareq, 13 November 2019).
https://acleddata.com/2020/11/30/the-facilities-protection-force/
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp7 – cp19
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-698b-yemen-war-mosaic-698b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-697-yemen-war-mosaic-697
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-697 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-697:
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:
Was ist Ihre Meinung?
Kommentare einblendenDiskutieren Sie mit.