Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 703 - Yemen War Mosaic 703

Yemen Press Reader 703: 23. Dez. 2020: Fehleinschätzung der politischen Realität im Jemen – Solidarios Sin Fronteras im Jemen – Provinz Taiz im Krieg – Provinz Mahra im Griff der Regionalmächte

Bei diesem Beitrag handelt es sich um ein Blog aus der Freitag-Community.
Ihre Freitag-Redaktion

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

... Ein Kind will sterben Jemen: Krieg gegen Tiere und mehr

Dec. 23, 2020: Failure to realise Yemen's political reality – “Solidarios Sin Fronteras” working in Yemen – Taiz governorate in the war – Al-Mahra governorate in the grip of regional powers – A child wants to die – Yemen: War on animals – and more

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-703b-yemen-war-mosaic-703b

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

cp8a Jamal Khashoggi

cp9 USA

cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

cp12b Sudan

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage

cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy

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

(* B H)

Film: 6 years of Yemen war | Millions suffering in despair

Nearly four million people displaced, with two million children suffering malnutrition and in need urgent medical treatment: these are the grim consequences of Yemen's devastating war, now raging for six years. The World Food Programme's spokesperson called food insecurity there a 'ticking time bomb' – and urged the world to act immediately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8XBThoIdSw

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

(** B K P)

Failure to realise Yemen's political reality prolongs the conflict and crisis

I wrote last November that the Saudi-brokered peace deal — the Riyadh Agreement — between the UN-recognised Yemeni government and the UAE-backed STC will merely delay the inevitable, which is that the alternative government based in the capital Sanaa actually holds power in the country.

The National Salvation Government (NSG), which most news sources still refer to by using dated and misleading terminology such as "the Houthi rebels", has not only been in control of the state capital and most populated city, but also governs most of Yemen's other densely populated areas. The Houthi movement forms an integral if not leading part of the NSG and is supported by most of the country's armed forces. Thus the general portrayal of the conflict is often inaccurate at best and, at worst, contributes to the worsening humanitarian crisis gripping Yemen.

By the time the Riyadh Agreement was signed, it had already been postponed following months of negotiations aimed at putting aside differences between the Islah militia fighting on behalf of the Saudi-based Hadi government and those loyal to the STC in an attempt to shift the focus back to the northern-held territories of the joint Houthi and Yemen army forces.

Relations between Hadi's government and the STC deteriorated further at the start of this year, leading to the latter announcing that it had withdrawn from the agreement followed by a declaration of self-rule in the south in April.

The STC "coup" on the Yemeni island of Socotra in June, which had avoided conflict for most of the five-year war, was another development which appeared to show that the agreement existed in name only.

With both sides blaming the other for the failure to fulfil their obligations under the agreement, it is evident that the Sanaa-based de facto government has been gaining the upper hand politically and militarily despite the huge foreign support that the Hadi government and STC receive from their respective patrons. The NSG is resisting the notion that Yemen is Saudi Arabia's backyard to be exploited continually, which has contributed to it being the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, and is facing the mammoth task of rebuilding the war-torn country and staving off the world's worst humanitarian crisis in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. As an unrecognised government it has little overseas support, with the exception of Iran and Syria, with which it has diplomatic relations. On the military front, the Yemeni army and the "popular committees" continue to carry out daring cross-border attacks on Saudi territory, including some against important oil facilities, while also making slow but steady progress towards Marib, which is protected by both mountainous terrain and coalition air power.

I believe that the NSG has a strong case for being recognised as the legitimate government of Yemen instead of the puppet government under Hadi, who was in fact president on an interim basis before holding unopposed elections and later resigning before fleeing the country. Yet it is Yemen and more accurately the Yemeni people who are paying the price for their independence.

If the international community — states and NGOs alike — is serious about working to end the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen as it approaches its sixth anniversary, the current discourse needs to reflect the reality on the ground. Politicians and the media should abandon the lazy journalism and propaganda of the past five years which has promoted the claim that Yemen is merely a proxy war between the Saudi-supported Yemeni government and the "Iranian-backed Houthi rebels".

Despite optimistic reports in Gulf news outlets recently about the new government and its prospects for peace, the reality on the ground paints a different picture. There are still clashes between the Islah militia and STC forces according to local sources in the oil-rich Shabwah province. An alliance based on mutual opposition to the NSG will yield neither long-term stability nor peace for Yemen.

The current revival of the Riyadh Agreement, the redeployment of forces to the northern Houthi territories and the apparent fulfilment of a new government formation is a last-ditch attempt by the Saudi-led coalition to achieve what it has been failing to do, namely overthrow the NSG so that it can re-install Hadi. I stand by my argument last year that such an agreement is destined to fail as there is no concrete power or legitimacy at its core. It is a situation whereby a mercenary force is fighting on behalf of an exiled government with no popular support in the homeland. A substantial political and peaceful settlement to the conflict in Yemen and steps to aid humanitarian efforts can only be realised once we better understand Yemen's state of affairs and its power politics – by Omar Ahmed

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201222-failure-to-realise-yemens-political-reality-prolongs-the-conflict-and-crisis/

and the author’s article from Nov. 8, 2019: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191108-riyadh-delays-the-inevitable-the-houthis-have-the-power-in-yemen-hadi-has-no-authority/

My comment: The “facts on the ground” of course include that the Sanaa government is a key example of despotic and bad governance.

(** B H)

Eva Erill: "The crux of all the misinformation about Yemen is the sale of weapons"

With the small organization that they founded almost six years ago, Eva, Noelia and Faten, along with Hussein and Widad, manage to bring aid to a population abandoned by the International Community, which prefers to continue selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, the country that bombs the people Yemeni and condemns him to suffer the worst humanitarian emergency in the world.

Eva Erill is co-founder of Solidarios Sin Fronteras , the only NGO created in Spain, which operates in Yemen. Before that, she has worked for 14 years in humanitarian aid in Ethiopia. Its objective is to help as much as possible a people that has been ignored by our western societies, which have been supporting and fueling for almost six years a war that has left almost 300 thousand dead, among which more than 180 thousand are children. Thanks to their team, Noelia, Faten, Hussein and Widad manage to do incredible things: serve thousands of people who have lost everything.

Eva Evrill: Saudi Arabia attacks Yemen with the alleged idea that it wants to restore Hadi's power, but this is not true. Saudi Arabia wants to keep Yemen's resources. Yemen has always been their backyard. In Yemen there are areas where there is a lot of oil. He wants to make a gas pipeline in the south, in the area of the Gulf of Aden and he needs the territory of Yemen. Are a lot of things. Initially, the Houthis have the support of the people. They have it because in the end the Houthis are fighting against foreign powers: the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia. In the beginning it is David against Goliath. This explains why at first people supported the Houthis. But that doesn't last because the Houthis are starting to behave as deplorably as the others. They don't drop bombs from the air, but they start to have secret prisons, people disappear,to mistreat women, to humiliate them, to force them to cover themselves. In Europe there is a very romantic idea of the Houthis, because they are anti-United States. But be very careful with that.

It's funny because the people who kicked Saleh out in the Arab Spring have now deified him after being killed by the Houthis. The people right now tell you: “Yes ... Saleh was corrupt, he stole, he was a dictator, but Saleh did not get us into any war like that. With Saleh my children were able to go to school and they did not get a missile on their heads. So, within what is now, I would prefer Saleh. "

We have been giving talks, conferences, writing, doing interviews for more than five years, but the truth is that in Spain what does not appear on television does not exist. There so far, I have not succeeded. A Jordi Évole or a Wyoming would do more to make Yemen visible by giving us a voice than all the conferences I can do. In a television program,How many million viewers have no idea what is happening in Yemen? It would be very powerful to go on television and to be able to say that Spain is the world's fourth largest seller of arms to Saudi Arabia, that this armament, which has multiplied since the war began, kills a child in Yemen every 11 minutes and that this is financed also with our tax money.

The crux of all the misinformation about Yemen is the arms sale. It is the reason the war has been silenced. Here they have talked about Syria and other wars, but nothing about Yemen. Right now in Europe everyone sells weapons, except for a few exceptions in the Nordic countries, and except for Germany and Denmark who play yes, but no.

But we are in 2020 and the cholera epidemic continues. The biggest cholera epidemic in the history of mankind. It is said fast. But it is not only cholera, it is also dengue, diphtheria, malaria ... And now comes cpvid-19. A disease that is attacking an absolutely malnourished population that has no sanitary means to combat it. At the beginning, there were 500 respirators for the 30 million inhabitants, and they were also in the south. There are hardly any PCR tests. 80 percent of the hospitals do not work, there is no electricity, there is no drinking water, therefore, the machines do not work.

The official data is not real because all parties are hiding data.

One of the changes that the war has brought is that women have had to leave home to work and to maintain the home. At the project level, I believe that the fact that we are all women is nothing more than an advantage. First, Faten can do what many men in Yemen could not, which is talking to families, going into houses, talking to women, teachers, children, and asking questions. All this is forbidden to men. A man cannot enter a house in Yemen and talk to a woman.

There is a very important rule in humanitarian aid: whenever possible, do not give money. We will never hand over money. We deliver the blankets, the food boxes, we pay for the water, but we never give money. But much less men. Always to women. Because the woman is going to use the money to feed the children. In men it is not so clear. Take into account the problem of qat, a drug that 95 percent of men in Yemen chew and that can cost up to six dollars a daily ration. Sometimes my hairs stand on end when I see men receiving hundred dollar bills from big NGOs. There is a basic rule in all this: give all the money to the mothers, to the women.

In the beginning, we started with our food project to attend to the famine emergency. We started with 15 boxes of food a month and now we are giving about 200 that are distributed to 200 families. Seven or eight months later, we started the water project and installed reservoirs to give 5,000 people water every month. We are also in three camps for displaced persons and thanks to these projects we have managed to make the cholera outbreak plummet in them. It really is amazing. If you think about it, for every euro that people pay, we are capable of giving 128 liters of water.

I would also like to talk about our latest project that has been with us for two and a half years, is that of breakfast in schools to protect children. During the war, child marriage has increased dramatically and children are continuously abducted to go to war. Even before the war, child marriage was a problem in Yemen, but it had been reduced, thanks to international pressure, to 17 percent (girls married before the age of 18). We are now at 72 percent. It is brutal. More than 50% marry them before the age of 15.

That is all part of a process: the family cannot feed its children. In Yemen, children are the future of the home and the family is understood in a very different way than the Western way. The elderly person is cared for by their children. When families have no money and cannot feed their children, what is their recourse? Marry the girl. When you ask people, they answer that because of the violence and the girls being raped, they prefer that another family protect them and give them food, with the promise that they will not touch them.

But this is not true. In fact, the first thing that happens is that the girl leaves school, and is taken to a house where she is enslaved, abused, raped and pregnant many times, without any contact with her family or friends. Girls under 12 who have no childhood. So this project begins because a teacher notices that many girls start to miss school.

We started to bring food in a first school where 120 girls were missing. Suddenly, the word begins to spread and many of the girls who have left begin to return. The families accept that if we give them food they will keep it a little bit at school.

From day one, our way of working has been to show everything we do in networks and on our website. We put pictures of each family that receives food, each time we fill the water tanks or each time breakfast is distributed… I have always thought that the donor has the same right to know what you are doing regardless of what they donate. Last year they gave us the award for transparency and good management on the monthly euro platform.

https://www.elsaltodiario.com/mapas/eva-eril-el-quid-de-toda-la-desinformacion-sobre-yemen-es-la-venta-de-armamento

(** B H K)

Oxfam: A crisis with no end in sight: How the ongoing crisis in Taiz Governorate continues to put civilians at risk

December 2020 marks two years since the warring parties came together to sign the Stockholm Agreement, a UN-brokered accord that contained three parts:

The Taiz Understanding, whereby the parties agreed to establish a joint committee to address the situation in Taiz, a city that has been effectively under siege since the conflict escalated in 2015.

Stockholm was the first time in over two years that the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Ansar Allah leadership had met, and it represented an important window of opportunity for further discussion.
However, two years on, the results of the peace talks are still only partially felt on the ground.

Throughout the conflict, protection of civilians has remained a major concern.

There are few other places in Yemen where the conflict has so dramatically affected the lives of ordinary Yemenis than Taiz Governorate. Taiz city, the governorate’s capital, has been at the centre of some of the most intense fighting Yemen has seen, primarily between Ansar Allah, which controls much of northern Yemen, and the internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi- and UAE-led coalition.

This briefing note outlines some of the main protection concerns facing IDPs and host communities in Taiz Governorate. It is based on six focus group discussions (FGDs) with members of Oxfam’s community-based protection networks (CBPNs) from a total of 18 IDP and host communities. The meetings were held with separate groups of men and women in two locations in Taiz governorate in October 2020. Individual interviews were also carried out with staff from 10 local humanitarian organizations based in Taiz.

The findings paint a grim picture. People explained how they no longer feel safe and are unable to access the basic services they need to survive, including food, clean water and healthcare. Many have been displaced more than once over the past six years, and the ongoing conflict has had a devastating impact on their health and well-being. Many of the indirect consequences of the conflict – including a shortage of services, lack of livelihood opportunities, and tensions between communities that have been thrown together and must share limited resources – are also increasing people’s sense of insecurity and leading them to take desperate measures that often present their own risks.

Over 3 million people live in Taiz Governorate – around 11.3% of the country’s population.9 Since the escalation of the conflict in 2015, Taiz – and in particular Taiz city, the governorate’s capital – has been a hotspot for fighting, and violations of IHL have been documented on the part of all parties to the conflict. Ongoing hostilities in and around the city of Taiz, including in residential areas, have seen protracted exchanges of heavy artillery fire, as well as indiscriminate shelling, sniper fire, missile attacks, the use of landmines and airstrikes.

Taiz Governorate has suffered the worst civilian death toll in relative terms, with 2,300 killed since the conflict escalated. This accounts for 19% of the 12,000 civilian conflict fatalities reported in Yemen between 2015 and 2019.11 Between April and September 2020, there were 226 civilian casualties directly resulting from the conflict in Taiz.12 Taiz also has the highest number of land mines recorded in Yemen. Between 2015 and 2019, they have caused injury and disability to around 1,040 people in Taiz. Some 160 of Yemen’s 685 landmine deaths between 2015 and 2019 happened in Taiz Governorate.13 Taiz also has the highest number of people who have been injured or disabled as a result of mines, with 134 casualties, and the largest number of minedamaged houses (70)

The heavy exchanges that have marked hostilities in and around Taiz since the escalation of the conflict, including intensive airstrikes and shelling, have destroyed civilian property, infrastructure and livelihoods. Between January 2019 and September 2020, 209 civilian houses, 16 vehicles, 13 farms, 18 businesses and a water facility were damaged or destroyed in Taiz as a direct result of the conflict. Three public markets and an IDP camp were also hit.

In 2019, seven health facilities were targeted, affecting access to medical care for 32,589 households, while attacks on four education facilities affected over a thousand households

Hostilities have also been marked by severe constraints on humanitarian access and civilians’ freedom of movement. The de facto authorities in the northern parts of the country have imposed a near siege-like state on Taiz city since 2015,17 despite the commitments in the Stockholm Agreement. Access to and within the city has been a major challenge for civilians as well as to humanitarian organizations, undermining the latter’s ability to deliver aid to affected communities. Direct roads and humanitarian corridors into the city continue to be closed from the north, forcing civilians to take long detours to access basic services.

The closure of the main road connecting Al-Houban district with Taiz city in 2015 separated the eastern parts of the city from its central and western parts. This road was the main lifeline and safe passage for civilians and supplies in and out of the city. Since its closure in 2015, access to the city has only been allowed through one checkpoint controlled by Ansar Allah, who limit the amount of goods that can be brought in to the city. As a result, civilians and supplies travel on unpaved and narrow roads through valleys and mountains, multiple checkpoints and areas in conflict. This puts drivers and passengers in danger, as well as forcing them to undertake extremely long and expensive journeys. During intense fighting, civilians depend on donkeys and camels to transport food and medicines on mountain trails.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/crisis-no-end-sight-how-ongoing-crisis-taiz-governorate-continues-put-civilians-risk

Full report: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/bn-crisis-taiz-yemen-211220-en.pdf

(** B P)

Al-Mahra: Where Regional Powers Define Local Politics

Executive Summary

Although far from the frontlines of Yemen’s civil war, Al-Mahra governorate remains an important battleground for Gulf powers competing for influence in the conflict. A Saudi military buildup in Al-Mahra, purportedly aimed at slowing the flow of Houthi-bound weapons from Iran, reached a tipping point in February when fighting broke out over the mounting restrictions on cross-border trade. The clashes immediately preceded the appointment of a new governor who has been less divisive than his predecessor and has found some success managing anti-Saudi tensions in the governorate.

However, despite the political shakeup and the new direction it signals, numerous competing interests remain at odds on the local and regional levels. This paper focuses on the most recent shifts in these political dynamics — among local and regional players — including the politics behind and impact of southern separatists’ recent gains in nearby Socotra. It looks at how local authorities have handled challenges to Riyadh’s commanding presence and influence, a result of its military dominance as well as its financial support for local tribes and armed groups. In recent months, Mahri customs officials have made formal complaints about Saudi military interference at the Shahin border crossing. Human Rights Watch also has accused Saudi troops of disappearing and torturing Mahris based on alleged ties to Qatar, Omani intelligence and Hezbollah.

Against this backdrop, questions linger over local concerns about Saudi ambitions to build an oil pipeline through Al-Mahra, how Oman’s new sultan will handle the Saudi border buildup and how much influence Qatar and anti-Saudi allies are actually exerting in the governorate.

from Introduction

Al-Mahra’s relationship with Saudi forces, who are well-entrenched about three years after entering the governorate, has been tumultuous. Saudi forces occupy sea, air and land ports in the governorate.[4] Local opposition groups had demanded Riyadh pull its troops out of the governorate through increasingly frequent peaceful sit-ins, demonstrations, vigils and occasional violent confrontations.[5] However, on February 17, 2020, a convoy of Saudi forces accompanied by Yemeni forces from the Special Task Force Battalion was ambushed by tribal gunmen on the road leading to Al-Mahra’s Shahin border crossing with Oman. The convoy was part of a patrol tasked with carrying out daily inspections of Al-Mahra’s ports, as part of efforts to prevent the smuggling of military technology from Iran to the Houthi rebels.[6]

The Saudis, who later claimed those involved in the ambush were part of an organized crime and smuggling network, responded to the attacks with Apache helicopter gunships, wounding a number of the suspected militants.[7] While there were no significant casualties from the attacks, the incident underscored how explosive the Saudi relationship had become with local tribesmen who had long complained about interference with cross border trade routes. It once again tested the Saudi presence and precipitated a political shakeup that ushered to power a popular former Mahri governor, Mohammed Ali Yasser, to manage the competing groups.

Despite the growing Saudi military buildup in its backyard, Oman has been the most influential foreign power among Mahris, and a prominent mediator in the wider Yemeni conflict. In addition to its border with Al-Mahra, Oman shares cultural, security and economic interests with Mahri tribes that Muscat has nurtured over the years through offering them perks like Omani citizenship, political refuge during times of crisis, monthly salaries and aid projects in the Yemeni governorate. Saudi Arabia has sought influence in Al-Mahra not only through building up its forces in the governorate since 2018, but also through a soft power campaign that mirrors the Omani approach. A leaked document detailing coalition disbursements to armed groups in Al-Mahra indicates Riyadh has bought the loyalty of thousands of tribesmen (See Annex A).

from Conclusion

Al-Mahra’s historically consensus-based ruling style has been put to the test since the intervention of Saudi forces in the governorate starting in late 2017. Tension came to a head in February 2020, when several Yemeni soldiers guarding a Saudi convoy carrying out routine inspections at an important border crossing were ambushed by tribesmen. It marked the end of pro-Saudi Governor Bakrit’s time in office. In his place, Yasser, a seasoned Mahri politician with a good reputation in the governorate, was appointed to prevent competing power brokers from spinning out of control.

After more than six months on the job, Yasser has proven reasonably capable of bringing together Al-Mahra’s influential figures to address differences, and has calmed armed clashes that had been intensifying since Saudi forces began exerting more control in the governorate. He has had to contend with shifting alliances as Riyadh reached out financially and through proposals for development projects to secure the loyalty of Mahri tribesmen. However, local political dynamics have started to change markedly once again, since the UAE-backed STC’s power grab on the Socotra archipelago, which is in many ways considered an extension of Al-Mahra.

The change of power on the island marks a win for the Emiratis, who abandoned attempts to exert influence in Al-Mahra in 2017 after locals rejected Abu Dhabi’s attempts to run the paramilitary force it built there. Building on the Socotra takeover and broader momentum throughout the south after declaring self-rule in April, STC attempts to hold demonstrations in Al-Mahra’s capital in July met a backlash by Yasser’s security forces, tribes allied with Al-Hurayzi and the sit-in committee – by Casey Coombs

https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/12284

(** B H K)

The Child Mukhtar: “I want to die!”

His dream was to back to school

Mukhtar Abdu Ali Saeed Al-haddad (9 years old) became the only son to his parents and the only brother to his three sisters. Since his childhood, Mukhtar’s dream was to hold his school bag and wear the green school uniform, just like his older brother Ammar, who was one year older, and also like the other children of the village, and to participate in their everyday marathon to their school, which is located 2 kilometers away from the village.

However, the war turned Mukhtar’s and his family’s life upside down, ruining their simple life. In the mooring of Tuesday, September 15, 2015, at 10:00 am, Saudi/UAE-led coalition bombed a rain-waterway bridge located near “Makshalah” village in Bani Saad province, 48 kilometers south of Al-Mahwit governorate. This happened while Mukhtar and his brother were herding sheep near the bridge.

Fragments of the missile that was fired flew everywhere, some of which hit the older brother, Ammar, on the chest leading to his immediate death, and some hit Mukhtar on both his skinny legs and one of his upper thighs causing him to lose one of his legs as it was later amputated.

After those moments, the child’s life has turned into a state of permanent disability; the catastrophe came double: Mukhtar at once lost his only brother and he became disabled which means that running to school is now just a dream that can never come true.

When I went to see Mukhtar in the summer of 2018, his father told me about how tragic Mukhtar’s life has become, how traumatized he was about losing his brother, and the state of panic that he was suffering from. Not far from his father and I, Mukhtar was standing on his remaining leg, leaning on his crutches, wearing ragged pants and a buttonless shirt revealing his chest. I asked him about his old dream. He answered in a shaky throaty voice:

“It’s over! I don’t have any dreams! My dream was to go to school with my brother, but now I don’t want anything anymore. My brother is gone; my leg was amputated; I can’t walk properly; the school is very far; I don’t want anything anymore!”

Mukhtar told me his version of the incident of his injury and his brothers’ death by saying:

I repeated the question to Mukhtar: “What do want to do now?” He replied with bitterness: “Nothing! I want nothing. I want to die so I can meet my brother in heaven and be with him.”

https://mwatana.org/en/the-child-mukhtar-i-want-to-die/

(** B D)

Yemen: War on animals amid the civil war

This special investigation, from #HolmAkhdar reveals that 34 documented murders of rare animals occurred during the year 2020. also records the number of Arabian leopards poached over the past years in Yemen.

https://holmakhdar.org/news/investigations/3508/

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics

(A H P)

[Hadi] Yemeni gov't demands Covid-19 tests for arrivals in country

Arrivals in Yemen need to undergo PCR tests to prove they are free from Covid-19, the UN-recognized government-run supreme anti-coronavirus committee said on Monday.
Starting from next Friday, all newcomers to Yemeni lands will have to go through PCR tests 72 hours before their arrival, the committee said in a statement carried by the Aden-based Saba.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21977.html

and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/30818

(B H)

Yemen: COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Monthly Report (November 2020)

Health partners remain concerned that under-reporting continues for various reasons and that the official epi-curve underestimates the extent of COVID-19 in Yemen.

Other factors that have had a negative impact on the COVID-19 response include a lack of adaptive behaviour by the population to reduce transmission, severe funding shortages for health workers and personal protective equipment (PPE) and long delays in importing COVID-19 response supplies. Partners continued working towards increasing surveillance; deploying dedicated COVID-19 staff within agencies; tracking the impact of the virus on routine priority health programmes; refining messaging to encourage behavioural change; and boosting intensive care unit (ICU) capacity.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-covid-19-preparedness-and-response-monthly-report-november-2020

(B H)

UNFPA Response in Yemen: Monthly Situation Report #11 November 2020

Partners prepare for a second wave of COVID-19 in Yemen. As of 30 November, the number of reported confirmed COVID-19 cases had reached 2,077 with 607 associated deaths and 1,381 recoveries. While it is unclear when a second wave will occur, it is likely to peak in the winter months, and it could be more robust and sustained than the initial wave, especially if it overlaps with the influenza season.

UNFPA remains a frontline partner in the COVID-19 response in Yemen, having provided PPE items to over 200 hospitals, reaching over a million people, and training more than 300 health workers in infection prevention and control.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unfpa-response-yemen-monthly-situation-report-11-november-2020

cp2 Allgemein / General

(* A K P)

Interactive Map of Yemen War

https://yemen.liveuamap.com/

(* A K)

HOUTHIS SHOWCASE THEIR GROUND, NAVAL FORCES AS SAUDI-BACKED GOVT IS IN DEEP CRISIS (MAP UPDATE)

https://southfront.org/houthis-showcase-their-ground-naval-forces-as-saudi-backed-govt-is-in-deep-crisis-map-update/

HOUTHIS CLAIM THEY SHOT DOWN COMBAT DRONE OF SAUDI-LED COALITION (MAP UPDATE)

https://southfront.org/houthis-claim-they-shot-down-combat-drone-of-saudi-led-coalition-map-update/

(* B)

Yemen explanatory weblog for Dutch Readers

Two weeks ago I returned from two reasonably (exiting) weeks in Shabwa, Yemen. Sixty-three sponsors traveled with me via Whatsapp, they already know almost everything.

You could already hear me on the radio and see some images (with the mobile, real camera was not allowed) on instagram .

Three times two (also the lamest versions) reports are waiting at the newspaper for space, Yemen does not have as much priority as say Brexit or Corona.

But time heals all wounds so soon you will read more about how Yemeni journalists languish in dungeons, what other Yemenis are doing about it, about young Ethiopians who unsuspectingly chase a dream and come true in Yemen, but also how the governor of Shabwa invited us to show his blue print for all of Yemen (and what can be bargained for)

https://abumelle.org/2020/12/22/yemenlog-jemenitisch-nieuws-dus-uit-de-pers-verzameld-en-met-soms-wat-duiding/

(* B P)

ON JANUARY 25TH 2021 PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD ARE COMING TOGETHER TO CALL FOR AN END TO THE WAR IN YEMEN

Anti-war, Yemeni and humanitarian organisations from across the world are coming together to call an international day of action on January 25th 2021. We are asking organisations to call protests in towns and cities around the world.

This is a situation in which action can make a difference. The Saudis are making no headway in the war. Their war coalition cracked in 2019 when the UAE pulled out and they face serious economic problems at home. International opinion against the war is growing and leading politicians in the West, including President-elect Joe Biden, have been forced to speak out against it.

We call on people around the world to protest the war on January 25th 2021 just days after Biden’s inauguration and the day before Saudi Arabia’s ‘Davos in the Desert’ Future Investment Initiative.

Here’s what you can do to help:

Click here to pledge to joining the Day of Action.

Register your protest here.

Share this video to raise awareness.

Tweet using this model tweet.

Find your nearest protest below…

https://www.stopwar.org.uk/world-says-no-to-war-on-yemen-25-jan-2021/

Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKf5vrzDwrY

(* A K pH)

Sana’a Confuses Riyadh by Denying Targeting The Oil Tanker in Jeddah

Sana'a leadership always affirms that its war against the Saudi-Emirati coalition countries is an open war that will not stop unless the aggression and siege stop.

It has officially announced, more than once , that all Saudi facilities, including airports, oil companies and sea ports, are legitimate targets for its Rocketry and Air Forces.

When carrying out any operation, Sana'a does not hesitate to adopt it immediately, then sending multiple military messages, as happened after targeting "Aramco" in Jeddah last month.

This is what makes a big question mark about what was said to be responsible for the recent attack on an oil tanker in the port of Jeddah.

The leadership of the "coalition" indicated that the attack on the Singapore-flagged tanker, BW Rhine, in the Saudi port of Jeddah, last Monday, was carried out with a booby-trapped boat, attempting to link it with Ansarullah, because the "coalition" preceded this hint by allegations that it thwarted more than a naval attack by booby-trapped boats launched from Hodeidah.

What is new this time is that Saudi Arabia found itself in a state of deep confusion; The allegations that it previously cited last month and used them as a pretext to tighten the blockade on Hodeidah port and prevent the entry of oil tankers, are no longer feasible today.

The port of Jeddah is more than 300 nautical miles away from the port of Hodeidah, a fact that makes Riyadh to refrain from throwing charges haphazardly, as the incident will remain subject to regional and international suspicion.

The Saudi authorities, which during the past years did not hesitate to expand the circle of their enemies in the region, are trying today to internationalize their crisis, represented by its failure to protect its sea ports, airports and oil installations.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/16744/Sana-a-Confuses-Riyadh-by-Denying-Targeting-The-Oil-Tanker-in-Jeddah

(* B E P)

New Oil Spill Threatens Environment, Communities in Yemen

A new Yemeni study has raised the alarm on the southern Shabwa governorate facing the threat of environmental catastrophe brought about by oil leaks hemorrhaging from rundown production and export pipelines.

Prepared by a Romania-based consultancy, the study urged the government and local authorities to take the findings seriously and commit operating companies to fixing leaks.

It also called for enforcing speedy and proactive measures to avert any repercussions the oil spills can have on locals and agriculture before it is too late.

Oil pumped into the dilapidated pipeline in Sector No. 4 extending from Ayyad to Al-Nashima Port on the Arabian Sea needs to stop given the scale of environmental pollution taking place, the study recommended.

According to Abdulminaim Habtoor, a Yemeni academic who took part in preparing the study, silence shrouds the suffering of locals in Shabwa, where some are taking advantage of the leak to plunder oil.

“We conducted a detailed study on the effects of oil pollution resulting from oil spills along the production network of pipelines in Yemen, in particular in the pipeline that was established in 1987. Multiple samples were taken from oil spills along the pipeline,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Habtoor confirmed that staggering levels of pollution were recorded in groundwater deposits. This gravely affects locals, livestock and agricultural crops.

The study’s recommendations urged swift maintenance and contracting specialized companies to tackle present pollution.

https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2697241/new-oil-spill-threatens-environment-communities-yemen = http://en.adenpress.news/news/30822

(* B H K)

Nicht nur der Krieg

Bevölkerung im Jemen leidet unter Sanktionen (gebührenpflichtig)

https://www.unsere-zeit.de/nicht-nur-der-krieg-139782/

(* B P)

Just let journalists do our jobs

In Yemen's Houthi-controlled north, four journalists — Abdul Khaleq Amran, Akram Al-Walidi, Hareth Humaid, and Tawfiq Al-Mansouri — are on death row. They are charged with treason and conspiring with "the enemy" — the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis.

In Aden, the internationally recognized government's capital in Yemen's south, photojournalist Nabeel Al-Qitee'e was gunned down in front of his home on June 2.

According to the United Nations, across Yemen there have been more than a dozen more deaths or threats of physical violence against journalists, 24 seizures of media organizations, 26 closures of TV channels and newspaper companies, and 27 attacks on media organizations and journalists' homes. All, including the death sentences imposed on the four journalists, are in violation of international human rights law.

https://us.cnn.com/2020/12/21/opinions/press-freedom-world-us-journalists-elbagir/index.html

(* B K P)

In Yemen, No End in Sight to the World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis

Five articles from the past year that explain how the quagmire in Yemen sparked fierce political battles in Washington as millions teeter on the brink of starvation.

After six years of conflict, Yemen remains mired in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with a Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi militias in a grueling proxy war of Middle East rivals that has left millions of people on the brink of famine. United Nations-brokered negotiations between the warring factions have started, sputtered, and stalled numerous times, leaving the country in a grim limbo with no clear offramp for a lasting peace agreement. Meanwhile, top U.N. officials are warning that international donors have given barely half of what aid groups say is needed to supply the embattled civilian population with food, medicine, and other life-saving humanitarian assistance.

In Washington, the conflict in Yemen has sparked some of the most intriguing political fights in the Trump administration, as a coalition of conservative Republican and progressive Democratic lawmakers banded together to try to halt U.S. military support for the Saudi-led coalition and reassert Congress’s war power authorities.

Yet President Donald Trump has repeatedly vetoed or fended off legislation aimed at completely halting U.S. military support or at restricting presidential authorities to greenlight military actions abroad without prior congressional approval.

President-elect Joe Biden could alter U.S. policy on Yemen, bringing an end to the battles in Washington—but the conflict there still has no end in sight.

Here are five of the best Foreign Policy pieces this year on Yemen and its fallout.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/12/22/yemen-trump-biden-middle-east-iran-houthi-rebels-peace-talks-humanitarian-crisis-top-reads/

(* B P)

IMO reports progress on contingency planning for FSO SAFER off Yemen

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has reported significant progress with its contingency planning efforts to prepare for a possible oil spill from the floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) SAFER

Contingency planning is taking place alongside preparations for a UN-led assessment mission on the FSO SAFER, scheduled to take place in early 2021. In line with the scope of the mission that was recently agreed, a UN team will board the FSO for 30 days to assess its state and carry out light repairs. However, the scope of the mission does not include offloading the oil currently on board the FSO.

Now, the IMO provides technical input to the UN interagency process, which is led by the UN Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen (OSESGY), with participation from UN OCHA, UNOPS, IMO and UNEP.

IMO's contingency planning efforts are conducted by a joint effort of key stakeholders in the region, who aim to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and management of emergency response operations in the event of a spill from the FSO SAFER.

https://safety4sea.com/imo-reports-progress-on-contingency-planning-for-fso-safer-off-yemen/

(* B P)

Film: Zehn Jahre Arabischer Frühling - und jetzt?

Gastgeberin Prof. Dr. Marita Krauss, Historikerin an der Universität Augsburg, hatte zwei Menschen zu Gast, die die Region gut kennen

Dr. Said AlDailami ist im Jemen geboren und lebt seit seinem 9. Lebensjahr in Deutschland. Nach seiner Offiziersausbildung sowie seiner Promotion in Staats- und Sozialwissenschaften war er Leiter des Regionalbüros für Tunesien, Algerien und Libyen der Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung in Tunis, mittlerweile ist er als Leiter des Referats für internationale Stipendien der Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung zurück in München.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cY43Eez1rw

(* B H P)

Das Leid der anderen

Wie groß muss die Not sein, wenn Menschen im Jemen sagen, mehr als Covid-19 fürchteten sie den Hunger?

Wenn es um Corona geht, ist Geld da. Aber wenn es umhumanitäre Not geht, tun wir nicht einmal das Mindeste. Zum Beispiel im Jemen. Der Leitartikel.

„Das ist ein Weckruf“, sagte vor wenigen Tagen David Miliband, Präsident der Hilfsorganisation International Rescue Committee (IRC). Auf einer „Watchlist“ führt das IRC die Länder auf, die aufgrund von Kriegen, Klimawandel und der Corona-Pandemie gleich dreifach bedroht sind. Demnach ist das Land mit dem höchsten Risiko einer humanitären Notlage im Jahr 2021 der Jemen. 24 Millionen der 30 Millionen Menschen in dem Kriegsland sind auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen. 24 Millionen Menschen. So viele wie die Bevölkerung von Bayern und Baden-Württemberg zusammengenommen.

Was verbirgt sich hinter dieser Zahl? 24 Millionen Menschen hungern. Jeden Tag. Sie sind ohne Obdach, ohne Schutz. Jeden Tag. Sie sind krank. Sie sehen den Tod, jeden Tag. Hunderttausende Male.

Und? Bringt diese Nachricht wirklich den erhofften Weckruf?

Die „Watchlist“ zeige, „was für ein Leiden auf uns zukommen wird, wenn wir Krisen, die dringend internationale Aufmerksamkeit benötigen, vernachlässigen“, führte Miliband weiter aus. Seine Wortwahl ist interessant: „Auf uns“ wird „Leiden“ zukommen. Das klingt fast wie eine Drohung, wenn es auch sicher nicht so gemeint war. Denn wir haben doch nichts zu befürchten. Was wird tatsächlich auf uns zukommen? Bilder des Leidens. Vermitteltes Leiden. Das tatsächliche, das unmittelbare Leiden bleibt fern. Es bleibt vernachlässigt, unbeachtet. Und es bleibt unempfunden.

Sonst würde etwas geschehen. Sonst würden die Bilder des Krieges, des Hungers und der Not etwas bewirken. Warum erreicht uns dieser „Weckruf“ nicht? Warum berührt er uns nicht?

Die Corona-Pandemie verschärft die Not. Wie groß muss sie sein, wenn Menschen im Jemen sagen, mehr als Covid-19 fürchteten sie den Hunger? Können wir uns überhaupt vorstellen, was es heißt, das zu sagen? Jetzt, am Ende des Jahres 2020, ist die Mangelernährung von Kindern unter fünf Jahren im Jemen die höchste, die jemals verzeichnet wurde. Laut den Vereinten Nationen sind zwei Millionen Kinder akut vom Hungertod bedroht. Zwei Millionen. Genügt das nicht als Weckruf?

Es kann einem schwindelig werden bei den Summen, die etwa die Staaten der Europäischen Union bereit sind aufzutreiben, um die Folgen der Corona-Pandemie aufzufangen. Es ist doch immer wieder erstaunlich, was alles geht, wenn es um die Wirtschaft geht: 1,8 Billionen Euro. Eine Billion hat zwölf Nullen.

Bei einer Geberkonferenz für den Jemen im Sommer dieses Jahres haben die beteiligten Länder umgerechnet 1,2 Milliarden Euro als Hilfe zugesagt; tatsächlich benötigt würde mindestens das Doppelte. 2,4 Milliarden Euro, aufgeteilt auf Dutzende Staaten und Organisationen. In der Finanzkrise sprach man von solchen Summen als „Peanuts“. Hier würden sie endlich mal Menschen satt machen.

Nur zum Vergleich: Allein 1,8 Milliarden Euro Corona-Hilfe hat die deutsche Bundesregierung gerade zum wiederholten Male dem Flugkonzern Tui zugesichert. So viel zu der Frage, was man tun könnte. Sage niemand mehr, die Kassen seien leer – wir füllen sie nach Belieben, wenn es uns beliebt!

Doch die zugesicherte Summe, die ohnehin zu gering ist, wird auch nur sehr zögerlich gezahlt.

„Ist die Welt bereit, den Jemen von der Klippe fallen zu sehen?“, fragt die UN-Nothilfekoordination. Das ist wohl so, ja. Die Welt lässt das Land fallen, einfach so. Die Bilder des Leidens sind da. Doch das Leiden ist fern. Es bleibt unbeachtet, unempfunden. Es ist beschämend. Es ist erbärmlich.

https://www.fr.de/meinung/kommentare/das-leid-der-anderen-90147327.html

(* B H K)

Feature: Yemeni home returnees from internal displacement fall victim to Houthi-planted landmines

Khamj Shouei, a car mechanic, is one of the many victims of landmines in Yemen's northern province of Hajjah.

His tragedy began early this year, when he, his wife, and six children decided to return home after spending five years in a displacement camp on the border with Saudi Arabia.

Shouei was planning for a better future, but winds blow counter to what the ships desire.

"I wish I hadn't returned home," the 39-year-old told Xinhua, lamenting his ordeal.

"That decision has completely changed the course of my life. After I returned in February, and while I was inspecting the remains of my house and my workshop which were destroyed by the battles, a landmine exploded under my feet. I lost both of my legs," he said.

In the village of Al-Khadhra, Shouei is now confined to a wheelchair and his plans before the landmine explosion had already vanished.

The Houthis had planted tens of thousands of mines before their withdrawal, according to the UN humanitarian agencies' data.

The government-run Saba news agency reported that the army has cleared more than 32,000 landmines in the districts of Haradh, Hayran, Midi and Abs of Hajjah Province since the beginning of 2019.

"Thousands of landmines had been planted in villages, schools, and farms. Clearing these areas of landmines could take years," Yasser al-Rouhani, head of the landmine clearance division in the government forces, told Xinhua.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-12/20/c_139605005.htm

(* A P)

[Sanaa gov.] FM refutes allegations of Saudi representative to Security Council

Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf on Sunday refuted the claims of Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the United Nations that the Salvation Government's armed forces had targeted vital interests in the Saudi depth, and threatened the trade sector therein.

This came in a letter he sent to President of the Security Council for December 2020, Jerry Matjila.

The foreign minister confirmed that Saudi Arabia's representative to the United Nations ignored that the Kingdom had led an aggressive military coalition for nearly six years, which caused the killing and displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Sharaf affirmed that the Salvation Government and the armed forces are exercising their natural right to self-defense, which is guaranteed in the international law, the United Nations Charter and divine laws.

He pointed out that the armed forces target military places and vital economic facilities that move the mechanism of aggression while being keen to avoid targeting civilians.

In the letter, the foreign minister reiterated the desire of the Supreme Political Council and the National Salvation Government to enter into a real and integrated peace process through serious and courageous steps to stop the aggression and lift the siege.

He called on Saudi Arabia to sit at the negotiating table to discuss all issues and problems of concern to the two countries and establish neighborhood relations based on mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs so as to contribute to enhancing the security and stability in the region.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3120773.htm

and

(A P)

Houthi government calls for dialogue with Saudi Arabia

The Houthi government on Sunday called on Saudi Arabia to sit around the negotiation table to discuss all issues and problems of concern to the two countries and that can lay the groundwork for relations based on mutual respect and non-interference in others affairs.
The call was included in a letter sent by Houthi foreign minister Hisham Sharaf to the president of the United Nations Security Council, Jerry Matthews Matjila, according to the Houthi-run Saba news agency.
The supreme political council and the national salvation government in Yemen's capital Sanaa are looking forward to a real and comprehensive peace process through brave and serious steps ending the aggression and blockade on Yemen, the letter read.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21951.html

(A P)

Yemen [Sanaa gov.] condemns abduction of three fishermen

The General Authority for Fisheries in the Red Sea condemned on Sunday the kidnapping of three fishermen of Hajjah province while they are working at sea.

In a statement to Saba, the Authority denounced the continuing acts of piracy against traditional fishermen's boats and the aggression's attacks on fishermen, which affected thousands of them.

The statement emphasized the aggression’s insistence on its criminal practices in terrorizing fishermen and preventing them from practicing their work, using all methods of torture, starvation and siege, which is a flagrant violation of all international norms and laws.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3120696.htm

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-21941.html

(* B H K)

'They watched friend bleed': Yemen stadium attack killed ex-footballer and son

Latest Taiz bombing forces parents to keep children indoors, choosing 'safety' over love of the game

For many sports-loving children in the Yemeni city of Taiz, their morning football practice is a good reason to wake up early. Every day, they come to al-Ahli stadium to play with other youngsters and some adults, savouring in the beautiful game a short reprieve from life's uncertainties.

It's impossible to find safe playgrounds these days in Yemen's third-largest city. Attacks are commonplace, and Taiz residents say there is no place completely free from danger, as shelling and air strikes seem to target schools, hospitals, mosques, and homes indiscriminately.

The attack on 12 December killed Raimi and his son and wounded two other children. It was the latest in a series of bombings that Taiz has been witnessing since the beginning of the Yemen civil war in 2015.

The recent escalation of fighting between local forces and Houthi rebels has led to indiscriminate shelling of residential areas in the city, and more than 100 civilian casualties, many of them children, have been recorded over the past two months alone, according to the United Nations.

For many parents of young athletes, the attack on the football stadium was the final straw. They now keep their children at home, deeming safety more important than the "pleasures" of playing sports.

"As any other father who cares for his children and does not want to lose them, I won't allow them to go to the stadium anymore," said Shawqi Ahmed, whose two children were wounded in the stadium bombing.

"There are no alternative locations where my children can play safely, as the entire city is under the threat of shelling."

Bilah al-Hakimi, the secretary of the general manager of the Youth and Sports Office in Taiz, said authorities encourage talented children to practice various sports regularly, and they continue to recruit players for the national team despite the war.

However, he conceded that there was no completely safe place to practice sports in Taiz, citing that at least five main stadiums in the province had been the targets of bombing or looting since the war began.

"Talented children as well as the footballers need not only physical training but also psychological support, and we do our best to provide them with that," Hakimi told MEE.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-taiz-stadium-bombing-football-children

(A P)

Petition: Save Yemen from extinction!

Help the Yemenis by signing this petition and start a movement across the globe to end this inhumane treatment of innocent. Just like the death of George Floyd caused a unified movement across the globe, making people stand up against the constant discrimination and cruelty towards so many of our brothers and sisters, Yemen needs a similar response from us after years of cruelty and human rights violations. Thousands of innocent civilians have lost their lives in pursuit of their freedom so isn't it the same?

So to all this, we say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Let's bring peace back in Yemen.

https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-find-common-ground-and-end-conflict-in-yemen?use_react=false

(* B P)

UAE changed the calling code for Socotra Island in #Yemen to that of the UAE. They even filed a law suite claiming Socotra belongs to them.

https://twitter.com/AishaJumaan/status/1340383296383983616

Then I knew the connection and welcomed it !! I asked her when did you travel to the Emirates ?? She laughed and said, "Oh my uncle, I am in Socotra with my husband Osan and his family !!" What Emirates !! I told her, but this is an external number and not your mobile number that I have stored!! And she said, "Salvation, uncle, the Yemeni numbers, no longer work in Socotra, so we cut off free Emirati numbers."

https://twitter.com/Jamal_Bin_Hejaz/status/1340366438855565312

Emirati are stealing Yemeni culture and heritage. They claimed Socotra, a UAE musician claimed a famous Yemeni song and another claimed Yemeni poems. Do they feel that inferior?

https://twitter.com/AishaJumaan/status/1340419889828270082

referring to https://twitter.com/aljrmozy_1440/status/1340374935936622592

(* B K P)

Houthis Raise the Ante as Riyadh Struggles to Disengage from Yemen’s War

While there was no confirmation of such talks from any of the parties involved, the Saudi offer of a ceasefire would represent the most significant political development in the landscape of the five-year-old war. Saudi Arabia has long wished to withdraw from the war in Yemen but lacked the upper hand to the point of having considerable leverage over the Houthis in negotiations. However, current circumstances have forced the kingdom to rethink its strategy and attempt to pull out of the conflict as fast as possible with sufficient security guarantees.

A Change in Saudi Arabia’s Strategy

Saudi Arabia’s anti-Houthi campaign in Yemen has stained the kingdom’s image due to the accusations of violations of international humanitarian law. As commented above, Saudi’s exit strategy, its military campaign to push the Houthis hard enough to get them to negotiate, has failed. T

New American Administration and New Challenges

While attempting to bring its Yemeni allies together to stand up to the Houthis and leave the conflict was a major challenge for Saudi Arabia, the kingdom is facing another challenge with the election of Joe Biden.

However, this current urgency to pull out of the war does not mean that Saudi Arabia will work extra hard to have its Yemeni allies patch up relations. Rather, it appears that the kingdom has given up trying to make them see eye-to-eye and is now completely focused on disentangling itself from the war, even if that means conceding to Houthi demands. This is underscored by Riyadh’s decision, according to sources familiar with the matter, to grant a significant Houthi demand, namely the lifting of the air, sea, and land blockade, to try and persuade the Iran-backed group to sign a ceasefire. The lifting of the blockade has always been the rebels’ number one demand to enter ceasefire negotiations, but it had always been off the table as far as the Saudis were concerned. Easing the blockade would mean facilitating arms shipments to the Iran-backed group and actually strengthening Tehran’s presence in the southern Arabian Peninsula.

Thus, the Saudi move represents how important the kingdom deems a close and healthy relationship with the U.S. since it is willing to compromise its security concerns in Yemen for the sake of maintaining good terms with Washington. One could also assess that Saudi Arabia made this compromise betting on a period of less tension with Iran during a Biden administration.

Houthis Possible Response

Looking ahead, the question will be whether the Houthis will indeed negotiate a ceasefire this time.

https://gulfif.org/houthis-raise-the-ante-as-riyadh-struggles-to-disengage-from-yemens-war/

(A H)

Jemen: Siamesische Zwillinge brauchen Hilfe aus dem Ausland

Im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen sind siamesische Zwillinge geboren worden, die nach Angaben ihrer Ärzte nur durch eine Behandlung im Ausland gerettet werden können

https://www.diepresse.com/5913652/jemen-siamesische-zwillinge-brauchen-hilfe-aus-dem-ausland

(A H P)

WHO says cannot save Siamese twin: Houthis

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it cannot airlift the Yemeni Siamese twin to receive healthcare abroad, the Houthi group said Sunday, though the agency had promised to offer help in such cases.
The WHO apologized for inability to reach positive result in terms of airlifting the twin for surgery abroad, without giving the reasons, the Houthi-run al-Masyra quoted unnamed sources as saying.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21956.html

and

(A H P)

[Sanaa gov.] Yemen’s Minister of Health calls on international aid to save the lives of newly born conjoined twins

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/19/yemens-minister-of-health-calls-on-international-aid-to-save-the-lives-of-newly-born-conjoined-twins/

and

(A H P)

[Sanaa gov.] Health Ministry Refuses to Allow US-Saudi Aggression Use Siamese Twins to Beautify it's Face

The Ministry of Health expressed its resentment and categorical rejection of the efforts of some international organizations to use the Siamese twin's suffering to beautify the ugly face of the aggressive forces which kills children.

The Director of the Health Office in the Capital, Dr. Mutahar Al-Marwani, stated to Almasirah, Monday, that the World Health Organization had expressed its willingness to transfer the Siamese twins abroad, but it became clear that it wanted to transfer them to the King Salman Center in Saudi Arabia.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/16737/Health-Ministry-Refuses-to-Allow-US-Saudi-Aggression-Use-Siamese-Twins-to-Beautify-it-s

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/22/ministry-of-health-condemns-attempts-to-use-recently-born-conjoined-twins-in-saudi-propaganda-campaign/

and

(A H P)

Saudi Arabia responds to Houthi humanitarian call

The Saudi KSRelief on Friday announced its response to a humanitarian call issued by the Houthi-run al-Sabeen Hospital concerning a Siamese twin at the hospital in Sana'a City.

In response to the al-Sabeen Hospital humanitarian call, KSRelief expressed willingness to receive the twin and provide them with medical tests and treatment by specialists in the Kingdom, the center tweeted.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21891.html

My comment: Empty promises, as facts show.

and

(B H P)

We can’t always plea for every singe case that needs medical evacuation. Sana’a airport needs to be open. Closing it by Saudi is against international law. One day, I hope to see them at Inter Criminal Court for their warcrimes in #Yemen.

https://twitter.com/AishaJumaan/status/1340353844060934144

(* B P)

Audio: Postcard from Yemen

Osama Alfakih is on the staff of Mwatana, a Yemeni human rights organization based in Sana'a. He was in Change Square in 2011 for the protests and the crackdown that followed. He tells why, despite the chaos of war that began in 2014 and continues today, he remains dedicated to the cause of human rights. He says he lives on hope.

https://www.pri.org/file/2020-12-17/postcard-yemen

(* B P)

Kampf an zwei Fronten

Aktivistinnen stoßen im Jemen auch in ihren eigenen Familien auf Widerstand. Doch ihr Wille weiterzumachen, ist ungebrochen.

Schnell erfasste das revolutionäre Feuer auch die Jugend im Jemen. Zur ersten Sitzblockade kam es in der Stadt Taizz in der Nacht, in der in Ägypten Hosni Mubarak zurücktrat. In allen großen Städten wurden ‚Plätze der Freiheit‘ und ‚Plätze des Wandels‘ eingerichtet.

In Sanaa veranstalteten die ersten Demonstrierenden ein Sit-In vor dem Universitätstor, direkt unter einem Denkmal mit der vom Propheten Mohammed überlieferten Aussage „Der Glaube ist jemenitisch, die Weisheit ist jemenitisch“. Es war wie eine Mahnung an die Jemeniten, die doch so stolz darauf sind, besonders sanft und weichherzig zu sein und sich nicht in Gewalt verwickeln zu lassen.

Menschliche Gefühle können alles auslöschen, was die Leute zu tun und woran sie zu glauben gewöhnt sind. Für Frauen war die Straße immer der schlimmste Ort gewesen. Sie waren Belästigung, ja offener Gewalt ausgesetzt, wenn sie einer Ansammlung von Männern – oder nur Schuljungen – begegneten. Aber das änderte sich auf den Kilometern, auf denen die Demonstrierenden die Straßen besetzten.

Frauen haben damals Geschichte geschrieben und sie tun es heute noch. Und ich spreche hier nicht nur von den Anführerinnen unter den Frauen, sondern von all jenen, die zwei Kämpfe auszutragen hatten: den Kampf der Revolution und den Kampf im eigenen Heim.

Als eine dieser Frauen kann ich sagen: Der Kampf im eigenen Heim ist heftiger und intensiver. Das Haus zu verlassen, Gefahren ausgesetzt zu sein, spät in der Nacht heimzukehren, von Gegnern der Revolution beschimpft und beleidigt zu werden – all das war in den Augen unserer Familien nicht akzeptabel. Der Kampf im eigenen Heim hatte emotionalen Druck und sogar Strafen zur Folge. Aber wir kannten darauf nur eine Erwiderung. Wir sagten: Die, die in der Revolution ihr Leben gelassen haben, sind für uns und für euch gestorben. Wir müssen dasselbe tun.

Heute gibt es etliche Konfliktparteien im Jemen, eines aber haben sie alle gemein: dass sie immer mehr Zerstörung anrichten

https://taz.de/Arabische-Revolution-der-Frauen-im-Jemen/!5734113/

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Siehe / Look at cp1

(B H)

Film: Students continue to be taught in six temporary schools made of straw in Midi in Hajjah governorate. These schools were built as alternatives to the destroyed schools, however, they are still lacking educational supplies, school textbooks, and teaching staff

https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1341432176018153472

(B H)

Fifty people from Taiz have concluded their medical trip to Oman where they got artificial replacements for their natural limbs lost during the Houthi war on the city. The amputees highly appreciated the humanitarian role of the Sultanate of Oman led by His Majesty Haitham bin Tarik./Crater Sky.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-44013

(* B H)

Distance education: Overcoming all challenges to build business skills and a brighter future

These Yemenis remained committed to improve their livelihoods, despite limited electricity, telecommunications and internet.

In the remote, mountainous region of Sarar, 75km north-east of Aden, 471 Yemeni men and women wave their mobile phones in the air, chasing connection as they wait for the familiar ping of the message tone to signal the start of class.

“Coverage is not stable. It comes and goes. One has to wait for the signal to make a call,” explains Alawi, 32, a father of three and day labourer living in Sarar. “Electricity, telecommunications and internet coverage is very poor here.”

Sarar is only accessible over rough, mountain terrain. Roads are almost impassable for merchants who sell their goods at heavily increased prices. People rely on harvesting rainwater from the roof and storing it in tanks. The ground water has almost dried up in these areas, and electricity, supplied by small local providers, can be off for up to a month at a time.

Supported by UNDP, For all Foundation (FAF) selected community members that were able to demonstrate an enthusiasm and drive to improve their livelihoods.

But the rapid spread of COVID-19 presented new challenges in these already remote areas. How could we deliver training to these isolated communities in a safe and healthy environment?

Why not use WhatsApp? An application most individuals are likely to have on their phones and confidently navigate. “It’s easy to use, popular and doesn’t require a strong internet connection to function,” explains Rabab, UNDP business skills trainer. What was born, was a hybrid face-to-face and online learning experience, that ensured continuous, safe support to the Yemeni people.

Some days were easier than others, but each participant demonstrated enduring commitment, motivated by the idea of one day owning their own successful business. “Unfortunately, the first day was rainy, with lightning, and we could not attend the lecture because the internet was shut down. But the lecturer was cooperative and changed the timing,” says Majdi. The trainers also sent materials for the participants to read offline, to ensure that even without a connection, they could continue learning.

Charging mobile phones was also a hurdle for households that relied on unstable power

https://www.ye.undp.org/content/yemen/en/home/stories/distance-education--overcoming-all-challenges-to-build-business-.html

(B H)

RDP: Yemen: Monthly Situation Report (November 2020)

NUTRITION

100,445 CU2 were provided with 170.11 MTs of BSFP commodities through hundreds of food distribution points in 12 districts of IBB, Taizz, and Dhamar governorates.

1,540 MAM cases received therapeutic supplements of Plumpy Sup & WSB+ throughout 12 supported health facilities in Sama and As Silw districts of Taizz governorate.

96,544 individuals were benefitted from awareness-raising campaigns on health and nutrition key messages in 12 districts of IBB, Taizz, and Dhamar governorates.

HEALTH

Providing healthcare services through RDP-supported health facilities to benefit a number of 2,887 individuals in Rahaba district, Marib governorate.

FOOD SECURITY & LIVELIHOOD

Launching the first distribution round of in-kind food assistance – unconditional voucher transfer – to serve 120 HHs of IDPs and most vulnerable marginalized within the second phase of emergency food assistance project in Rada’a district of Al Bayda governorate.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-monthly-situation-report-november-2020

(* B H)

WFP Yemen Country Brief, November 2020

The new countrywide Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) findings which were released on 03 December revealed that in the first half of 2021, the number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity is anticipated to reach 16.2 million people.
Additionally, for the first time in two years, pockets of IPC 5 conditions are reported, with 47,000 people facing IPC 5 conditions.

  • Under the November cycle, WFP targeted 8.2 million people with food assistance. Of these, 5.4 million people were targeted with in-kind food assistance, 1.6 million people with commodity vouchers and 1.2 million people with cash-based transfers.
  • On 08 November, the first families in Sana’a city have been retargeted and biometrically registered with fingerprint capture to receive WFP assistance.
    Targeting and biometric registration activities in three districts in Sana’a city are proceeding, with the aim to reach 150,000 people within the first phase.
  • In November, WFP reached around 126,000 beneficiaries (18,000 participants) with Food Assistance for Assets (FFA) support. FFA participants worked on 319 community assets, including rural road rehabilitation, and water harvesting schemes.
  • In November, WFP’s Bilateral Service Provision (BSP) delivered 1.7 million litres of fuel to WHO and 3.2 million litres to UNICEF to support the uninterrupted services of hospitals and local water and sanitation services, respectively.
  • The mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (mVAM) Food Security and Vulnerability Update (July-September 2020) reviewed food security trends in the third quarter of 2020.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/wfp-yemen-country-brief-november-2020

(B H)

Map: Yemen Emergency Dashboard, November 2020

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-emergency-dashboard-november-2020

(* B H)

Film: “The thing that worries me most is that the war will continue on and on into the future. It will be my future.”- Amina. #Yemen's children need peace

https://twitter.com/WFPUSA/status/1341186696050860032

(B H)

Map: Yemen: Access Constraints as of 21 December 2020

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-access-constraints-21-december-2020

(B H)

UNFPA Response in Yemen: Monthly Situation Report #11 November 2020

A new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for Yemen signals that pockets of famine-like conditions (IPC Phase 5) have already returned to Yemen for the first time in two years and that the number of people experiencing such catastrophic levels of food insecurity could nearly triple from 16,500 currently to 47,000 people between January and June 2021. At the same time, the IPC analysis warns that the number of people facing emergency food insecurity is poised to increase from 3.6 million to 5 million people in the first half of 2021. As caregivers in families women are disproportionately impacted by food insecurity, particularly pregnant women. An estimated 1.2 million pregnant and lactating women are found to be acutely malnourished in Yemen.

Partners prepare for a second wave of COVID-19 in Yemen. As of 30 Nove

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unfpa-response-yemen-monthly-situation-report-11-november-2020

(* B H)

UNICEF Yemen Humanitarian Situation Report reporting period 1-31 October 2020

The October Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Malnutrition analysis revealed a near 10 per cent increase in cases of acute malnutrition in 2020 in the southern governorates of Yemen. The greatest increase is in cases of young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with a 15.5 per cent rise during 2020 leaving at least 98,000 children under five at high risk of dying without urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

A total of 47,954 possible cases nationwide were screened for COVID-19 (22,187 Male, 25,767 Female), with 348 positive cases referred for treatment (127 Male, 221 Female).

Primary school students returned to classes on 4 October in southern Yemen and 17 October in northern Yemen, following eight months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has disrupted education in Yemen for 7.8 million children (including 2 million out of school children) and the entire world, severely hindering access to learning.

While UNICEF continues vigorous fundraising for its 2020 HAC appeal, it has received only $76.9 million to date of the $535 million appeal.

As part of the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC), which is aligned to the 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP)1, UNICEF continues to appeal for $535 million. A separate, dedicated HAC on COVID is also used in Yemen, with its own reporting mechanism. As of 31 October 2020, UNICEF has an overall funding gap of $286 million. A total of $173 million was carried forward from 2019. And, while UNICEF continues vigorous fundraising for its 2020 HAC appeal, it has received only $76.9 million to date for a total of $276.9 million funds available.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unicef-yemen-humanitarian-situation-report-reporting-period-1-31-october-2020-enar

(* B H K)

100,000 Yemeni infants die every year due to siege, war

[Sanaa gov.] Yemen’s deputy health minister says about 100,000 infants die in the war-torn country every year due to the siege and war imposed by the Saudi-led coalition.

Najeeb Al-Qubati told the Arabic-language Almasirah TV that the Saudi coalition has been blocking the import of medical equipment and medicine into the country for six years and Sanaa is unable to hire new medical staff due to the siege and the war.

This has brought about a catastrophic situation in Yemen, he said, adding, “100,000 newborns die every year in the country; that means six infants lose their lives in every two minutes.”

Al-Qubati stressed that the siege targets Yemeni children from the very embryonic period and that malnutrition is on the rise among pregnant mothers.

The Yemeni deputy health minister called the closure of Sanaa International Airport dangerous for the needy in the country and urged the United Nations to provide flights through this airport to save the lives of Yemeni patients.

https://en.mehrnews.com/news/167381/100-000-Yemeni-infants-die-every-year-due-to-siege-war

and also https://english.almasirah.net/post/16706/Ministry-of-Health-Undersecretary-100%2C000-Newborns-Die-Every-Year-Deu-of-Aggression%2C-Blockade

(B H)

SFD Yemen: The local authority in Shahara #Amran with 53 Village Cooperation Councils #VCCs signed 53 community initiatives with a total cost YR 172m, of which 72m are funded by the SFD's @TamkeenYemen that aims to create socio-economic empowerment & sustainable local development in #Yemen (photos)

https://twitter.com/SFDYemen/status/1340384849086038022

https://twitter.com/SFDYemen/status/1340380954230198277

(B H)

SFD Yemen: Production assets decline turning farmers into a relief burden. During conflict, #Cash4Work #YECRP uses all that 4 production. In Aroma,Wisab-Ali #Dhamar, it employed 331 ppl who repaired and reclaimed about 14 ha agricultural terraces benefiting 158HHs (photos)

https://twitter.com/SFDYemen/status/1340344643410669570

https://twitter.com/SFDYemen/status/1340344630433501184

(* B H)

Save the Children: In Yemen, More Than 2 Million Children Like Hanan* Don't Have Enough to Eat

In Yemen, more than two million children under five do not have enough food to eat. "This is a catastrophe that should set off alarm bells around the world," said Save the Children’s country director in Yemen, Xavier Joubert.

An estimated 11 million children under five are facing extreme hunger or starvation across eleven countries in Africa, the Caribbean, Middle East and Asia. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made things worse.

In fact, recent analysis by Save the Children shows that 45% of children around the world were severely deprived of access to nutrition, sanitation, water, healthcare, housing and education even before the pandemic.

Today, an additional 150 million children have been plunged into poverty due to COVID-19.

“Families on the cusp of escaping poverty have been pulled back in," said Henrietta Fore, Executive Director. at UNICEF, a co-publisher of the analysis.

"The increase in poverty will make it very hard for the most vulnerable children and

Please support Save the Children – and help make change that protects the lives of a generation of children, as well as the future we share.

https://www.savethechildren.org/us/charity-stories/children-under-five-years-old-dying-of-hunger-in-yemen

(B H)

SFD Yemen: Urban #water delivery is critical due to continuing fuel shortage. We r putting the final touches to operate 2 water pumping units using solar power for Nawim Water Station #Hajjah_city (12,000 households) producing 30 liter/sec, with a pumping capacity 150KW (photos)

https://twitter.com/SFDYemen/status/1339596774114091014

https://twitter.com/SFDYemen/status/1339591810595753984

(* B H)

Integrated Famine Risk Reduction: An Inter-Cluster Strategy to Prevent Famine in Yemen: A Case Study (July 2020)

Executive summary

Yemen Food Security and Agriculture Cluster, the Water and Sanitation Cluster, the Nutrition Cluster and the Health Clusters launched in October 2017 the Yemen Integrated Famine Risk Reduction (IFRR) strategy. The main objective of the Integrated Famine Risk Reduction strategy is to prevent famine and mitigate hunger by increasing access to food and other life-saving supplies and services, increasing purchasing power, while advocating for measures to bring economic stability. Critical to the success of the strategy has been securing and expanding the buy-in of an ever-growing number of key actors at all levels.

The IFRR approach is built upon joint geographical convergence, an agreed package of multi-sectoral services, joint beneficiary selection criteria and a joint monitoring and reporting framework. Continuous coordination and advocacy efforts applied by all four clusters at national and sub-national level have created the enabling environment essential to sustain and further promote the IFRR approach.

Since beginning of 2017, the clusters have been taken through some key steps aiming at improving IFRR holistic design and implementation. The figure below summarises some of the main events which led to a long partnership and which is still in process.

IFRR is not set in stone. While undergoing many challenges described in the following sections of the case study, the IFRR approach is an inspiring example of the efforts and the creative solutions for successful inter-cluster partnership in the particularly difficult context of Yemen.
Although not initially intended, the IFRR in Yemen is founded on the idea that when equal partners understand and deliver services to prevent famine in an inter-disciplinary way, peoples’ quality of life can be improved and sustained through organized efforts and informed choices taken by society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals.
As such, the IFRR strategy become a holistic approach transferrable and applicable for different context, no matter if these contexts are experiencing emergency, transition or development.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/integrated-famine-risk-reduction-inter-cluster-strategy-prevent-famine-yemen-case-study

and study in full: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen_Integrated_Famine_Risk_Reduction_CaseStudy_July2020.pdf

(* B H P)

Why higher education in Yemen needs more attention

The war not only destroyed the nascent research infrastructure, it also destroyed the basis of higher education and research in the country. Unfortunately, what took decades to build was destroyed within a few years. Of course, the longer the conflict lasts, the more people leave and the less likely they will return. If no serious steps are taken to reverse this trend, the damage inflicted on the higher education sector cannot be compensated. (Read the related report: Immigration is a lifeline for a Yemeni researcher

Talking about higher education and research in Yemen may not seem like our top priority today when the vast majority of the population is struggling to obtain water, food and basic healthcare. But this is precisely the reason why it is necessary and urgent not only to prevent further deterioration of the higher education sector in Yemen, but also to invest more in universities and higher training institutions in the country.

When the war ends, and it will inevitably end, rebuilding the country, planning its future, and preserving the economy and peace will be the responsibility of the Yemeni people alone, and doing so will require strategic planning and a national workforce capable of implementation and leadership. History teaches us that the declared commitment of the international community will not go beyond providing limited financial support and that we should not expect doctors, engineers, or experts to come to lead the basic work of building a new Yemen.

The only way to achieve these goals and face the economic and development challenges in Yemen is through education, research, and the effective mobilization of human and natural resources in the country. For this to be possible, Yemen needs institutions capable of producing skilled graduates, thinkers, leaders, businessmen and innovators who are able to benefit from and compete in the global economy. In order for these institutions to fulfill this mission, it is important to support academics and researchers in the country, to invest more in rebuilding infrastructure and research capacity, and to demonstrate a long-term commitment to support higher education and scientific research.

https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/ar/2020/01/%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B0%D8%A7-%D9%8A%D8%AD%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%84/

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

(* B H)

IOM Yemen | Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) - Reporting Period: 13 - 19 Dec 2020

In the first eleven months of 2020, conflict (82%) and natural disasters (13%) have resulted most of displacements, particularly in Marib, Al Hudaydah, Al Dhale'e, Taiz, Al Jawf, and Hadramaut governorates. Economic conditions, Health, COVID-19 and other factors caused rest of 5% displacements.

From 01 January 2020 to 19 December 2020, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 28,436 households (HH) (170,616 Individuals) have experienced displacement at least once.

Since the beginning of 2020, DTM also identified other 1,321 previously displaced households who left the displaced location and moved to either their place of origin or some other displaced location.

Between 13 December 2020 and 19 December 2020, IOM Yemen DTM tracked 206 households (1,236 individuals) displaced at least once. The highest number of displacements were seen in:

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-rapid-displacement-tracking-rdt-reporting-period-13-19-dec-2020

(* B H)

The Struggle Far From Home: Yemeni Refugees in Cairo

Introduction

Since 2015, the devastating conflict in Yemen has created a debilitating economic and humanitarian crisis and displaced millions of Yemenis. While the vast majority of displaced Yemenis remain within Yemen — around 3.65 million[1] — Yemenis who do seek safety abroad most often flee to countries across the Arab world, including Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti and Jordan, as well as to Malaysia.

According to the Yemeni embassy in Cairo, between 500,000 and 700,000 Yemenis live in Egypt, a significant increase from before the war, when approximately 70,000 resided in the country.[2] However, just 9,200 Yemenis in Egypt are registered as asylum seekers or refugees with UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency.[3] In total, Egypt hosts some 250,000 refugees and asylum seekers, from various countries, who are registered with UNHCR.[4]

Egypt has historically played an important political role in Yemeni affairs and there has been a sizable Yemeni community in Cairo since the Yemeni revolution of 1962. Despite this shared history, many Yemeni refugees in Egypt struggle to make ends meet in their new home. They often face economic difficulties as work opportunities are scarce, and struggle to pay for medical care and their children’s education.

This report shines a light on the economic and living conditions of Yemeni refugees in Egypt. It relies on interviews and conversations with about 20 Yemeni refugees in Cairo about their challenges and needs, and the support they receive from UNHCR and charity organizations. Pseudonyms are used for all of the Yemeni refugees quoted in this report to protect their privacy. The author is a Yemeni citizen who has been living in Cairo since 2017. She is a founding member of the Yemeni-run initiative for refugees in Egypt, Wojood Community – By Qabool Al-Absi

https://sanaacenter.org/publications/main-publications/12286

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

(* B P)

Yemen: more than a thousand women in Houthi prisons

A security source in Yemen's Houthi militia-controlled areas revealed that the number of women abducted and held in the militia's secret detention facilities has reached about 1,121, including minors and the elderly.

In addition, the Yemeni news agency quoted a security source who said that women abducted in militia prisons are subjected to the most horrific forms of torture and treatment.

The source revealed the extent of suffering that thousands of Yemeni women endure, due to the tightening of living conditions by pro-Iranian militias.

Local and international reports have confirmed the Shiite army's perpetration of systematic violations against women, including forced detention and torture, noting that they are still subjected to various types of oppression and forms of violation and humiliation.

Nine Yemeni organizations have called for the immediate release of all women detained in the prisons of the Houthi militias.

https://www.expartibus.it/yemen-piu-di-mille-donne-nelle-carceri-houthi/

(A K P)

Films: IN VIDEO: HOUTHIS SHOWCASE THEIR IRAN-STYLED MOSQUITO FLEET

https://southfront.org/houthis-showcase-their-iran-styled-mosquito-fleet/

(A P)

Houthi militia set ablaze a library of oppositionist mosque in north Yemen

Houthi militants have set ablaze a library in an Sunni mosque in Hajjah , north of Yemen, several media reported quoting local sources.

The Shia militants stormed Al-Sunna Mosque in Hajjah city, confiscated the books and set them ablaze.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-44012

(A P)

Yemen, Iran discuss cooperation in tourism fields

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3121081.htm

(* A P)

Yemen's Houthis impose restrictions on female university students

Yemen's Houthis have imposed new restrictions on female students at the Lebanese International University in the capital, Sanaa, Yemen Shabab Net news site reported.

The site quoted local students as saying that the Houthis have ordered male and female students to separate in lectures, and forced the university to allocate special classrooms for female students.

The group has also prohibited female students from wearing short or tight clothes or open abayas and ordered them to cover their hair completely.

Early this year, the Houthis ordered universities in areas under their control to separate female and male students during projects, and have recently banned the holding of graduation parties.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201222-yemens-houthis-impose-restrictions-on-female-university-students/

My comment: The Houthis, the most obedient pupils of Saudi Wahabism.

(A P)

Houthi militants round up 15 civilians to jails in Ibb, local sources

Houthi militants have rounded up 15 civilians to jails in the central Yemen province of Ibb over the past few days, local sources said.

The militants “manning checkpoints in different urban and rural areas of Ibb seized the persons, confiscated their personal items they happened to carry with them and threw them in jails” in Ibb’s provincial capital, said one source.

The militants routinely check the content of passengers’ mobile phones and arrest them once they find the slightest clue of opposition to their terrorist theocratic movement.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43990

(A P)

Abductees Mothers Association makes urgent call to save 50 sick abductees held at Political Security Prison in Sanaa.

During its rally the IRC in Sana’a, Abductees’ Mothers Association made an urgent call for help to save 50 sick abductees held at Political Security Prison in Sana’a. The association proclaimed that the number of abductees was multiplying while their health deteriorated as a result of the systematic medical negligence and the inhuman detention conditions.

The association demanded providing the sick abductees with the necessary specialized medical care immediately, and releasing them unconditionally, and held Houthi armed group fully responsible for their lives and safety.

Mothers affirmed that almost 50 abductees held at that prison suffered from serious diseases, which include; strokes, seizures, severe spinal injuries, and Hemorrhoids, as well as various cardiovascular and urinary diseases and sinus and eye infections.

The rally statement condemned the medical negligence the abductees suffered at Political Security Prison, and the inhuman conditions faced by the civilians, who have been unlawfully abducted from their homes and workplaces.

http://ama-ye.org/index.php?no=1533&ln=En

and also https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43988

(A P)

Saudi regime exploits Islam's slogans to serve own interests, Yemeni cleric

Sanaa-based Salafi cleric Mohammed Tahir Anam on Sunday criticised disinformation by Saudi Arabia to promote its relations with the enemies through religion.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21949.html

(* B P)

Released prisoners reveal Houthi atrocities

Three released prisoners from Houthi militia's detentions have unearthed different forms of physical and psychological torture they were subjected to in the detentions since their kidnapping from their houses until their release.
In the second hearing session held by the Yemeni Prisoners and Kidnapped Organization on Sunday, Khaled Haider, Abdu al-Ziyadi and Abdu Abisah revealed that they were subjected to hanging, electric shock, hitting by sticks and hands, kicking by feet, depriving from sleeping, eating and drinking for several consecutive days and imprisoning them in narrow, dark and crowded cells.
They added that they were deprived from medication and banned visits by their relatives for long months.
One of the three showed marks of torture on his body before attending audience and media outlets, pointing out to other physical and psychological torture by the militia like insulting, terrifying and threat of killing in addition to humiliation, bringing them chained in front of their families and children during visits and giving them polluted food.
They were also deprived from clean water and banning them use toilets only onetime a day and underwent forcible disappearance and continuous interrogation just not to allow them to sleep.
The released prisoners testified that two kidnapped people were killed under severe torture and a number of their colleagues were paralyzed because of severe hitting by cables.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/30803

and

(B P)

Houthi official accused of prison torture at Yemen’s Central Security prison

A Houthi official in charge of prisoners’ affairs in Yemen has been accused of ramping up the torture of prisoners in the country’s central prison in Sanaa, according to a video being shared by activists.

The video making the rounds on social media shows a man with torture marks on his back, with activists saying the Houthis are increasing the use of torture tools a fortnight before the one-year anniversary of the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

“On the night of killing Solaimani [sic], the Houthis unleashed their officers to torture detainees. One of those officers was Murad Abu Hussein, who serves as the deputy head of Houthis prisoners swap committee. He tortured detainees being held at the Central Security prison,” tweeted Baraa Shiban, an expert on Yemen (with film)

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/12/21/Houthi-official-accused-of-prison-torture-at-Yemen-s-Central-Security-prison

(* A P)

Local officials killed as Sanaa authorities fail to put end to carrying guns

Director of the Sanaa municipality Abdu Saleh Al-Ansi and deputy director of the capital's works office Ameen Abdu Aqlan and office employee Ameen Khusrouf were killed and three other works from the office injured in a dispute with armed locals in the old Sanaa city on Saturday.
The dispute erupted while the officials were removing goods of vendors violating regulations in the Bab Al-Yemen neighbourhood, a local official told Debriefer.
It turned into a gunfight, with Abdulaziz Al-Sharifi and his sons Suleiman, Yaqub and Yunus opening fire at the officials, the official said.
A hunt has been launched for the perpetrators, the official added.
Killings have recently increased in the capital of Yemen Sanaa and other Houthi-controlled provinces amid obvious failure of the authorities to put an end to carrying guns.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21923.html

(B P)

Real signs of an armed popular revolution against Houthis: Reports

Several Yemeni media platforms have lately been reporting “signs” of a coming armed revolution against the Houthis. Observers told Mion Press website that the “situation in the governorates under the Houthi militia’s control has becoming liable to the eruption of a revolution” due to the various Houthi policies from starving the “people of limited income” including the extortion on people to raise “funds for the war effort.”

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43933

My comment: This sounds like wishful thinking.

(B P)

As part of Yemeni customs & traditions, grooms wr almost taken to some landmarks 4 dancing, singing, spending joyous moments with relatives, friends.., but with Houthis all that was history. Houthis now take grooms 2 graveyards be4 meeting their brides. Totally alien to #Yemen-is (photos)

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1340477456940216323

(A P)

Project to train trainers in int'l humanitarian law launched in Sanaa

The Yemeni Center for Human Rights launched on Saturday a training project for trainers in international humanitarian and local law.

At the opening of the project, which targets 15 participants from the Ministries of Justice and Interior, Public Prosecution, academicians and lawyers, Attorney General Judge Nabil Nasser Al-Azzani called for raising the capabilities of prosecutors and judicial control officers in monitoring and documenting the violations and crimes committed by Saudi-led aggression against Yemen and preparing judicial files in accordance with international humanitarian law.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3120642.htm

My comment: Care for your own blatant violations of humanitarian law as well.

(B P)

Houthi militia denies hostages access to winter clothes and medicine

The Houthi militia has denied the hostages in its custody in Sana'a any access to winter clothes and medicines provided by donors. The Hostages' Mothers Association said in a statement, that the militias continue to prevent the visitation of the hostages in the Central Security Camp Prison in Sanaa, and prevent the admittance of winter clothes and leave them vulnerable to repeated cold strikes and deny them the right to obtain health care.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43927

(* A K P)

Interior Ministry reveals locally-made armored vehicle "Baas 1"

Ministry of Interior in the National Salvation Government revealed on Saturday that it has produced high-specification armored security vehicles of type "Baas 1".

During his inauguration of the entry of a number of armored vehicles into service, Interior Minister, Major General Abdulkarim Amir Al-Din Al-Houthi, confirmed that the "Baas 1" vehicles were manufactured with completely Yemeni expertise and hands, indicating that the vehicles are of high quality and designed to serve in various security operations (photo)

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3120620.htm

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-21924.html

https://southfront.org/houthis-prove-once-again-that-saudi-blockade-does-not-work-videos-photos/

https://english.almasirah.net/post/16707/Interior-Ministry-Unveils-Domestically-designed-%C2%A0-Bass-1-Armored-Vehicle-Manufacturing

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/20/yemen-unveils-domestically-produced-baas-1-armoured-personnel-carrier/

Photos: https://southfront.org/houthis-prove-once-again-that-saudi-blockade-does-not-work-videos-photos/

https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1340301422609506304

Films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZafScUeS6Cc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS0lIj0Qyf0

Remarks: Can any military expert confirm or deny this #Yemeni claim of making their own armored vehicles. They look like repurposed #Canadian made but #Yemenis are amazing craftsmen & can make anything

https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1340341603450445825

Hey Ali, I am confident that these are locally produced and designed. Perhaps with inspiration from other vehicles, but definitely domestic-produce. It even bears its own serial numbers. This particular one is the third vehicle from production line (photo)

https://twitter.com/Aldanimarki/status/1340359558368268288

(A P)

Houthi: US, Allies Waging International Terrorism Against Yemen

“Whilst 17 countries besiege Yemeni people and the number of children suffering from malnutrition soars to 2 million, we must employ all [available] means to counter the international terrorism that the US and its allies have launched against Yemen,” Mohammad Ali al-Houthi wrote in a post published on his Tweeter page on Friday night, presstv reported.

https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990929000726/Hhi-US-Allies-Waging-Inernainal-Terrrism-Agains-Yemen

cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government

Siehe / Look at cp1

(B P)

Banning the government’s return to Aden caused many crises, says presidential official

In a meeting with Sputnik news agency, the deputy director of the presidential office Ahmed al-Eesi said: “Banning the government headed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from return to Aden over the past five years has caused many crises in the temporary capital and its surroundings.”

“Military and security militias with no loyalty to the government have been formed. They (the militias) answer only to warlords and certain authorities,” he said.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-44014

(A K P)

Activists decry abuses perpetrated by mercenary force in Aden

Activists on social media have complained about the escalation of abuses carried out by the so-called Security Belt forces in the southern port city of Aden.

Activists said that the Security Belt, a UAE-backed mercenary group, showed negative interaction with citizens after they started their latest security deployment in the city following Riyadh’s announcement of the new Hadi government.

Activists posted several pictures of the military pickup vehicles stealing cement bags from a building under construction in the city of al-Sha’ab.

They furthermore denounced the movement of Security Belt vehicle patrols

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/22/activist-decry-abuses-perpetrated-by-mercenary-force-in-aden/

(A P)

[Hadi] Gov't urges Int'l community to listen to victims of Houthi abuses

Yemen's internationally recognised government on Tuesday urged the international community to listen to the victims of Houthi abuses.
Information minister Muammar Al-Eryani wrote on Twitter: "The international community should listen to children, women and men who have been victims of Houthi abuses".

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21981.html

(A K P)

Hadi appoints new army commanders in Taiz amid raging battles with Houthis

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21980.html

(A P)

Saudi, UAE committed blatant crimes against Socotra people: Houthis

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have committed blatant violations against the Yemeni Socotra people, the Houthi group said on Monday at a press conference in Sana'a City.
Held by Houthi HR ministry and the Yemeni National Education, Science and Culture Committee (YNESCO), the conference was assigned for the "Violations and Risks in the Yemeni Island of Socotra", according to the Houthi-run Saba.
For six years, the Kingdom and UAE have been committing crimes and violations against Socotra and its people amid "international shameful collusion," Houthi acting HR minister said.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21976.html

(A P)

What is happening in Socotra brutal aggression on Yemen, government official

A senior official on Monday said that what is happening in the Socotra archipelago is a brutal aggression aimed at destroying Yemen.
Vice director of the office of the republic, Ahmed Al-Eisi, said in an interview with Sputnik that president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi rejects all forms of armed control of and chaos on Socotra. Hadi considers what is happening there as a full-fledged coup which is not less worse than the Houthi coup, he said.
"The Yemeni people and their political leadership will never accept to give up an inch of the country's soil whatever the circumstances and pressure on them are".
The position of the political leadership over this issue is clear and Hadi will not tolerate any action that harms the national sovereignty, including on Socotra which stands as the beating heart of Yemen, he added.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21967.html

(* A K P)

Southern Yemen military personnel threaten to take control of Aden presidential palace

The Coordinating Council for Retired Military and Security personnel in southern Yemen have today threatened to take control of the presidential Al-Maashiq palace in the interim capital of Aden in addition to the city's airport and other facilities.

The threat comes ahead of the expected return of the Saudi-based exiled Yemeni government headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to the southern port city following the formation of a new unity government in accordance with last year's Riyadh Agreement signed between Hadi's government and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC). The latter had been in control of the palace and Aden since August last year.

According to the Yemen Press Agency, the Coordinating Council's statement issued today gave the new government two weeks to implement its demands for the payment of six months' salaries in addition to the previous years of 2016 and 2017.

They also called on the government to provide a solution for the demobilised military personnel and to reinstate those who are able to serve while also restructuring the armed factions still operating in Aden.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201222-southern-yemen-military-personnel-threaten-to-take-control-of-aden-presidential-palace/

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/22/retired-southern-yemeni-soldiers-call-for-action-against-hadi-regime/

(* A K P)

Two former ministers reportedly planning to form new military force opposed to Saudi and UAE invaders

Former Transport minister in the Hadi government, Saleh al-Jabwani, has hinted on Monday that a military council might be formed in southern Yemen to counter the Saudi-UAE alliance. This was reported by Yemen News Portal.

Al-Jabwani said that Ahmed al-Maisari, former Interior minister in Hadi’s government, is preparing to launch a “big surprise” in the coming period, which could turn the situation against the coalition and its followers.

Al-Jabwani’s tweets on his social media page came on the eve of a leaked conversation with al-Maisari, in which he talks about the presence of his followers in all parts of the country, and promises to destroy the new Hadi government headed by self-proclaimed Prime Minister Moeen Abdul-Malik Saeed.

Al-Jabwani and al-Maisari have have built internal and external alliances since August last year, particularly with Turkey, which enabled them to set up camps and train fighters in the provinces of Shabwah, Hadhramaut and Mahrah.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/21/two-former-ministers-reportedly-planning-to-form-new-military-force-opposed-to-saudi-and-uae-invaders/

(* A K P)

Islah militias storm UAE-backed mercenary camp in Shabwah

Islah Party military factions have on Monday stormed a camp belonging to pro-UAE factions, as the blockade is being tightened on UAE bases in in Shabwah province, southeastern Yemen.

This was reported by Yemen News Portal, based on local sources

According to the local sources, large reinforcements, including tanks and cannons, stormed the camp al-Naqaa and the Oil Sector S4 in Jardan district.

The sources expected that Islah will push these developments towards new confrontations with the Emirati-backed Shabwah Elite mercenary unit and tribes affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the region..

Islah factions have been pushing for a move to reinforce their forces in the vicinity of Al-Alam Camp, near to al-Naqaa, which UAE forces are taking as an advanced base in the province.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/21/islah-militias-storm-uae-backed-mercenary-camp-in-shabwah/

(A P)

Yemeni MPs threaten of no confidence to new gov't

Four members of the Yemeni legitimate Parliament on Sunday threatened to abstain from giving confidence to the government formed on Friday in accordance with the Riyadh Agreement.
In a letter to President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the 4 MPs Sakhar al-Wajeeh, Abdul Karim al-Aslami, Mofadhal al-Ibara and Shouqi al-Qadhi criticized why the "Tehama region was marginalized, absented and not represented in this government's formation.
"This region consists of four governorates (i.e. Hodeida, Hajjah, Rayma and Mehweet), 72 electoral districts and 6 million people."
The 4 lawmakers also criticized the "lack of female representation in the cabinet, though its formation decree was based on the National Dialogue Conference's outputs that provide for at least 30 percent for women."
They hoped "these two gross mistakes, which breach the partnership principle and conflict with the National Dialogue Conference's outputs, would be corrected."
The MPs threatened to practice their "constitutional right to express disapproval to this marginalization.. by abstaining from vote of confidence" to the government.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21955.html

(A P)

Protest in Aden denounces mercenary lootings

Dozens of activists and citizens have organised a protest on Sunday denouncing the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) militias over the looting of a car showroom in Aden, local sources said.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/21/protest-in-aden-denounces-mercenary-lootings/

and also https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1341057592005574659 (photo)

(A P)

Gargash: Government formation is the most important development in Yemen

The formation of the Yemeni government as stipulated in the Riyadh Agreement is the most important development in the Yemeni crisis in 2020, said the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash.
In his tweet today, Gargash praised the Saudi role "the relentless efforts of Saudi Arabia has been effective in establishing the agreement for the benefit of the legitimacy and Yemen's anti-Houthi forces." he said.
Gargash made it clear that "the initiative is now in the hands of the Yemenis to begin building in light of the agreement and to find out solutions that end the suffering of the people."

http://en.adenpress.news/news/30808
(A K P)

Lamlas reviews security measures for receiving new cabinet

The governor of Aden, Ahmed Hamed Lamlas chaired in Aden on Sunday, the meeting of the Security Committee to discuss the security arrangements for receiving the newly formed government which is due to arrive this week.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/30805

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-21950.html

(A K P)

Yemeni gov't, STC exchange ten prisoners in Abyan

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21939.html

(* A P)

People voice optimism over new government

Fuad Jabari, Dhale front spokesperson, told Arab News that military forces that withdrew from Abyan have joined flashpoints in the province to reinforce fighters who fight off relentless attacks by the Houthis.

“The withdrawing forces have entered Dhale province accompanied by Saudi military officers. More military forces are on their way to the battlefields,” Jabari said, adding that the Houthis have escalated attacks on southern resistance forces in the province since warring sides agreed to pull out of Aden and Abyan.

People in Aden, the Yemeni city that had borne the brunt of sporadic deadly fighting between government troops and separatists, and other Yemeni cities voiced their optimism with the formation of a new government and urged new ministers to fix services and create jobs.

Hanan Al-Ameri, an activist from Aden, told Arab News that the new government should immediately return to Aden to address corruption in state bodies, long power cuts, severe shortages of drinking water and skyrocketing prices.

“Regarding our demands, we want the government to fix services and then give jobs to young people and empower them in local authorities. We demand a decent life, services and protecting our violated rights,” Hanan said.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1780241/middle-east

(* B P)

The war in Yemen: What is behind the ongoing Saudi pressures to implement the “Riyadh Agreement”?

However, observers attribute the current steps to severe pressure exerted by Saudi Arabia on all parties on the ground, politically and militarily, to implement the Riyadh Agreement.

They believe that implementing the agreement brokered by the Kingdom has become a Saudi-Emirati need before it was Yemeni, in order to pre-empt any changes that may occur to the new US administration, led by President-elect Joe Biden, regarding Washington’s support for the Saudi-led coalition.

The Sana’a Center for Studies, based in Beirut, expects to renew in February 2021 UN Security Council Resolution 2216 – which formed the legal basis for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen – in April 2015, and the Center adds that Biden’s campaign had pledged to “withdraw American support for the efforts.” The Saudi war will not be sufficient to achieve peace in Yemen unless it is accompanied by increased activation of diplomacy to help Saudi Arabia “get out of the quagmire it has created for itself.”

The Yemeni writer and political researcher, Abdul Nasser Al-Mawadda, believes in an interview with the BBC that Saudi Arabia is trying to implement the Riyadh Agreement, which has been delayed for more than eleven months for more than one reason. “At the forefront of these reasons is that this delay embarrasses it,” especially with the arrival of a new American administration. ”Riyadh fears that Its policy differs from the current administration. “

Regarding the challenges that the Riyadh agreement faces, the applicant believes that: “It is applied to warring parties who do not agree with each other, and therefore it will not be implemented as smoothly as Saudi Arabia hopes.”

The discussions that preceded reaching this solution formula reflected the depth of the differences between the two sides, and painted a picture of the challenges and difficulties that might impede the future work of that government.

I asked a prominent Saudi official well-informed of those deliberations that preceded these developments about the reasons for their stumbling, and whether the growing differences between the Yemeni parties reflects the contrast of Riyadh’s “agenda” with Abu Dhabi’s “agenda” in dealing with these parties? And does the kingdom not need, as the leader of the “support for legitimacy” coalition, a “state” on its southern borders, and not one particular party? His answer was that the problem is that “every Yemeni component is looking for how to control rather than how to participate, and if it participated for a short period, when will it withdraw.”

The answer of the Saudi official may be correct from one angle, which is that the government entered into this deal relying on it being the internationally recognized entity, but its dilemma is that it is not present on the ground enough in addition to its weak performance in general. As for the demands of the transitional council, it derives its self-confidence from its presence on the ground. Through its control imposed by force of arms over the city of Aden and the island of Socotra, which is of strategic importance, but this council lacks the minimum international recognition of its legitimacy, and it only enjoys full Emirati support and faces an ambiguous Saudi position, in addition to the exclusionary practices attributed to it, especially in relation to Citizens of the north of the country residing in the south.

Consequently, it is clear that the participation of each party in that agreement and the new government was viewed by some only with the aim of absorbing the regional and international pressures imposed on it to accept a settlement.

The Yemeni politician, Mustafa Numan, believes that “(the legitimate government) is the weakest party, and it is naive to expect that it will be able to control and control, and it will not be able to operate without the transitional council being present on the ground with a force that exceeds what that government has.”

https://www.saudi24news.com/2020/12/the-war-in-yemen-what-is-behind-the-ongoing-saudi-pressures-to-implement-the-riyadh-agreement.html

(* A K P)

Sources: Rebel militias’ withdrawal from Abyan is “a big lie”

The alleged withdrawal of the rebel militias from Abyan is a big lie, informed sources said, a default by the UAE-backed rebel militia on its obligations under the Riyadh Agreement for sharing power with the government over the south.

Abdullah Al-Kazimi, an activist from the southern frontline, said the “the Southern Transitional Council militia repositioned themselves and barely pulled back any units or weapons as presented in the media campaign. What happened was symbolic withdrawals in Abyan that were immediately replaced by other UAE militias. As for the interim capital Aden, where the government is supposed to return, no withdrawals were carried out at all.” “The withdrawal story is a big lie,” he said.

Meanwhile a different military source confirmed to Almahriya TV channel almost the same notion: “The STC did not really withdraw its special forces as announced over the past couple of days. Only a limited number of troopers and patrol cars evacuated their positions.”

The STC’s main forces repositioned themselves within the same frontline area and received reinforcements from a sisterly UAE-backed rebel militia, the Giants Brigade, that “came from the country’s western coastline.”

“So the militia are stationed in Abyan with their military equipment including the modern armored vehicles provided to them by the UAE,” the source told the channel.

On the official level, the Interior Ministry has said that the commander of the ostensibly regular force that took over a key military camp from the STC, Maj. Gen. Fadhl Ba’esh, does not represent the government. In a statement, the ministry said general “Fadhl Ba’esh had already been dismissed and referred to interrogations. The ministry said all the procedures he engages in are “invalid.” – by Anwar Al-Ansi

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43934

and

(A K P)

The STC militia still control Zunjubar in Abyan and have never withdrawn from Aden./Muraqiboon Press.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43929

and

(A K P)

Yemen's STC says its forces fully positioned after pullout from Abyan

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) on Friday said its forces completed redeployment and positioning themselves, after pullouts from Abyan fulfilled mutually with the Yemeni official government under the Riyadh Agreement.
"Following the political leadership's orders, and after the Saudi coordination and liaison team' arrival in Abyan, the STC forces began repositioning and redeployment as planned by the Arab coalition," spokesman for the Emirati-backed STC forces said hours after Yemen's new cabinet was declared.
"The process took place in few days, due to the attention paid by the southern armed forces' command in Abyan .. to observe the Riyadh pact," Mohamed al-Naqib added.
Implementation of the military section met southerners' expectations for stability, peace, construction, defeating the Iranian project and continuing the war against terrorism, he said.
For local sources in Abyan, the military section has yet to complete as many things still hinder its application, according to Anadolu Agency.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21914.html

(* A P)

Yemeni gov't return to Aden in ten days: Saudi ambassador

The Yemeni newly-formed government will return to the southern port city of Aden in one week or ten days once logistics are in place, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen said Saturday.
The government return is guaranteed by the "Riyadh Agreement and Saudi sponsorship," Mohamed Al Jaber added in remarks to Al-Arabiya.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21938.html

and

(* A P)

Implementation of Riyadh Agreement in Yemen, Saudi Diplomacy Receive Wide Praise

Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al Jaber confirmed that the new cabinet will arrive in the interim Yemeni capital, Aden, within 10 days.

Speaking to Al Arabiya, the diplomat said that the government will be transferred after logistic arrangements are completed.

Jaber accredited the formation of a new Yemeni governments to parties coming together and fulfilling their share of obligations laid out by the Riyadh Agreement.

The coming phase for Yemenis is both fresh and promising, he added.

Jaber also reiterated his country’s commitment to achieving stability in Yemen, asserting that the Kingdom will continue to back peacemaking efforts there.

Noting that formation talks had spanned for 50 days, Jaber said that Saudi sponsorship and the Riyadh Agreement will guarantee the return of government to Aden.

https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2693416/implementation-riyadh-agreement-yemen-saudi-diplomacy-receive-wide-praise

and

(A P)

Prince Khalid bin Salman: Saudi Arabia continuing its policy to establish stability in Yemen

Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Defense, said on Monday that Saudi Arabia was continuing its policy of seeking to establish security and stability in Yemen.

“In support of previous efforts to find a comprehensive political settlement, the efforts of HRH the Crown Prince have succeeded in bringing together our Yemeni brothers to implement the military aspect of the Riyadh agreement and the formation of a new government,” Prince Khalid said.

“The Riyadh Agreement overcame all difficulties and obstacles with the efforts of the Kingdom, the brothers in the Emirates, and in the Coalition,” the prince said.

“Today, more than ever, we are looking forward to seeing the Yemeni government lead Yemen and its people to safety,” added.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1780026/saudi-arabia

and also https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/12/20/Riyadh-Agreement-overcame-obstacles-for-Yemen-stability-Khalid-bin-Salman

and

(A P)

Yemeni Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: New Government Formed Under Political Consensus

Yemeni Endowments and Guidance Minister Mohammed Aidha Shabebah confirmed that the formation of a new power-sharing government in the war-torn country is a great step towards reconciliation and takes into consideration the sensitive times lived by Yemenis.

Shabebah, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, stressed that the political components represented in the newly formed cabinet are in agreement thanks to Saudi mediation efforts and sponsorship of the Riyadh Agreement.

The minister highlighted that the greatest danger facing Yemen today is the Iran-backed coup.

He also voiced hope in the new cabinet committing to its responsibilities and helping the country overcome current challenges.

He pointed out that the Ministry of Endowments and Guidance oversees six vital departments, namely endowment, guidance, and investment, the Holy Quran memorization sector, Hajj and Umrah, inheritance, and education.

According to the Riyadh Agreement, the ministry’s headquarters will be based in the interim Yemeni capital, Aden.

https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2693566/yemeni-minister-asharq-al-awsat-new-government-formed-under-political-consensus

and

(A P)

Yemeni PM: Saudi Arabia ended division between Yemenis via Riyadh Agreement

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed confirmed that the essence of the Riyadh Agreement focuses on ending divisions between Yemeni factions.

“The essence of the Riyadh agreement aims at ending the divisions that could be at the political level to that of the government,” Saeed told Al Arabiya during an exclusive interview set to be aired in full on Wednesday.

“But as far as the security and military forces are concerned, there is the merging of these forces within the framework of the Ministry of the Interior. There are many files on this in this aspect, but it takes time and there is work on this subject at the Military Security Committee,” the Yemeni prime minister added.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/12/22/Yemeni-PM-Saudi-Arabia-ended-division-between-Yemenis-via-Riyadh-Agreement

and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/30814

and

(A P)

Al-Houthi: Ousted President Hadi's incompatible partners doomed to failure

The chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen has reacted to a reshuffled cabinet announced by the country’s ousted president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, saying the "incompatible cabinet" is doomed to failure.

“Their [cabinet] formation includes quarrelsome partners that will lead to failure,” Mohammad Ali al-Houthi tweeted in the Arabic language late on Friday.

https://en.abna24.com/news//al-houthi-ousted-president-hadis-incompatible-partners-doomed-to-failure_1097194.html

(* A P)

Neue Einheitsregierung im Jemen: Keine einzige Frau im Kabinett

Im Jemen haben Aktivistinnen das Fehlen von Frauen in der neu gebildeten Regierung verurteilt. Die 24 Mitglieder der Regierung wurden am späten Freitag vorgestellt. Es sei die erste Regierung ohne weibliche Mitglieder seit 20 Jahren, so die jemenitische Frauenbewegung. «Das ist eine unfaire Diskriminierung des Rechts der Frauen auf politische Teilhabe», fügte die Gruppe in einer Erklärung hinzu. «Obwohl wir die Bildung der Regierung als Ergebnis des Konsenses zwischen den jemenitischen politischen Kräften im Abkommen von Riad begrüssen, verurteilen wir nachdrücklich den Ausschluss von Frauen aus der Regierung», hiess es.

https://www.nau.ch/news/ausland/neue-einheitsregierung-im-jemen-keine-einzige-frau-im-kabinett-65839313

(* A P)

New Yemeni government excludes women for 1st time in 20 years

Feminists in war-devastated Yemen have condemned the exclusion of women from a new government formed under a power-sharing deal between the internationally-recognized government and separatists.

The 24-strong government announced late Friday includes members of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) as part of a Saudi-brokered bid to end a power struggle between the sides.

The deal was signed in the Saudi capital Riyadh in November of last year.

The new government is the first without female members in 20 years, the Yemeni Women Movement, a grouping of pro-women alliances in the country, said.

"This is unfair discrimination against women's right to political participation," the group said in a statement.

"While we appreciate the formation of the government as a fruit of consensus among Yemeni political powers in the Riyadh agreement, we denounce women's exclusion from the government," it added.

https://www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/new-yemeni-government-excludes-women-for-1st-time-in-20-years

and

(A P)

Yemeni woman movement criticizes cabinet formation as downfall

Yemen's woman unions have criticized the exclusion of women from participation in the new 24-portfolio cabinet, which was declared late on Friday.
"Excluding women from participation in the government is a blatant violation of the National Dialogue's outputs on which the presidential decree's prologue was based," the unions said in a statement.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21915.html

and

(A P)

UAE Welcomes Implementation of Riyadh Agreement and New Yemeni Government Formation

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2170491

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-21917.html

and

(A P)

UK welcomes Hadi’s announcement of a new cabinet

http://en.adenpress.news/news/30793

(A P)

Egypt welcomes new power-sharing cabinet in Yemen

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/397151/-.aspx

and

(A P)

Bahrain welcomes Yemeni parties’ implementation of Riyadh Agreement

https://www.bna.bh/en/news?cms=q8FmFJgiscL2fwIzON1%2bDtRwzvM8z0Hn9Z1I8vAy1v4%3d

and more: https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2170498

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2170503

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2170496

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1779991/middle-east

(A P)

Formation of new government puts Yemen, coalition back on track, PM

Yemen's prime minister Maeen Abdulmalik on Friday said the formation of the new government from political technocrats brings the government and an Arab military coalition backing it back to their real duties which are to end the Houthi coup and to restore the state.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21899.html

and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/30796

and

(A P)

STC calls for supporting newly formed government

Member of the presidency of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and assistant secretary general, Fadl al-Jaadi called on everyone to support the new government that was announced yesterday as part of the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement, signed between the Yemeni Government and the STC.

"The government was formed as a pivotal step towards enhancing the partnership",

http://en.adenpress.news/news/30795

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-21926.html

(* A P)

Yemen's president, separatists announce new power-sharing government

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen announced on Friday a new power-sharing cabinet that would include southern separatists in the internationally-recognised government, part of a deal to end a power struggle between the nominal allies.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik was reappointed to head the new cabinet, which includes five ministers from Yemen’s biggest political blocs, including the STC and Islah party, a statement from Hadi’s office said.

However, Hadi has kept his closest allies in the key ministries of defence, interior, foreign affairs and finances.

The new government followed two weeks of separation of forces and redeployment of troops in the south that would see their return to battlefronts with the Houthis in the north and to outside Aden, the heavily disputed port city.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security/yemens-president-separatists-announce-new-power-sharing-government-idUSKBN28S2P5?rpc=401&

and

(* A P)

Yemen’s president in exile reshuffles Cabinet to end rift

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s decree said the incumbent prime minister, Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, would keep his job while 24 ministerial posts would have almost equal representation of both northerners and southerners, according to the country’s state-run SABA news agency.

Defense Minister Mohammed al-Maqdishi and Finance Minister Salem Saleh Bin Braik kept their jobs in the new government. Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, who was Yemen’s ambassador to the U.S., was named foreign minister, replacing Mohammed Abdullah al-Hadrami, who was critical of the UAE.

The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, welcomed the reshuffle as “a pivotal step towards a lasting political resolution to the conflict in Yemen.”

https://apnews.com/article/cabinets-saudi-arabia-united-arab-emirates-sanaa-yemen-3bc044c93edb8f62b03d30d47c55e451

and

(A P)

New Yemeni government announced

Based on the Riyadh agreement, the Gulf Initiative and its implementation mechanism, the outcomes of the national dialog conference, the Law No. 3 for 2004 the president's decree No. 35 for 2020, prime minister Maeen Abdulmalik has been assigned to form the new government, with 50/50 representation of the south and the north, the decree read, according to the agency.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21892.html

and

(* A P)

Yemen's president orders formation of new power-sharing government

Yemen's internationally-recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Friday ordered the formation of a new power-sharing government, the state-run news agency reported.

According to a presidential decree, Hadi chose the former Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik to lead the new power-sharing government formed equally between the country's northern and southern provinces.

The new power-sharing cabinet declared in accordance with a peace deal signed between the country's government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) last year in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh.

Hadi appointed General Mohammed Al Maqdashi as the country's Minister of Defence of the new power-sharing government that included a total of 24 ministers.

The well-known politician Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak was appointed as Yemen's new Minister of Foreign Affairs, said Saba News Agency.

Major General Ibrahim Haydan was chosen for the first time to be the Minister of Interior in the government-controlled Yemeni provinces, according to Hadi's decree.

Five ministers affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council were included in the formation of the new government.

The agency indicated that the formation of the new government came after completing the military and security provisions of Riyadh deal including the mutual withdrawals of warring troops in the country's southern part.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-12/19/c_139601623.htm

and

(A P)

Yemen's STC separatists join unity government against Houthis

Southern Yemeni separatists have agreed to join a new cabinet with the internationally recognised government, as part of Saudi-sponsored efforts to end the rift between the nominal allies.

The unity government introduces ministers from the Southern Transitional Council (STC) into President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi's government, as well as others opposed to the Iran-backed Houthis.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-stc-separatists-unity-government-houthis

(A P)

Here are the names of ministers in the new Cabinet of Yemen:

https://republicanyemen.net/archives/26532

and here the presidential decree: https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1340224540996202496

and

(A P)

Noteworthy that not only women have been excluded from the new "technocrat govt" led by @DrMaeenSaeed, but also Tehama region, which is Hudeidah, Hajjah, Raimah & Mahwait. Shabwah, al-Jawf& #Marib's GPC as well.

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1340153500773322755

(B P)

Biography of the Defense Minister Al-Maqdashi

http://en.26sepnews.net/2020/12/19/biography-of-the-defense-minister-al-maqdashi/

(A P)

Yemen ministers: Ignoring STC coup 'unacceptable' amid new govt formation

The foreign minister of the UN-recognised Yemeni government, Muhammad Al-Hadrami, has denounced the continued presence of UAE-backed separatist militia on the island of Socotra as "unacceptable" amid reports that the Saudi brokered power-sharing deal signed last year, known as the Riyadh Agreement is nearing implementation on the southern mainland.

Similar sentiments were made on Wednesday by Yemen's fisheries minister, Fahd Kafaien

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201218-yemen-ministers-ignoring-stc-coup-unacceptable-amid-new-govt-formation/

(A K P)

Giant Brigades deploy monitoring posts south Yemen

The Emirati-backed Giant Brigades (GB) on Wednesday said their forces began the mission of disengaging the troops of the Yemeni official government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Abyan.
The forces also started deployment of monitoring posts at flashpoints in the Yemeni southern governorate and engineering teams are working on demining the areas there, the GB added on their website.
The GB forces' new mission in Abyan came following a meeting with the Saudi committee tasked with applying the Riyadh Agreement military section, the website said.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21883.html

(A E P)

For the third week in a row, civilians in #Hadhramout have held a protest condemning the deterioration of the economic situation and demanding the legitimate government to return to #Yemen and perform their duties inside the country (photo)

https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1340311677418393602

(A P)

Taiz freed prisoners demand assistance to themselves, those still in Houthi jails

Dozens of freed prisoners from Houthi jails have staged a rally in front of the local government's headquarters demanding state assistance to themselves and the families of those still in jails.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43956

(A K P)

Tariq Saleh offers to fight Houthis in Marib

Commander of the Yemeni pro-government Guards of the Republic said on Thursday his forces are prepared to fight the Houthi group in the northeastern governorate of Marib.
"If we are asked to fight in Marib, we're prepared," Tariq Saleh added in a speech (carried on his Twitter account) during a visit to a training camp of the Guards.
"If the Stockholm Agreement restricts us in the western coast, we'll go to fight the Houthis in any other front.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21890.html

(A K P)

Two Yemeni citizens died after being run over by Saudi vehicle

A Yemeni citizen and his son died on Friday in a run over by a Saudi military vehicle in Yemen’s southern province of Abyan, according to sources.

https://en.abna24.com/news//two-yemeni-citizens-died-after-being-run-over-by-saudi-vehicle_1097164.html

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/12/18/two-yemeni-civilians-killed-after-being-hit-by-saudi-military-vehicle/

(B P)

[from 2014] From Collective Memory to Nationalism: Historical Remembrance in Aden

https://www.academia.edu/6907223/From_Collective_Memory_to_Nationalism_Historical_Remembrance_in_Aden

Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp7 – cp19

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-703b-yemen-war-mosaic-703b

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-702-yemen-war-mosaic-702

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-702 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-702:

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/

http://www.yemenwar.info/

Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:

http://yemendataproject.org/data/

Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:

https://yemen.bellingcat.com/

Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:

https://yemeniarchive.org/en

Dieser Beitrag gibt die Meinung des Autors wieder, nicht notwendigerweise die der Redaktion des Freitag.
Geschrieben von

Dietrich Klose

Vielfältig interessiert am aktuellen Geschehen, zur Zeit besonders: Ukraine, Russland, Jemen, Rolle der USA, Neoliberalismus, Ausbeutung der 3. Welt

Dietrich Klose

Was ist Ihre Meinung?
Diskutieren Sie mit.

Kommentare einblenden