... Die humanitäre Hilfe der UNFPA 2021 für den Jemen – Aufbau eines dauerhaften Friedens im Jemen – Inhaftiert im Jemen: Ich habe Angst zu sterben und niemand weiß es – Jemen: Militarisierung von Frauen wirkt sich auf den sozialen Zusammenhalt aus – Wie rational können die USA im Umgang mit Jemen und Iran sein? – Der gefährliche Kampf um Jemens ölreiche Provinz Marib – Jemen und Corona-Impfstoffe – und mehr
Feb. 26, 2021: Saudi-led attacks devastated Yemen’s civilian infrastructure – Humanitarian challenges and the targeting of civilian infrastructure in the Yemen war – 2021 UNFPA Humanitarian Response Overview for Yemen – Building an Enduring Peace in Yemen – Detained in Yemen: I am afraid to die and no one knows – Yemen: Militarizing women impacts social cohesion – How rational can the US be in dealing with Yemen and Iran? – The dangerous fight for Yemen's oil-rich Marib – emen and Corona vaccines – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-721b-yemen-war-mosaic-721b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavitrus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12b Sudan
cp12a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Older introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
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Film: Beizer in Not, Corona-Kluft, Schönheitsoperationen, Jemen
Letzter Beitrag: Land am Abgrund: Jemen zwischen Krieg und Pandemie Im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen verschärft das Coronavirus die desaströse humanitäre Lage. Die Pandemie trifft die bereits verletzliche Bevölkerung mit voller Wucht. Unterernährte Kinder leiden besonders. In den Spitälern fehlt es an Personal und Sauerstoff.
https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/rundschau/video/beizer-in-not-corona-kluft-schoenheitsoperationen-jemen
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
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Saudi-led attacks devastated Yemen’s civilian infrastructure, dramatically worsening the humanitarian crisis
New data takes stock of the targeting of agriculture, fisheries, health care, energy and other facilities
After 2015, the United States played a critical role in sustaining the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen. U.S. support provided Saudi Arabia with intelligence, targeting data, in-air refueling of Saudi aircraft (this ceased in 2018), sales of precision-guided munitions and other arms, and ongoing maintenance and support for Saudi aircraft.
How we did our research
For a recent article in International Affairs, we used a variety of data sources to track the targeting of energy, water and sanitation, agriculture, and health infrastructure by all parties to the conflict — from Saudi air attacks to shelling by political militias and Houthi forces. Our database tracks 1,941 incidents between 2011 and 2019. Here’s what we found.
The destruction ramped up after 2015
The data shows significant escalation in the destruction of civilian infrastructure after the Saudi-led coalition entered the war in 2015. The coalition attacked an increasing number and type of civilian objects — including hospitals, agricultural infrastructure, roads, bridges and water systems. Between 2011 and 2019, the coalition was responsible for 67.2 percent of the incidents in our data set, with 20 percent identified as “unknown,” and the Houthi, pro-President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi forces, political militias and armed groups identified as responsible for the rest.
The Saudi-led air campaign targeted Yemen’s agriculture sector, in particular — and accounted for 67 percent of the attacks in this sector. Most attacks were on farms and houses, many located in areas of intense fighting, and almost all produced direct civilian casualties. Our data also includes 30 attacks by Saudi-led coalition forces on fishing boats, mostly around the ports of al-Hudayda and al-Mukha and the Red Sea islands.
Attacks on food producers and food processing and storage and transportation infrastructure undercut livelihoods and food security, contributing to Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. In addition to widespread childhood malnutrition, Yemenis are vulnerable to epidemics of cholera, diphtheria and other water- and food-borne diseases.
Attacks in one sector can have broad repercussions
Our data also includes 150 attacks on energy infrastructure. Saudi-led coalition airstrikes accounted for 28 of the 61 incidents of the reported attacks on electricity infrastructure. But destruction of one type of infrastructure, particularly energy, has “reverberating” and interlinked effects on other types of infrastructure necessary for the welfare of the civilian population.
Experts predict cholera will persist in Yemen as long as water treatment remains inadequate and widespread malnutrition makes individuals more vulnerable. In the water sector, we tracked attacks on water pipelines, wells, dams, desalination plants, well drilling sites, water pumps, irrigation canals, water storage tanks, water bottling facilities, water trucks and public water utilities. We found 105 incidents in which water infrastructure was targeted — including 95 Saudi coalition airstrikes on all types of water infrastructure, including humanitarian water supply projects and warehouses.
Yemen’s health infrastructure was also particularly vulnerable. Coalition airstrikes on hospitals and medical centers account for many of the health-sector incidents in our database. The remainder concerned facilities damaged in shelling and clashes between Houthi forces and their opponents, particularly in Taizz. The vast majority of the targeted medical facilities (114 out of 128 incidents) were public hospitals and clinics, but hospitals and mobile clinics owned by international humanitarian groups such as Doctors Without Borders were not spared, despite providing precise coordinates to the Saudi-led coalition through the deconfliction mechanism designed to ensure the safety of humanitarian activities and personnel.
A cascading humanitarian crisis
But parties to the conflict also obstructed vital imports and deliveries of humanitarian aid. Yemen relies on imports of grain and fuel to meet the basic needs of the vast majority of the population; the Saudi coalition’s blockade on the major ports and airfields has raised the prices of both. Shortages of fuel hindered the operation of electricity plants and water treatment facilities and forced bakeries in the capital to use scarce firewood cut from the highland mountains, rather than diesel and gas, to bake bread. Deforestation is thus another cost of war – by Jeannie Sowers and Erika Weinthal
and the full study:
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Humanitarian challenges and the targeting of civilian infrastructure in the Yemen war
International Affairs, Volume 97, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 157–177, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaa166
Abstract
Many modern conflicts, from Iraq to Yemen, have emerged as brutal wars in which state and non-state actors directly and indirectly target a wide array of civilian infrastructures, including water, energy and food systems. Similar to many twentieth-century wars, a common feature of the wars in the Middle East and North Africa in the twenty-first century has been the ‘civilianization’ of war, as civilian casualties far outnumbered battlefield deaths. We explore the targeting of civilian infrastructures in the Yemeni war (2011–2019) to explicate the connections between conflict, hunger and disease. We draw upon interviews with UN and humanitarian organizations, an original database tracking civilian infrastructure destruction, and a variety of print sources to document the extent and spatial distribution of the targeting of water, energy, agricultural and health systems in Yemen. We elucidate how the conduct of the Yemeni war has undermined human security and livelihoods and has created ethical, logistical and organizational challenges for humanitarian organizations and for advancing peacebuilding efforts. We find that after the 2011 popular uprising, some non-state actors targeted the energy sector; however, the scope and intensity of wartime targeting of civilian objects, particularly those associated with agriculture, fisheries and health, increased significantly once the Saudi-led coalition entered the war in 2015. Loss of livelihoods, internal displacement, currency depreciation, and blockades and sieges further intensified the wartime spread of hunger and disease. The targeting of civilian infrastructures significantly hinders peacebuilding efforts to restore basic services, rebuild livelihoods and strengthen governance mechanisms.
This article documents the targeting of civilian infrastructure in the Yemeni war from 2011 to 2019 and its indirect impacts on human security. It also explores the ways in which the war has created ethical and logistical challenges for humanitarian organizations and for future peacebuilding efforts.4
UN agencies and conflict observers have catalogued a grim decline in human welfare in Yemen since the most recent war began. The International Crisis Group (ICG) noted in March 2020, as the first COVID-19 cases were reported in Yemen, that some 24 of its 28 million people need some form of aid and, by some estimates, more than 112,000 people have died as a direct consequence of the war. Countless more have succumbed to preventable diseases or outright hunger, in part a consequence of the economic warfare waged by all parties to the conflict and their willful destruction of vital infrastructure, including hospitals.5
By January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported over 2.3 million cholera cases in Yemen, tracking the largest historical outbreak of the disease, with cases mounting from April 2017.6 The targeting of civilian infrastructures, blockades of major airports and ports, sieges of cities, and restrictions and diversions of humanitarian supplies have intensified conflict-induced hunger and disease.
Addressing livelihood insecurity will be critical for peacebuilding efforts in Yemen. The analysis presented here of the targeting of civilian infrastructure provides a first cut at understanding the constraints actors face in linking environment and natural resources to peacebuilding efforts in Yemen.7 Peacebuilding becomes more difficult when the basic elements of human security are undermined, as humanitarian actors, governments and civilians struggle to meet basic human needs, protect public health, ensure food security and restore livelihoods.8 While many of the articles in this special issue highlight the positive side of environmental peacebuilding, where natural resources can play a role in fostering trust, dialogue and cooperation among parties in conflict,9 this article sheds light on the risks for peacebuilding when the natural environment and civilian infrastructures are destroyed during conflict. Where conflicts produce extensive degradation of the environment and infrastructure, it becomes more difficult to facilitate the return of displaced people, revive livelihoods or alleviate poverty once acute conflict subsides.10
Central to the field of environmental peacebuilding is the recognition that armed conflict damages the environment and associated infrastructures critical for sustaining human health, livelihoods and security.11 Water, energy and agricultural infrastructures mediate the impacts of conflict on both human security and ecosystems, and are thus an integral part of understanding the environmental impacts of war.12 Failing to protect civilians, and the natural resources and infrastructure upon which they depend, not only undermines livelihoods, but also breaks down social relationships, economic systems and governance mechanisms necessary for the provision of basic services and healthcare.13 In this article, we explore the extent and spatial distribution of destruction of water, energy, agricultural and health systems in Yemen. Furthermore, we analyse how humanitarian organizations have coped with competing pressures, insufficient resources and the targeting of their staff and facilities as they seek to address the infrastructural needs generated by the conflict. Our analysis draws upon an original database we have compiled, data collected by the UN and NGOs monitoring the war in Yemen, and interviews with humanitarian actors working in the country.
In the next section, we discuss our methods and data collection. We then provide some background on the Yemen war and the creation of the humanitarian crisis in the country, before turning to our analysis of the targeting of infrastructures associated with energy, water and sanitation, agriculture and fisheries, and hospitals and clinics. In the final section we examine the tensions and challenges in providing humanitarian assistance and for advancing environmental peacebuilding efforts – by Jeannie Sowers and Erika Weinthal
https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/97/1/157/6041480 = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348455746_Humanitarian_challenges_and_the_targeting_of_civilian_infrastructure_in_the_Yemen_war
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2021 UNFPA Humanitarian Response Overview for Yemen
Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and aid operation. Six years of escalating conflict, economic collapse, disease, natural disasters and the breakdown of public institutions and services have left millions of Yemenis hungry, ill and destitute. Now, COVID-19 posses an additional threat to their lives. A staggering 20.7 million people, 66 percent of the population, require some form of humanitarian assistance in 2021.
Women and girls are acutely vulnerable. An estimated 73 percent of the over 4 million people displaced in Yemen are women and children, while approximately 30 per cent of displaced households are now headed by women, compared to 9 per cent before the escalation of the conflict in 2015.
An estimated 5 million women and girls of childbearing age, and 1.7 million pregnant and breastfeeding women, have limited or no access to reproductive health services, including antenatal care, safe delivery, post-natal care, family planning, and emergency obstetric and newborn care. One Yemeni woman dies every two hours during childbirth, from causes that are almost entirely preventable.
Over 1 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition sometime in the course of 2021. They risk giving birth to newborns with severe stunted growth as a result of rising food insecurity.
Only half of all health facilities remain functional. The pandemic has aggravated the situation, with roughly 15 per cent of the functioning health system re-purposed for COVID-19. Only 20 per cent of functioning health facilities provide maternal and child health services due to lack of essential medicines, supplies and specialized staff. There are only 10 health workers per 10,000 people – less than half the WHO minimum benchmark, and 67 out of the 333 districts in Yemen have no doctors.
Women and girls suffered disproportionately from gender-based violence, poverty and violations of basic rights even prior to the conflict. Now, they face rising risks and vulnerabilities. Reports of various forms of violence against women significantly increased during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The protection needs are even greater for women and girls who are displaced. With limited shelter options and a breakdown in formal and informal protection mechanisms, women are adopting negative coping mechanisms to survive, including child marriage, human trafficking, begging and child labour, among others. A UNFPA study across three governorates showed that rates of child marriage were highest among displaced populations; with 1 in 5 displaced girls aged 10 to 19 being married, compared to 1 in 8 girls in the host community. According to the same study, negative maternal health outcomes were also experienced by married girls, with 1 in 10 married girls losing their baby during childbirth. Women and girls with disabilities face even a greater risk of gender-based violence in the communities and available services are not equipped logistically to accommodate their needs.
Women are under increasing economic pressure, with many struggling to provide for their families, often with limited or no prior experience in income-generating activities.
The cumulative impact of years of conflict and persistent humanitarian needs have also taken a heavy toll on the mental health of Yemenis, particularly its women and girls. An estimated 1 in 5 people suffer from mental health disorders, according to a 2017 study. However, mental healthcare remains scarce in Yemen. Mental illness is highly stigmatized, and the proportion of psychiatrists per population is insufficient.
https://yemen.unfpa.org/en/publications/unfpa-humanitarian-response-yemen-2021
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Building an Enduring Peace in Yemen
Lessons from Five Years of RAND Research
Despite years of United Nations–brokered negotiations, the antagonists have become increasingly entrenched and their positions seemingly irreconcilable. Time and again, negotiated cease-fires have proved unsustainable and once-promising confidence-building measures have failed to change the status quo, let alone achieve an enduring peace.
In this report, the authors trace the origins of the conflict, diagnose its costs, identify the underlying drivers of local conflict and mediation mechanisms, and describe how political influence, economic interests, and military ties have shaped the roles of key actors in the peace process. This analysis draws on five years of RAND Corporation research, including an expansive data collection effort in Yemen that assessed national conflict dynamics, regional influence networks, and local drivers of conflict and sources of resiliency, as well as 200 interviews with key military, government, community, and tribal actors across Yemen.
This research offers clear recommendations for ending the cycle of violence, failed peace talks, and broken promises. An enduring peace requires a coordinated international approach to security and the formation of an international body with the influence, mission, and resources to support what will be a decades-long process of reconciliation, reconstruction, and redevelopment.
Key Findings
Yemen's civil war has its origins in political and economic grievances, which have been persistent challenges in Yemen's modern history
Local grievances have undermined peace efforts, driving the unraveling of the Saudi-led coalition and contributing to the failure of the United Nations–led peace process.
These grievances shape the power of elites, who have the potential to help reconcile Yemen's divisions but are just as likely to play the role of spoiler, threatening the peace process.
The human costs of Yemen's civil war have been staggering, but a small but influential group of Yemenis has benefited from this simmering conflict
These war "beneficiaries," a blend of Yemen's traditional elite and newcomers, have exploited the instability and foreign assistance of all types for economic and political gain.
Understanding the winners and losers in the ongoing civil war is critical in designing effective and durable solutions to the current conflict.
Local actors—tribal sheiks, community leaders, and other notables—will likely be critical to sustaining the eventual peace agreement
Yemen's rich tradition of local, informal mediation has persisted throughout the conflict, with informal mediators both substituting for and complementing state authorities.
Neither informal (via local actors) or formal (via state authorities) mediation is sufficient on its own to sustain a peace agreement.
There are two possible pathways for peace efforts in Yemen
The first is to double down on current efforts that focus on national reconciliation.
The second is to refocus international peacebuilding and state-building efforts on Yemen's southern and eastern governorates, at least in the near term.
Recommendations
The international community should support Yemenis in developing a phased approach that provides for political resolution and economic stabilization while guaranteeing the security of citizens across Yemen's political and social strata. This phased approach should evolve from stabilization and relief in the near term, to a transitional period of institution building in the medium term, culminating in democratic consolidation and sustained development over the long term.
International actors must recognize that the pursuit of their own political, economic, and security interests cannot come at the expense of peace in Yemen.
The international community must be willing to make an unprecedented commitment to peace in Yemen, establishing an international body that has both the mission and resources to oversee and support what will be a decades-long process of reconciliation, reconstruction, and redevelopment. Just as a transitional Yemeni government requires broad inclusion, so too should this body, providing a voice to different political actors from across Yemen.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA733-1.html
full document: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA733-1.html
My remark: To be read with care. For Rand Corporation, look at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAND_Corporation
https://archive.globalpolicy.org/empire/intervention/2008/0430rand.htm
https://tomdispatch.com/chalmers-johnson-teaching-imperialism-101/
https://socialistaction.org/2020/07/28/the-militarization-of-american-science-2/
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I am Afraid to Die and No One Knows
The Abductees’ Mothers’ Association was established when the heartbroken mothers of arbitrarily detained sons and daughters gathered together to transform their pain and suffering into a mighty force for action. They were able to facilitate the release of more than 940 people by their persistence, perseverance, sacrifices, and endurance of all kinds of violence in front of the prison gates, in addition to their meetings with the leaders from all parties. One of the most important things the association has accomplished is documenting the cases of violations related to kidnapped people. Today, it launches a special report on the situation of the arrested and detained women in the Central Prison in Sana’a at a time when the violations against women in it have reached a level that Yemen has never before witnessed. Women’s protection values have disappeared and all forms of violence—including arbitrary detention, torture, and physical and psychological violence—have been practiced against women of all backgrounds, including women political activists, women human rights defenders, women working in the relief and peace fields, and women traveling throughout the country.
In 2018, the Abductees’ Mothers’ Association started recording instances of women being kidnapped and detained, including women that have been abducted and arbitrarily arrested because of their opinions. The association has followed up on their cases and demanded their release when they have been held in secret and official prisons. The Abductees’ Mothers’ Association monitored and documented the conditions of their detention in these prisons, including the Central Prison in Sana’a, in order to improve the human rights situation, specifically for women.
This report defines the suffering of female prisoners in official prisons—using the Central Prison in Sana’a as a model—despite the increase of obstacles and complications that local authorities have placed in the way of civil society organizations that monitor the human rights situation in these prisons.
The report provides a direct assessment of women’s imprisonment in the Central Prison in Sana’a by highlighting the most important concerns regarding the conditions of detention. • In this report, we target local authorities, policy makers, international bodies concerned with protecting women’s rights, international institutions concerned with prisoners’ rights, and civil society organizations.
The Abductees’ Mothers’ Association formed a team to prepare this report consisting of women who were trained on legal skills, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
The detectors team of the Abductees’ Mothers’ Association began collecting information about detention conditions in the women’s prison in the Central Prison in Sana’a in March 2020 and adopted the following method: · Field visit to the women’s prison in the Central Prison in Sana’a to inspect the situation there. · Meeting with former prisoners from the women’s prison who had been released. · Meeting with some of the families of female prisoners and listening to their testimonies about the reasons for the detention and imprisonment of their female relatives, the legal procedures that were followed, and the conditions of their relatives in prison. · Attending some trial sessions of the accused women. · Listening to the lawyers acting on behalf of the female prisoners and viewing some of their case files.
The Abductees’ Mothers’ Association sent a letter on the conditions of detention in the women’s prison in the Central Prison in Sana’a to the Ministry of Human Rights and called on the Ministry to form a committee to visit the prison, evaluate the conditions of female prisoners, and work with the relevant authorities to correct poor conditions
The Abductees’ Mothers’ Association, in its human rights report, “I Am Afraid to Die, and No One Knows”, monitors and documents the cases of detention that women have been subjected to inside the Central Prison in Sana’a during the year 2020 and the reasons for and backgrounds of their detention.
146 women were detained in the Central Prison in Sana’a in the women’s section. The Association monitored them during the reporting period, and they included 4 cases of detention on political charges, 10 cases of detention on charges of fraud and deception, 13 cases of detention for promoting and selling weed, 10 cases of detention on accusations of theft, 14 cases of accused murder, one case of attempted murder, two cases of warfare, and 56 cases of detention on moral charges. This detail is for the detainees in the internal section only
As for the external section, there were 36 women detained on various charges. We were not able to adjust the charges against them according to the internal section, due to the blackout imposed by the prison administration on the nature of the detainees in this section as well as the policy of complete isolation of prisoners in the external section from their peers from the internal section.
We would like to point out that these numbers are what the monitoring team has reached in the Association and do not mean that this is the actual number of detainees in the Central Prison. The true number of detainees is definitely more than the numbers monitored by the team.
https://icanpeacework.org/our-resources/wasl-publications-series/
and full report: https://icanpeacework.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/IAmAfraidtoDieandNoOneKnows_AMA_Yemen_Report_English.pdf
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Yemen: 'Militarizing women impacts social cohesion'
Experts say recruitment of women by warring parties as combatants and spies has consequences for Yemeni society
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Kawkab Althaibani, director of an NGO, Women for Yemen Network, described it as a new phenomenon, where women are allegedly recruited to work in intelligence networks.
A former prison inmate, Fawzia al-Mahwiti, said that Houthi rebels had forced her to spy on fellow prisoners.
She was earlier working as a prison official, but she submitted a resignation protesting against the treatment of women by Houthis when they took over Sanaa.
But they imprisoned her and asked her to snoop on prisoners as a condition to accept her resignation.
A report by the UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen last September found children being recruited by the warring armed groups.
The report cited that 34 girls aged 13-17 were recruited by the Houthi rebels in five years from 2015-2020 to work as spies, guards, medics, and members of the Zainabiyat -- a women's military group established by Houthis.
“Girls from Houthi-affiliated or socio-economically disadvantaged families, or those in detention, were especially targeted for recruitment. As many as 12 girls allegedly survived sexual violence or were forced to marry, which was also directly linked to their recruitment,” said the report.
The Panel of Experts on Yemen in their report to the UN Security Council in January 2020 also documented multiple violations perpetrated by Zainabiyat that included arbitrary arrest and detention of women, sexual assault, beatings, torture, and facilitating rape in secret detention centers.
Media reports suggested that in Taiz, a city in southwestern Yemen, the groups aligned to government forces have also recruited women. Besides being used to undertake medical and relief work, they are also asked to carry out raids on suspected houses.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Hooria Mashhour, a former minister of human rights, said while she favors women taking over the highest positions in the Defense Ministry, using them as combatants should be completely rejected.
In October 2015, Taiz witnessed a graduation ceremony of the first batch of female police officers where they demonstrated some of their combat skills.
Another batch of 86 female soldiers joined the 35th Armored Brigade under the name of the Hope Batch.
Althaibani said while the involvement of women in any armed groups is problematic, but the situation in Taiz was a reaction unlike in the north where rebels are systematically using women.
Zainabiyat military parade shock for Yemenis
Three years ago, media displayed pictures of Zainabiyat female forces participating in a military parade in Sanaa, carrying machine guns and Kalashnikovs.
Observers said that the scenes angered the conservative Yemeni people, who used to keep women away from any politically driven conflicts or anything that is associated with violence or causes harm and danger.
“Houthis use women as a tactic to appeal to social norms. So, many people would not disagree with this act because Houthis always claim that this act comes in respect to society and its tradition as female security groups are formed to protect other women,” Althaibani said.
She said that the militarization of women has impacted social cohesion in Yemen.
“Families within the same neighborhood feel insecure when female militants live in the same neighborhood. This will install further fear among people and social cohesion is going to get more destroyed,” she said.
Mashhour said this phenomenon needs to be addressed once the war ends. She called for the demobilization and rehabilitation of female soldiers.
But many observers say that it is the lure of salary and perks as well since the warning parties prioritize paying to combatants rather than using the money for public services.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemen-militarizing-women-impacts-social-cohesion/2155177 = https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/militarizing-women-impacts-social-cohesion-in-yemen-3561412
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How Rational Can the US Be in Dealing with Yemen and Iran?
[Biden’s] announcement does not augur peace in Yemen any time soon. Rather it looks a bit like political mystification that some have chosen to celebrate now, regardless of what it actually means, apparently in hope of making it a meaningful, self-fulfilling prophecy some time in the future. This does not seem likely, given what Biden actually said, but we shall see.
For the foreseeable future, Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, will remain the victim of a Saudi war of aggression and Saudi war crimes
The Houthis are also the victims of US Iranophobia, the paranoid policy framing that sees Iranian devils behind every difficulty in the Middle East, regardless of any lack of evidence.
While the Biden administration’s decision to rescind the terrorist designation eliminates a factor that would have made the Yemen situation worse, there is little in Biden’s speech that promises to make the situation better any time soon.
Supporting United Nations efforts is probably helpful as far as it goes, but it’s a far cry from US engagement on the peace side to match US engagement on the war side. And to suggest that the UN might “impose a ceasefire” implies a military deployment that is pretty much imaginary. The conflict within Yemen is multi-sided, with few if any clearly-defined frontlines.
The US was misguided, at best, to sanction the Saudi aggression. The US was criminal to support the Saudi aggression for the past six years. Now Biden has said the US is ending “all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen.” There are NO defensive operations in that war, the war is effectively all in Yemen. And when Biden says the US is ending all American support, does that mean no more military guidance from the US mission in Riyadh? No more logistical support? No more intelligence sharing? No more training Saudi pilots? No more target selection? No more mid-air refueling? No more maintenance for Saudi bombers? No more spare parts? Does it mean an end to the US naval blockade, itself an act of war?
The US has been doing all these things, and probably more, with Obama’s and Trump’s blessings since 2015. Will the US stop doing all of them now, or in the near future? Biden didn’t say (the State Department later hedged). Biden promised to end “relevant arms sales,” whatever “relevant” is supposed to mean, since it means nothing on its face. And in the next line of his speech, Biden revealed the calamitous duplicity of the US position all along:
At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV strikes, and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We’re going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people.
This is cover-your-butt spinning to excuse future failures planned to appease the Saudi aggressors. Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks and UAV strikes from the Houthis because the Houthis, in the face of relentless attack, have been fighting back.
Biden’s undefined “other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries” is murky, non-specific, unverifiable. This makes Biden sound like he’s channeling Pompeo in pure Iranophobe-speak. This fearmongering portends nothing good for Yemen.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty is under no discernible threat, except perhaps from within the monarchical police state. So the US is committed to defending an anti-democratic dictatorship that murders its critics in the most brutal fashion? How is that a good thing?
Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity is under no credible threat.
Saudi Arabia’s people face a chronic, lethal threat from their own government. There are occasional, minor threats from dissidents.
Biden’s reassurances to Saudi Arabia weren’t just specious, they represent an unchanging rigidity in American thinking that continues as a threat to peace.
In reality, in 2015, the Houthis were nowhere near the Saudi border, they were deep in southern Yemen, on the verge of overrunning Aden and driving out the Yemeni puppet government controlled by Saudi Arabia. That was when the Saudis launched their undeclared war; that was when the US supported the unrestricted aerial bombardment of a country with no air defense.
And beneath all the other arguments was the widespread fear of Iran, Iranophobia, based on little to no evidence. Iran is a despised Shia Muslim state in a Sunni Muslim world, and the mutual distrust is deep-seated and irrational, except that the Iranians remember that the western allies of Saudi Arabia imposed one of the world’s bloodier dictatorships on Iran – by William M. Boardman
https://dissidentvoice.org/2021/02/how-rational-can-the-us-be-in-dealing-with-yemen-and-iran/
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The dangerous fight for Yemen's oil-rich Marib
The Houthis’ push to usurp the city in northern Yemen from the Hadi government risks jeopardising any chance of diplomatically resolving the country’s civil war.
Roughly 75 miles east of Houthi-controlled Sanaa is Marib. Since early last year, Houthi fighters have been fighting to take control of Marib, which would constitute a major game changer in the Yemen conflict.
This month, the fight for Marib intensified, threatening the security of roughly two million Yemenis. Unfortunately, the Houthis’ push to usurp this city risks jeopardising current opportunities to make diplomatic progress in resolving Yemen’s civil war.
If the Houthis successfully take Marib, President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s government would not be in control of any major areas in northern Yemen. To be sure, conquering this city would greatly enhance Houthi leverage at talks once they restart, while doing much to underscore the extent to which Yemen’s internationally recognised government is weak.
That seems to be why the Houthis are moving ahead so aggressively with their plans to take control of Marib. But in doing so, the Houthis are making a big mistake.
This Houthi push for Marib “might be driving the Biden administration away rather than thinking that they’re always going to be on tap for them,” according to the Atlantic Council’s Nabeel Khoury, who previously served as a US diplomat in Sanaa.
“The Biden administration is on tap currently. The Houthis can communicate, directly or indirectly, with the US government right now. But they will miss the opportunity if they think they can go full speed ahead in Marib.”
Not only could this continued Houthi effort to win the fight for Marib have negative implications in terms of how the Biden administration might react, but it could strengthen anti-Houthi resolve on the ground in Yemen.
As Khoury explained, the Houthis risk energising and uniting their adversaries from the pro-Hadi coalition and various tribes. Despite these actors lacking unity in the past, a continuation of the Houthis’ fight to usurp Marib could unify them behind an anti-Houthi military effort. Khoury warns, “the conflict from Marib can continue all over Yemen for a long time if it doesn’t end right away.”
The possibility of the Houthis taking control of Marib is cause for concern from a humanitarian standpoint. In the words of Mark Lowcock, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis fleeing Marib would lead to “unimaginable humanitarian consequences”.
It is undeniable that the Houthis have been brutal in their governance and there is every reason to assume that Ansurallah would commit more crimes in Marib when dealing with locals deemed to be allied with the Houthis’ enemies.
Because this city has been a safe haven for many Yemenis who fled the capital and other Houthi-controlled areas earlier on in the civil war, Marib falling to the Houthis would leave many internally displaced Yemenis in a position of far greater vulnerability.
For all parties interested in peacefully resolving the Yemeni crisis, preventing further bloodshed in Marib is critical. Now with President Joe Biden’s administration seeking to find a diplomatic solution to this conflict, US leadership must recognise the legitimate grievances and concerns on the part of both the Hadi government and the Houthis — plus other actors in the country such as the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
The Houthis, who are justifiably worried about being massacred by their Saudi and Yemeni enemies if they were to disarm before others do, want to consolidate their hold on the land under their grip and expand to take over Marib.
But the Iranian-backed rebels’ push to capture this hydrocarbon-rich city could easily undermine the existing opportunities to make progress in terms of settling the civil war – by Giorgio Cafiero
https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/the-dangerous-fight-for-yemen-s-oil-rich-marib-44513
My remark: For Marib, also: cp2, cp4, cp17
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
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WHO Yemen Update Situation report - Issue no.1 (January 2021)
WHO and partners prepare for COVID-19 vaccine rollout, a potential spike in infections
WHO and partners are refining their COVID 19 strategy, including case management: Photo: WHO Yemen has applied to the COVAX initiative implemented by WHO, GAVI and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to receive about 14 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to cover the initial needs of 23% of the population of Yemen. The vaccines will be delivered progressively throughout 2021. The first allocation of 2.3 million doses has been confirmed and should be available in the next weeks. The COVAX initiative is meant to support all governorates of Yemen as per defined needs and population targeting. Operational planning is already underway.
As part of its overall support to the COVID-19 national response, WHO will provide technical support to deploy COVID-19 vaccines received from COVAX or bilateral agreements. WHO will also provide advisory on vaccines' safety and efficacy irrespective of procurement source as available.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/who-yemen-update-situation-report-issue-no1-january-2021
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34 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 2,221 in total
The supreme national emergency committee for coronavirus reported on Wednesday, 34 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the governorates of Hadramout (14), Aden (12), Taiz (4) al-Dhale (3) and Shabwa (1).
The committee also announced the death of 4 coronavirus patients; Hadramout (3) and Shabwa (1), in addition to the recovery of one patient in Hadramout.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32321
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-23363.html
and
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[Hadi gov.] Yemen Health Ministry on high alert after covid-19 cases increase
Yemen’s Health Ministry is now on high alert after a reported increase in the infections with the novel coronavirus in the country.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45311
(A H)
Four new COVID-19 cases reported in Yemen's Taiz
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23350.html
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Yemen: "We Don’t Want Vaccines. There is No Corona Here. We Are Fine."
The health sector in Yemen is fighting a permanent battle on multiple fronts.
At the height of the Covid crisis, many public and private hospitals in the city of Aden – weakened as a result of 6 years of war – refused to receive any suspected corona cases, under the pretext of a shortage of protective equipment for their staff.
According to one doctor at the Al-Jumhuriya Teaching Hospital, about 400 medical staff refused to work out of fear of infection, leaving the hospital with only 14 doctors and and some nurses.
According to the World Bank’s Emergency Crisis Response Project in Yemen, less than half of the country’s health facilities are operating at full capacity. An additional problem is that many people refuse to recognize they have the coronavirus for fear of “stigma.”
Dr. Ali Al-Walidi, Undersecretary for Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MPHP) of the Yemen government in Aden, told our team in an exclusive interview that it has not yet been specified when the vaccine will arrive.
“We requested the vaccine to arrive in the first quarter or first half of this year,” he said. “However, we are already working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF in terms of training, logistics and distribution.”
“Yemen is a member of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI),” he continued. “A few months ago we started to form committees in accordance with the COVAX program. We also hold regular meetings with representatives from the WHO, UNICEF and GAVI.”
GAVI has promised to supply 20 percent of Yemen’s population with the vaccine. The first batch will target health professionals, the elderly and people suffering from chronic diseases. The vaccine will cover all regions of Yemen, including those under control of the Houthi movement, who according to Al-Walidi, will be communicated with through the WHO and UNICEF.
Yemen’s health ministry had also applied to the Saudi King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre for it to finance vaccines for the remaining 50% of the population.
Yemen is set to receive 2,316,000 doses for one million inhabitants (two doses per person), according to Dr. Khaled Zain, charged by the MPHP in Aden and the WHO with supervising the import of the Covid vaccine as part of the COVAX program. The latter is reportedly ready to deliver by the end of February.
Staff will be trained, as soon as the national vaccination plan is completed, according to Zain.
The challenges in Yemen are not limited to the type and quantity of vaccine that the state will receive. Yemen’s problems go far beyond that and include many financial and political issues, as well as conspiracy theories.
Arguably the biggest problem, however, remains storage, given the country’s many power cuts.
“We do not want vaccines, there is no #Covid19 in Yemen, we are fine,” said 31-year-old Ahmed from Sanaa, he refuses to get a vaccine if ever it becomes available. “It has not affected us. While other countries were imprisoned, we live normally here.”
“Even if the vaccine is not completely corrupted, it will lose its effectiveness when exposed to the slightest change in temperature,” said Dr. Fahd Abdulaziz, an assistant lab specialist at the Jumhuriya Hospital.
More than one doctor at the hospital recalled that, a few years ago, polio vaccines proved corrupted and had to be withdrawn after the vaccination process had started.
Unknown Numbers
In the Houthi-controlled areas, the authorities have so far refused to reveal the exact number of coronavirus cases. Initially, they acknowledged only four cases. Since June, no additional cases have been announced despite the positive results shown by lab tests in medical centers and hospitals.
One thing is certain: the official figures on infection, death and recovery do not reflect the reality of the virus. Medical sources suggest it has affected a huge part of the population. Even the WHO, which takes random samples to measure the rate of infection in Yemen, doubts the official figures.
Houthis Reject the Vaccine
Najeeb Al-Qubati, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Sana’a, refused to discuss whether the vaccines may become available in Houthi-controlled areas or confirm the health organizations which would be in charge of providing and distributing them. UNICEF is still trying to come to an agreement with the authorities to allow for distribution of the vaccine.
Our team contacted many sources at the ministry, as well as several health organizations in Sana’a, yet we did not receive an answer as to why the Houthis reject the vaccine.
Taiz Between Two Sieges
“We fear citizens’ rejection of the vaccine, especially as it is a new and controversial disease,” said Dr. Yassin Abdulmalik, director of the Department of Disease Control and Epidemiological Surveillance in the Taiz governorate.
According to Dr. Ilan Abdel-Haq, Undersecretary of Health Affairs in the Taiz Governorate there has been a great failure in officials dealing with the epidemic. “We sent many urgent telegrams and inquiries to the concerned authorities,” he said. “But they did not bear fruit.”
Determining the size of the Taiz portion of the vaccine and how to distribute it, is up to the WHO and UNICEF. Yemen’s task will be limited to providing medical staff. “In the event Taiz obtains limited quantities, the priority will be areas with the highest prevalence and displaced people,” Abdul-Haq said.
Virus and Vaccine as Conspiracy
“We do not want vaccines, there is no corona in Yemen, we are fine,” said 31-year-old Ahmed Al-Washali, who lives in Sanaa and refuses to get a vaccine if ever it becomes available. “It has not affected us. While other countries were imprisoned in their homes, and could not work, we lived normally and nothing happened.”
Our team met with 53 people in areas under control of the Houthi movement, most of whom hold a university degree, are employed in the public or private sector and have an average age of 27 to 35.
We found that 42 out of 53 people refuse to receive the vaccine if it were available. Because they did not need it, most said, while 17 claimed the vaccine may be a “conspiracy” posing a threat to their health. Of the 9 people willing to receive the vaccine, 7 stipulated it should be free of charge. Two people said to have never heard about a vaccine against the virus.
Despite the low rate of illiteracy compared to other governorates, in Taiz too resistance to vaccination remained high. And here too it was not just limited to religious people, but included holders of university degrees and secular people. For 49-year-old teacher Jamil, for example, corona was “just an illusion.”
Things were not too different in Aden, as fear for the vaccine prevailed. In a poll conducted by our team among 121 residents in the city of Aden, over 84% refused to have the vaccine. The main reason was a lack of confidence in the authorities responsible for importing the vaccine and a fear for the conditions in which the vaccine would be cooled and stored. Even some health workers feared the vaccine in terms of safety and potential side effects.
While fundamentalist religious opinion does contribute to this atmosphere of fear and hesitation, there is no unified religious opinion regarding the vaccine – by Safa Nasser, Sahar Mahyjoubi, and others
https://raseef22.net/article/1081670-yemen-we-dont-want-vaccines-there-is-no-corona-here-we-are-fine
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Yemen warns against possible second wave of coronavirus
Hospitals should prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus and take steps to prevent its spread, health authorities in the government-controlled part of Yemen said on Wednesday.
Testing and reporting are limited in the war-torn country, but confirmed cases have risen in the past 10 days, after having levelled off since September to just a couple of new cases a day.
Eleven new cases were reported on Tuesday and Monday each by the supreme national emergency committee for the internationally recognised government.
The health ministry has urged preventive measures by hospitals and medical centres, from isolating suspected cases, and reporting confirmed cases, to launching epidemiological investigations, and evaluating isolation centres, labs and PCR test centres, the supreme committee said on Twitter.
(* A H)
Yemen: COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Monthly Report (January 2021)
In January, 22 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, 5 deaths and 32 recoveries were reported, bringing the total number of reported cases to 2,125, with 616 deaths and 1,428 recoveries. 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. Partners have also been working to expand testing capacity through new technologies; to better characterize epidemiology; and to actively protect essential health services. Partners have begun to prepare for a second wave of COVID-19, including engaging with excluded and vulnerable groups to keep them safe and supporting essential health facilities
(* B H)
WHO EMRO Weekly Epidemiological Monitor: Volume 14, Issue no 7; 14 February 2021
An overview of the Cholera outbreak response in Yemen, 2020
In 2020, Ministry of Public Health and Population (MOPHP) reported cumulatively a total of 233,720 cases and 85 deaths (CFR 0.04%). Total 22,488 stool specimens were tested, 8,543 were positive by rapid test (RDTs) and 134 were positive by culture with 10% positivity rate. Fewer cases were reported in 2020 compared with previous years (See table and graph) following the implementation of control and prevention measures by MOPHP with the support of both health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) clusters.
Editorial note
MOPHP with the support from health and WASH cluster partners has implemented effective cholera prevention and control interventions that rely on a multisectoral approach guided by effective coordination mechanism. Leadership and Coordination of the response have been maintained through 2 central and 26 governorate emergency operating centers (EOCs).
Real time surveillance to detect new cases and monitor the cholera situation in the context of COVID-19 pandemic was enhanced.
cp2 Allgemein / General
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Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
Yemen War Map Updates
Feb. 25: https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-february-25-2021-map-update/
Feb. 24: https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-february-24-2021-map-update/
(* B H K)
Audio: Yemen through my eyes - Interview with journalist and writer Laura Silvia Battaglia
(* B K P)
Yemen: A Northern Offensive Makes Diplomacy More Urgent
While the new Administration has shown more support for the Houthi movement compared to Donald Trump, there is still some skepticism as to how much a US-brokered ceasefire or peace the Houthis will welcome.
While the US said it was withdrawing its support for the Saudi-led coalition, there is a sense the move is largely symbolic as US support is limited intelligence sharing and weapons sales, which some argue would be sought from other brokers such as China or Russia.
The decision has been seen as unlikely to cause a rift in the Saudi-US relationship. A key mention in Biden’s foreign policy statement was that Saudi could depend on the US to help defend its sovereignty, which would include attacks on its territory. Such attacks have been made by the Houthis and “Iranian-supplied forces” from multiple countries, as mentioned in the statement.
In a report by Defence News, the head of US Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie iterated that American support would still be available to help Saudi Arabia’s defensive capabilities. So, while offensive weapons for use in the war on Yemen would be frozen, exemptions would be made for defensive systems.
Meanwhile, with Biden naming Lenderking the US Special Envoy for Yemen, a career diplomat specialising in the Middle East, it further illuminates the US’s stance toward finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Among Yemenis, there are expectations for the US to help end the war and seek accountability for crimes during the six-year-conflict.
The diplomatic way forward still has in its way huge challenges in getting Hadi and the Houthis to the negotiating table. International pressure could help achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible and deter the offensive on Marib from escalating further.
(* B E K P)
Film: Die Interessen der Ölindustrie im Jemen-Krieg
Shireen Al-Adeimi, jemenitische Anti-Kriegs-Aktivistin und Professorin an der Michigan State University, erläutert die vielen Interessen hinter dem Jemen-Krieg, die das Potenzial haben, Bidens angekündigte Beendigung der US-Unterstützung für die saudische Koalition in diesem Krieg, der eines der ärmsten Länder des Nahen Ostens verwüstet hat, zu entgleisen.
SAA: Eine Ankündigung wie diese von Joe Biden, war das, worauf wir all die Jahre gewartet haben. Aber als wir der Nachricht genauer zuhörten, gab es einige Vorbehalte, die uns äußerst misstrauisch und vorsichtig werden ließen in Bezug auf die Frage, wie der Krieg im Jemen wirklich beendet werden kann und ob es sich nicht nur um eine Art Neuauflage des Krieges handelt, während die Situation vor Ort für den durchschnittlichen Jemeniten qualitativ unverändert bleibt.
Biden sagte, er wolle die "offensive Operationen" im Jemen beenden. Die offensive Rolle hier ist besorgniserregend, denn er fährt fort zu sagen, dass er verpflichtet ist, Saudi-Arabien vor den Huthis zu verteidigen - er nannte sie Iran-Gruppen oder so ähnlich ("Iranisch-unterstützte Kräfte") - sowie die saudische "Souveränität" zu verteidigen. Das klingt für mich sehr nach dem, wie der Krieg von der Obama-Biden-Administration im März 2015, also vor fast sechs Jahren, dargestellt wurde, als sie sagten, sie würden die von Saudi-Arabien angeführte Koalition unterstützen, um saudische Territorien und Grenzen vor den Huthis zu verteidigen.
Wenn also die vergangenen sechs Jahre ein defensiver Krieg waren, was ändert sich dann, wenn Biden sagt, wir beenden die offensiven Operationen? Die andere beunruhigende Sache war, dass er sagte, sie würden die "relevanten Waffenverkäufe" beenden. Saudi-Arabien erhält etwa 70 Prozent seiner Waffen von den Vereinigten Staaten. Was ist hier also relevant und was irrelevant, wenn sie diese Waffen zur Bombardierung des Jemen benutzen, sowohl sie, als auch die VAE.
Um den Krieg zu beenden, müssen also alle Formen der Unterstützung beendet werden, nicht nur "relevante Waffenverkäufe" und nicht nur "offensive Operationen", wie auch immer diese definiert werden, wir sind uns da noch nicht ganz sicher.
Die Jemeniten haben den Preis für die Darstellung bezahlt, dass die Huthis nur Stellvertreter des Iran sind, die von Saudi- Arabien oft wiederholt wird. Und das kann nicht ferner von der Wahrheit entfernt sein. Ja, der Iran hat einen Einfluss auf die Huthis, aber das ist keineswegs vergleichbar. Man kann es nicht mit der Art von Unterstützung vergleichen, die die saudische Koalition von den Vereinigten Staaten erhalten hat. Zu behaupten, dass die Huthis vom Iran unterstützt werden, ist absolut nicht dasselbe, wie zu sagen, dass die Koalition von den USA unterstützt wird, denn "von den USA unterstützt" bedeutet, dass die USA alles tun, außer den Auslöser für die saudische Koalition zu betätigen.
"Vom Iran unterstützt" bedeutet, dass die Huthis eine positive Beziehung zum Iran zu haben und vielleicht hin und wieder eine Art von Geheimdienstinformation von den Iranern zu erhalten. Natürlich steht der Jemen unter einer Blockade, einer See-, Land- und Luftblockade, die von der saudischen Koalition durchgesetzt wird. Zu behaupten, dass die Huthis irgendwelche Waffen aus dem Iran erhalten, wäre lächerlich, wenn man bedenkt, wie viele Länder diese Blockade durchsetzen, und dafür gibt es einfach keine Beweise. Iranische Bomben landen nicht auf jemenitischen Zivilisten oder saudischen Zivilisten.
Iranische Raketen landen nirgendwo. Es ist sechs Jahre her. Sie werden keine Iraner vor Ort finden, die die Huthis unterstützen. Das ist also eine aufgeblasene, übertriebene Darstellung, die die USA und die Saudis im Namen des Kampfes gegen den Iran in der Region benutzt haben, und leider haben sie damit den Jemen zerstört, aber die Interessen liegen völlig außerhalb dessen, was sie vorgeben. Das Interesse im Jemen ist Jemens geopolitische Lage, Jemens Kontrolle über die Bab Al-Mandab-Meeresstraße, und das ist, warum die USA und Saudi im Jemen beteiligt sind, nicht wegen des Irans.
Warum betraten die USA den Jemen? Warum sind Saudi-Arabien und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate - einige der reichsten Länder der Welt - im Jemen involviert? Die Wahrheit ist, dass sie sich nicht weniger um die legitime Regierung des Jemen scheren könnten. Wir sprechen hier über Monarchien. Sie interessieren sich nicht für Demokratien. Der Jemen liegt an der Spitze der arabischen Halbinsel und kontrolliert die Straße von Bab Al-Mandab. Derzeit werden täglich 6,2 Millionen Fässer Öl und Ölprodukte durch den Sueskanal in Ägypten nach Europa und 2 durch diese Meerenge nach Asien transportiert. Ungefähr 30 Prozent des weltweiten Öls werden über diese Straße transportiert. Sie ist also sowohl für Länder, die vom Öl abhängig sind, wie die USA, als auch für Länder, die Öl produzieren, wie Saudi-Arabien und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate, von Bedeutung. Das eigentliche Ziel hier ist, sicherzustellen, dass sie weiterhin eine Regierung im Jemen haben, die seit Jahrzehnten pro-amerikanisch und pro-saudi-arabisch ist, sodass dort keine Probleme für sie entstehen.
Mit dem Aufstieg der Huthis im Jahr 2014 war klar, dass eine explizit anti-amerikanische und anti-saudi-arabische potenzielle Regierung im Jemen entstehen würde, und das ist es, was Saudi-Arabien dazu brachte, zu intervenieren, und was die USA dazu brachte, sie so schnell zu unterstützen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQjuyZqIN6o
Vollständies Transkript: https://www.actvism.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Die-Interessen-der-O%CC%88lindustrie-im-Jemen-Krieg.pdf
and English version:
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Film: The Oil Interests Behind the War in Yemen
Shireen Al-Adeimi, Yemen anti-war activist and professor at Michigan State University, discusses the many interests behind the war on Yemen, which have the potential of derailing Biden’s announced ending of US support for the Saudi-led coalition in this war that has devastated one of the Middle East’s poorest countries.
SAA: an announcement like that by Joe Biden was what we’ve been waiting to hear all these years, but when we listened carefully to what the announcement actually was, there are some caveats that made us really skeptical and worried about what this might mean for really truly ending the war in Yemen, and whether this might just be a sort of rebranding of the war while the situation on the ground doesn’t change qualitatively for the average Yemeni.
So he says that he will end “offensive operations” in Yemen. The offensive role here is concerning because then he goes on to say that he is committed to defending Saudi Arabia from Houthis, he called them Iran groups or something like that (“Iranian-supplied forces”) and defending Saudi “sovereignty,” and this to me, sounds a lot like what the Obama-Biden administration, framed the war as to begin with in March of 2015, almost six years ago, when they said they were supporting the Saudi-led coalition in order to defend Saudi territories and borders from the Houthis.
And so if all of these six years past six years have been a defensive war, then what changes when Biden says we’re ending offensive operations? The other concerning thing was that he said they are going to be ending “relevant arms sales.” Now, Saudi Arabia receives about 70 percent of their arms are from the United States. So what is relevant and irrelevant here when they’re using these arms to bomb Yemen, both them and the UAE.
So ending the war is going to require ending all forms of support, not just “relevant arms sales” and not just “offensive operations,” whichever way those are defined, we’re not quite sure yet.
I mean, Yemenis have paid the price because of this framing by Saudi Arabia that is often repeated by D.C. that the Houthis are just Iranian proxies. And this cannot be further from the truth. Yes, Iran has an influence on the Houthis, but this is by no means comparable. You can’t compare it to the kinds of support that the Saudi-led coalition has received from the United States. To say that the Houthis are Iranian-backed is absolutely not the same as saying the U.S.-backed coalition, U.S.-backed means the U.S. is doing everything except for pulling the trigger for the Saudi-led coalition.
Iran-backed means that the Houthis have a positive relationship with Iran and maybe receive some kind of intelligence from the Iranians every now and then. Of course, Yemen is under a blockade, a naval, land, and aerial blockade that’s enforced by the Saudi-led coalition, and so to say that they are receiving any arms from Iran would be ludicrous considering how many countries are enforcing that blockade, and there’s just not been any evidence of that. Iranian bombs are not landing on Yemeni civilians or Saudi civilians.
Iranian missiles are not landing anywhere. It’s been six years. You won’t find any Iranians on the ground supporting the Houthis. So this has been an overblown, exaggerated role that the U.S. and Saudi have used in the name of fighting Iran in the region have unfortunately destroyed Yemen, but the interests are quite different than what they’re saying. The interest in Yemen is Yemen’s geopolitical location, is Yemen’s control over Bab Al-Mandab Strait, and that’s why the U.S. and Saudi is involved in Yemen, not because of Iran.
Why did the U.S. enter Yemen? Why is Saudi Arabia and the UAE, some of the world’s richest countries involved in Yemen? And the truth is that they couldn’t care less about the legitimate government of Yemen. These are monarchies we’re talking about. They don’t care about democracies. Yemen is at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula and controls Bab Al-Mandab Strait. Now, 6.2 million barrels of oil and oil products per day travel to Europe through the Suez Canal in Egypt and down to Asia through that Strait. About 30 percent of the world’s oil travels there, so it’s been of importance to countries that are oil dependent, like the U.S. and countries that are oil producing, like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. So that’s really the goal here is to make sure that they continue to have a government in Yemen, as they had for decades, who is pro-U.S pro- Saudi Arabia, so they don’t encounter any issues there.
With the rise of the Houthis in 2014, it was clear that they were going to have an explicitly anti-U.S. anti-Saudi Arabian potentially government in Yemen, and that’s what drove Saudi Arabia to intervene and that’s what drove the U.S. to support them so quickly.
https://theanalysis.news/interviews/the-oil-interests-behind-the-war-in-yemen/
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Oral Update of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen to the 46th session of the Human Rights Council
Since we presented our last report in September 2020, several events have occurred. Before starting with those directly affecting the implementation of the present resolution, as requested, we would like to thank the Coalition and the de facto authorities for their responses to our report that have been duly taken into consideration.
You will recall that this Council extended our mandate for a further year, and substantively expanded our mandate in several respects. Despite this expanded mandate, the Group of Experts has not been furnished with the requisite human and material resources to carry it out, mainly because of the liquidity crisis within the United Nations regular budget. That this is the case, half way through our present mandate, is wholly unacceptable and sends the wrong message to people suffering in Yemen at a time when they need all the support the international community can muster.
The war in Yemen will soon enter its seventh year and shows no signs of abating. Tragically, as the conflict continues, violations of international human rights and humanitarian law continue to be perpetrated at an alarming rate and scale. In previous mandates, given the sheer scope and number of the violations occurring on the ground, the Group of Experts has had to prioritize the examination of various categories of violations and numerous incidents according to their gravity, intensity and significance. The current delay in the establishment of the Secretariat due to the United Nations regular budget liquidity crisis and the related recruitment freeze, has further severely impeded our ability to discharge our mandate.
The Group remains gravely concerned about the very heavy toll of the conflict on civilians.
The failure to reach a permanent and comprehensive peace agreement has mired Yemenis in a bloody quagmire, the negative impacts of which are exacerbated by the deteriorating economic and political situation.
In recent weeks, while fierce fighting has concentrated around the northern governorate and the city of Ma’rib, the fighting between the Yemeni government forces and de facto authorities in Ta’izz city and Hudaydah governorate continued. As war goes on in Yemen, civilians continue to lose everything, their homes, livelihoods, their lives. In 2020, 172,000 persons (28,659 families) were displaced, about half of whom are women, with an estimated 82 per cent of the displacement being due to conflict, particularly in the governorates of Ma’rib, Hudaydah, Dhale', Ta’izz, Jawf and Hadramout. Additionally, the recent escalation of hostilities in Ma’rib has again forced an estimated 54,500 more people to flee their homes.
The scale of the attacks, the weaponry used, and the resulting number of casualties share certain commonalities, regardless of whether the attacks are being committed by the Government of Yemen, the Coalition, or the de facto authorities. In no instance have the warring parties shown any genuine commitment to their obligations under international law to take all feasible precautions in attack, and to avoid or minimise incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, and damage to civilian objects.
The warring parties in Yemen continue to deprive civilians of their right to access affordable medical care, notably through their continued attacks on hospitals and medical units and their targeting of health personnel. As COVID-19 spreads throughout the country, Yemen is facing an emergency within an emergency, as the remaining half of the health facilities that are operational in Yemen are underequipped to cope with the disease.
The Group of Experts remains gravely concerned at the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen and the ways in which conduct of the parties is exacerbating it. Not surprisingly, humanitarian actors are releasing ever more alarming figures about the “World’s worst humanitarian crisis” that is Yemen. In view of the continued lack of funding for international humanitarian assistance for Yemen, the already dire humanitarian crisis is only worsening.
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26800&LangID=E = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/oral-update-group-eminent-experts-yemen-46th-session-human-rights-council
(B K P)
The Conflict in Yemen Takes A Dangerous New Turn
The conflict in Yemen is something that I’ve returned to frequently in this podcast over the years. The very first Yemen episode I published was in early April 2015. This was just two weeks after Saudi Arabia launched a military intervention in Yemen, turning a local civil war into a regional conflict.
Just as this offensive is intensifying, international diplomatic efforts around resolving parts of the conflict are starting to pick up after years of stasis. This is in large part due to the Biden administration declaring that it will no longer support the Saudi-lead war efforts in Yemen. Also, President Biden has appointed a new presidential envoy to lead US diplomacy on Yemen.
My guest today, Gregory D. Johnsen is a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution and an internationally regarded expert on the Yemen conflict. From 2016 to 2019 he served on the UN Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Yemen. This is a group that is tasked with monitoring compliance with arms embargoes and sanctions imposed by the Security Council.
We kick off discussing the situation in Marib before having a longer conversation about the recent history of the conflict in Yemen and where it may be headed next.
https://www.undispatch.com/the-conflict-in-yemen-takes-a-dangerous-new-turn/
(* B K)
Wikipedia: Ma'rib Campaign
The Ma'rib campaign is a campaign for control of the Ma'rib Governorate of Yemen, between the Houthi fighters and Yemeni Army units loyal to Supreme Political Council on one side, and pro-Hadi militiamen and Yemeni Army units loyal to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on the other side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%27rib_Campaign
(* B P)
Marib Battle and Biden’s Yemen Policy: A New Phase or Another Escalation?
While a political solution seems closer than any other attempts for the last two years, a renewed bout of intense violence suggests that parties are trying to gain victories on the ground, in order to use them as leverage in upcoming negotiations.
In all likelihood, Biden’s main reasons for pushing for an immediate end to the war have little to do with Middle Eastern geopolitics and more to do with the human rights violations committed by all sides in the war. As in all conflicts, the largest price has not been paid by the Saudis or the Iranians, but by the Yemenis themselves, who have now lived through a decade of violence, widespread starvation, and two separate epidemics. For this reason, the United States has included Yemen in its agenda to de-escalate with Iran, and has pressured its allies in Riyadh to end the war.
For now, even if the push for a political solution succeeds and the various Yemeni factions agree to begin a national dialogue, any formation of a new Yemeni government will face a serious challenge related to its alignment in the regional Saudi-Iranian conflict. The Houthis’ ties to Iran will mean that any future state substantially controlled by the Houthis will likely pursue a pro-Iran, anti-Saudi foreign policy. Since this would be unacceptable to Saudi Arabia, Riyadh will likely veto any settlement that gives the Houthis control of Yemen’s government. On the other hand, the Houthis will not agree to any agreement that does not give them a substantial stake in the government, making an agreement that satisfies all sides extremely difficult to achieve. One way or another, regardless of the outcome of the battle in Marib, the Yemen conflict is likely far from over.
https://gulfif.org/marib-battle-and-bidens-yemen-policy-a-new-phase-or-another-escalation/
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Film by Israel TV: Yemen: Conflict, terror & humanitarian concerns – Jerusalem Studio 583
The rationale is the same: concern over the humanitarian crisis for Yemeni civilians. What does it all portend for Yemen, and is there a lesson to be learned from it regarding Biden’s regional policies?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thdg3YdUDZU
(* B H K P)
Film: A week in Yemen: interview with Geneva Call’s Director of Operations Hichem Khadhraoui
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11IYgc333ug
(* B K P)
Looming battle for Yemen's Marib city risks humanitarian disaster
Marib is the government's only stronghold in northern Yemen. It's also the capital of a one of the country's main oil-producing areas.
To lose Marib would represent a crushing setback for the government and its foreign backers.
Unlike Hudaydah, Marib's wartime significance is out of all proportion to its pre-war size and importance.
A dusty, forgotten provincial backwater before the conflict began, Marib has turned into a bustling metropolis, thanks in part to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of displaced Yemenis from other parts of the country.
When I visited two years ago, I found people from all over the country, living in scrappy camps dotted across the desert around the ancient city.
They were dispossessed. They all had stories of fleeing the war and the Houthis. But they were at least safe.
That's no longer the case, thanks to a rebel offensive that began a year ago and has made steady inroads into previously government-held territory.
Two weeks ago, the fighting escalated as the Houthis launched an assault from three directions.
For the moment, the city remains safe, although government officials say a ballistic missile landed in the outskirts on 7 February, killing three people.
As many as 10,000 have fled in the past two weeks alone. Most have sought shelter closer to the city, putting additional pressure on already stretched humanitarian resources.
"International actors must stave off a humanitarian disaster, as they did in Hudaydah," says the International Crisis Group's latest report.
"If outside powers fail to act to stop the fighting now, it will make any subsequent effort much more difficult, as Yemen falls ever deeper into the abyss."
[overview article which only quotes anti-Houthi sources]
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56168943
(A P)
Houthis again delay expert examination of tanker off Yemen
The United Nations said Wednesday that new requests by Yemen’s Houthi rebels will further delay U.N. experts from examining an oil tanker moored off the war-torn country’s coast loaded with more than 1 million barrels of crude oil that is at risk of leaking.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the additional requests focus on “logistics and security arrangements,” and “it’s now difficult to say exactly when the mission could be deployed.”
Dujarric said Wednesday the U.N. is talking to the Iranian-backed Houthis about their latest requests “to try to resolve these issues” as quickly as possible.
“This is not a matter of just sending U.N. staff to an area,” he explained. “This is having to procure highly specific and technical equipment, including a tugboat and a barge and people with very, very pointed experience who are able and willing, a private sector company, to go on this first assessment mission.”
Dujarric said the latest Houthi requests have caused “increased worry.”
“The mission will give us the assessment we need to formulate a permanent solution. It is already two years too late and cannot not be stalled any longer,” he said.
“By the grace of God, there has not been a major leak,”
https://apnews.com/article/environment-yemen-red-sea-united-nations-1c2ed05129eaea31d8eaad8c7b1bddd7
My remark: While the Houthi side had blamed the UN for this: https://www.saba.ye/en/news3129624.htm and https://debriefer.net/en/news-23308.html
(A P)
Joint statement by the Ambassadors of Switzerland and the European Union to Yemen on the second session of the Yemen Group of Friends on Children in Armed Conflict
Today the EU Delegation to Yemen, together with the Embassy of Switzerland held the second technical meeting of the Yemen Group of Friends on Children in Armed Conflict in Amman. Collectively, we raise our voices to denounce the abuses suffered by the children of Yemen in the context of this prolonged conflict.
In 2020, we continued to see a worrisome increase in the numbers of child recruitment across the country. Verified cases continued to come to light despite the large underreporting, due to fear of retribution against monitors and communities. We would like to express our gratitude to the brave human rights defenders and members of the civil society who dared to bring these violations to the public. Your work is essential to render justice to the victims.
Last year, we also continued to hear cases of schools and hospitals attacked or used for military purposes. In a year marked by the spread of a global pandemic, in which access to healthcare and safe education have been so gravely compromised, this is not only a violation of international humanitarian law but also an act of disregard for human life.
My comment: Stop arms exports.
(A P)
In anticipation to an amendment to UNSC Resolution 2216, GPC leaders and members are launching a twitter campaign demanding lifting the sanctions on Ahmed Ali (former president's Saleh's son)
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1364625001132027909
referring to https://twitter.com/abdallh_m123a/status/1364623584283537409
(A K P)
Portrait of child Houthi soldier killed in Marib offensive goes viral
But on occasions, their pictures, posthumous awards Houthis print and hang everywhere to recognize them as “heros”, are very catchy and give Yemeni media platforms a pause.
The picture of the young “martyr and hero” Fuad Mohammed Saleh Alfarid is on Yemen Voice website and many social media users.
The portrait does not tell Alfarid’s age, but it suggests he is really young.
The caption reads: The “martyr, the hero 2nd Lt. Fuad Mohammed Saleh Alfarid, one of the officers of Alsahoom Battalion … from Sana’a govnoerate, Bani Bahlool district ..”
Local news sources say Alfarid died in the terrorist Houthi militia’s ongoing offensive on Marib.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45289
and the Houthis claim he (and another) had been Hadi gov. army child soldier:
(A K P)
Two child soldiers in Saudi service killed near Ma’rib
A number of children who were recruited and given military missions by the Saudi-led coalition, were killed in combat on Monday, on battle fronts on the outskirts of Ma’rib city, sources reported on Tuesday.
The coalition has reportedly resorted to the recruitment of children, after losing many of its first-row fighters on the fronts of Ma’rib province.
According to the sources, the two child soldiers, named Abdullah Mohammed Ali Al-Qanis and Fuad Mohammed Saleh Al-Farid, were awarded the rank of second lieutenant and assigned to lead entire battalions in military brigades loyal to the coalition. Both were killed during clashes in the vicinity of Ma’rib city.
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/24/two-child-soldiers-in-saudi-service-killed-near-marib/
(A P)
GCC chief calls on EU to pressure Yemen Houthis to stop their attacks in Marib
The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Nayef Bin Falah Al-Hajraf, yesterday called on the European Union to pressure Yemen's Houthi group to "stop their attacks" on the Marib Governorate, east of Yemen.
Al-Hajraf made the remarks during a meeting with the European Union ambassadors to Saudi Arabia held in the capital, Riyadh.
The GCC official also called on the European Union and the international community to "exert pressure on the Houthi terrorist group to join the peace process, stop the attack on Marib, stop targeting civilians, as well as stop missile attacks on Saudi Arabia."
(B K P)
Jemen als Spielball der Regionalmächte
Äussere Mächte wirken zentral auf das Geschehen im Krieg in Jemen ein. Das erhöht dessen Komplexität. Die USA engagieren sich unter ihrem neuen Präsidenten Joe Biden verstärkt für eine Konfliktbeendigung. Diese bleibt schwierig. Sollten sich externe Akteure vorzeitig zurückziehen, bliebe der Jemen ein gespaltenes Land, in dem sich verschiedene Volksgruppen zutiefst misstrauen
https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/handle/20.500.11850/471177
(* A B K P)
Schlacht der Entscheidung
US-Präsident Joe Biden will den Krieg in dem Bürgerkriegsland stoppen. Doch die von Iran unterstützten Huthis haben eine Großoffensive gestartet, die das Leid der Vertriebenen noch verschärfen könnte.
Die Huthis stoßen von Westen mit schweren Waffen in die Provinz Marib vor, wo Jemens Öl und Gas liegen. Bis auf 25 Kilometer sind sie an die gleichnamige Provinzhauptstadt herangerückt, trotz massiver Luftangriffe der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Militärkoalition. Marib ist die letzte Hochburg der international anerkannten Regierung von Präsident Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi im Norden und von enormer strategischer Bedeutung - hier verläuft die letzte verbliebene Straße auf Regierungsgebiet nach Saudi-Arabien.
Mit ihrer Großoffensive wollen die Huthis nach Bidens Abkehr von Riad den Bürgerkrieg militärisch für sich entscheiden
Östlich von Marib liegen zudem eine Raffinerie und eine Anlage, in der Gas verflüssigt und in Flaschen abgefüllt wird. Zwar spielen Jemens Ölvorräte international keine Rolle, die Raffinerie liefert aber etwa ein Zehntel des inländischen Bedarfs an Sprit.
Sollten die Gefechte um Marib weiter eskalieren, dürften bald auch an anderen Fronten Kämpfe ausbrechen.
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/jemen-huthis-offensive-marib-biden-saudi-arabien-1.5215688 = https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/die-schlacht-der-entscheidung-naht-161513856225 = https://www.derbund.ch/die-schlacht-der-entscheidung-naht-161513856225
(* B K P)
Out of Yemen
the fate of Yemen between escalation and containment
It appears that, where Yemen is concerned, the US is operating on the basis of a conceptual separation between “the war” and “the peace process”. According to this thinking, halting the warfare immediately has more to do with addressing the humanitarian crisis than to with resolving the political crisis. Going past the impasse reached between the legitimate Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels is a process that is clearly long and complex, especially given the numerous regional and international dimensions into which it plays. It is an approach that deviates from that of previous administrations. President Barrack Obama favoured diplomacy as the key to ending the war while the Trump administration shifted tack to assert pressure on the Houthis. It framed the conflict in Yemen as a proxy war waged by Tehran, the backer of the rebel movement, against its adversaries in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia in particular.
The Houthis, on the other hand, have opted for unprecedentedly rapid military escalation on several fronts. The idea is to achieve a strategic breakthrough on the ground that will bolster them up at the negotiating table
In the opinion of the Yemeni government Spokesman Rajeh Al-Badi, the rebel movement is taking advantage of the relaxation of US pressure on it to stipulate impossible-to-meet conditions in the negotiations. He warned that his government might withdraw from the 2019 Stockholm accord between the legitimate government and the Ansarullah because of the latter’s failure to abide by the security and political terms of the agreement.
Many Yemeni observers believe that the US administration does not have a comprehensive vision for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. This is despite the impression created by bringing it back to the centre of international attention after Lenderking’s appointment as US Special Envoy to Yemen. Although Lenderking recently visited Riyadh to discuss the possibility of a diplomatic solution, with Riyadh expressing a willingness to cooperate to that end, it is premature to assume that Washington has a fully fledged action plan that will lead to a breakthrough any time soon. Perhaps the US administration, at present, is practising short-term crisis management through its envoy for now. In the long run, it may pit its efforts behind a UN-sponsored project and/or regional mediators keen to keep excessive foreign military involvement in Yemen from spilling over.
According to several Yemeni observers interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly, Washington’s current premises may not yield their hypothetical conclusions because it relinquished a pressure card on the Houthis when it revoked the terrorist designation without asking for anything in return. Thus the Houthis were in a position to merely say thank you for righting a presumed wrong and continue as usual
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/50/1203/404735/AlAhram-Weekly/World/Out-of-Yemen.aspx= https://www.ecsstudies.com/en/difficult-bets-the-us-containment-strategy-and-resolving-the-yemen-conundrum/
My comment: With quite a lot of anti-Houthi and anti-Iranian bias, not quoted here.
(B K P)
The conflict in Yemen is pure political, regardless of how sectarian speech is spread, it will go over and pass after the war ends. However, no one should allow labelling Yemeni society directly or indirectly as terrorist. Specially the tribes! such speech will’t be tolerated.
https://twitter.com/KHALDOONBAKHAIL/status/1364198915218829313
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(A H K P)
Al-Baidha Drinking Water Station to Stop Due to Fuel Shortage
(A H K P)
Al-Sabeen Hospital warns of disaster due to lack of fuel
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3130062.htm
(A K P)
Cleaning Fund Transmits Distress Call to Prevent Imminent Health, Environmental Disaster in Yemen
“The alarm is being raised for the paralysis of the cleaning equipment and machinery system and its inability to work as a result of running out of fuel,” the Fund said in a statement.
The statement called on all international humanitarian organizations operating in Yemen to urgently intervene to provide fuel so that the Cleaning Project could carry out its work in all streets and residential neighborhoods.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H P)
Restoring Hope in the Perspectives of Yemeni youth about the Peace and The Future of Yemen
Shroq Alramadi is a Yemeni young woman who lived through the invasion of the city of Mukallah, Hadhramout by assailants pleading allegiance to Al-Qaeada in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in 2016. Soon after AQAP was driven away from Mukallah by government forces, Shroq and her fellow colleagues had a purpose engraved deep inside them; it is to engage in activities that rejects violence and conflict in all its forms while concurrently making every attempt to revive Yemeni and Hadhrami culture and providing space for Yemeni artists to bring out the creative-self inside them.
In June 2016, Shroq and her colleagues, mostly Yemeni women, established a youth-led initiative. They named the initiative “Takween”, which translates in Arabic as “Creation” and/or “crafting”. To them, it relates to the creation of everything artistic and promising, and of course joyful.
When the initiative was established in 2016, Shroq was still a student in the School of Architecture and Environmental Planning . The idea of establishing an initiative stemmed from the drive Shroq and her fellow friends had to contribute in community volunteering services. Utilizing her leadership skills, she organized a couple of unofficial meetings (some in the College general cafeteria and others during girls’ social gathering).
Once formed, members of Takween, intensely committed to making a change in their local communities, began their work with young children. To them, young children need to form dreams that are directly tied to their future. More importantly, they need to have a reason to pursue their education and not drop out of schools. Because if they drop out or flunk in school, they become an easier target for armed and/or extremist groups whose first resort is violence. Takween’s resolve was to help young children love schools by helping them with their lessons while concurrently teaching them some art (drawing, reading, acting….etc). This way, children grow to fulfill their potential.
Soon, Takween realized they needed to formalize their organizational structure. They unanimously selected Shroq Al-Ramadi as their executive director. Shroq decided to involve Takween in more civic engagement activities. Takween knew that they could not make a change in the perspectives against of the people in their communities unless they included youth in their target groups. Shroq took an important step in the development of the initiative and began targeting young people in Hadhramot with activities that were anti-conflict, and aim at further honing youths’ skills .
In late 2020, Shroq and her team at Takween learned about an opportunity called “My solution initiative”. Recognizing that the participation of youth is essential for sustainable approaches to peacebuilding, this initiative aims to promote and showcase success stories of young Yemeni peacebuilders. UNESCO and RNW Media launched an open call in August 2020 inviting young Yemenis to submit their “solutions” for peace in their country. Seven promising initiatives have been selected and have been supported to further develop their ideas and projects. These solutions, referred to as “My Solution”, aside from being developed by youth, are led by socially active young people from the civil society, and they target young Yemeni people across the country.
Takween was one of the seven winners of the opportunity provided by the project. Members of Takween knew instantly that they could invest in their collective and diverse skills to promote for peace. Takween decided to utilize art in its different forms (drawings, short videos, social media posters, writing and content development …etc) to counter-fight narratives of violence while concurrently restoring youth’s trust in peace and security. Takween strives to do that providing a safe space for artists and the cultural practitioners and encourage the youth to speak up and express.
https://en.unesco.org/news/restoring-hope-perspectives-yemeni-youth-about-peace-and-future-yemen
(* B H)
YEMEN: THE TWO SIDES OF A WAR
For the intensive care team in Aden, southern Yemen, traumatic injuries are only one part of the story. Doctor Silvia Marchesi blogs about the dedication of a team striving to save lives from the consequences of conflict.
“We received two hundred patients in one day,” he said, smiling. “I worked non-stop for 48 hours. I was tired, after.”
While I looked at him in the awkward silence that fell after his sentence. I wondered how the team here could still be so passionate about their jobs; I hoped I would be the same, but I wasn’t sure.
What I was sure about is that the quality of care at Aden’s hospital is impressive. The intensive care unit is so well taken care of by the Yemeni team that once or twice I wondered if my work, as a temporary member of international staff, was needed.
After the brutal battle, Aden was mostly spared. But, the increasing poverty and easy access to weapons has made violence a daily routine for southern Yemenis.
One night, a week after my arrival at the hospital, a call woke me at 3 AM. It was the emergency room doctor calling for help: four patients had arrived at the same time, from the same shooting.
The most urgent was a 20-year-old boy with a thoracic wound – a gunshot to his chest – who couldn’t breathe.
While I was intubating him, my eyes noticed something bulky in his trouser pocket. As soon as the intubation procedure was over, I reached out my hand to see what it was.
I froze: I was holding a grenade.
A Yemeni colleague gently took it from my hand and went to take it where all the weapons belong: out of our hospital.
Soon my attention was attracted by something else; some of the patients we were receiving at the hospital were malnourished, both children and young adults.
Yemen is sometimes said to be on the brink of famine. In Aden, the cases of malnutrition we saw were not that widespread, but my colleagues told me that the slice of the population slipping into poverty is growing constantly.
Malnutrition is a subtle beast that can kill you as much as a grenade can, without making a sound.
In patients with traumatic injuries malnutrition makes things more complicated. The injured body needs more nutrients than a healthy one: the tissues need energy to heal and to rebuild what was destroyed.
On average someone with a traumatic injury needs 30 percent more calories per day. A malnourished body has less reserve to use in the rebuilding, so the healing process can take longer or never happen.
With children the picture is even more messy as their bodies need to heal and grow at the same time. It can become overwhelming for an body already running at half-speed.
https://blogs.msf.org/bloggers/silvia/yemen-two-sides-war
(* B H)
In Yemen’s man-made catastrophe, women and girls pay the heaviest price
Six years of relentless conflict have made Yemen the site of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. More than 20 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The health system hangs together by a thread; only about half of all health facilities in Yemen are functional, and of those still operating, only 20 per cent provide maternal and child health services. A woman dies in childbirth every two hours.
The country’s looming famine could make things worse. Already, more than a million pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished, a number likely to double as food insecurity rises.
Yet life-saving humanitarian aid has been chronically underfunded.
Last year, despite the tremendous funding shortfall, UNFPA was able to reach 3 million people with life-saving reproductive health and women’s protection services. Those efforts were supported by Canada, the Central Emergency Response Fund, the European Union Humanitarian, Iceland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen Humanitarian Fund.
Those services are only possible through the extraordinary efforts of women like Ms. Al-Shurmani. Trained by UNFPA to identify and assist survivors of gender-based violence, she works on an outreach team providing health services, psychosocial care and other support.
“My work targets the most vulnerable and poor displaced families who live in camps and spontaneous settlements, especially as they are unable to reach health services,” she explained.
Her work is often gruelling. “One of the main challenges I face is going out at night without a means of transportation, which forces me to walk with my companions on foot.”
The job takes an emotional toll, as well. Ms. Al-Shurani has seen the vulnerabilities of women and girls increase dramatically. Child marriage rates are also rising as families struggle with poverty and insecurity. A recent UNFPA study across three governorates showed that 1 in 5 displaced girls, aged 10 to 19,were married. Among host communities, this number was 1 in 8.
Tragically, that outreach team is the last one still in operation. Three other UNFPA-supported outreach teams in Ibb and Taizz have stopped providing services due to funding shortages.
Some 350,000 women lost access to gender-based violence services in 2020, following the closure of 12 UNFPA-supported safe spaces. An estimated 6.1 million women and girls are in need of such services.
“We not only need funding to sustain services but we urgently need to scale up to save the lives of women and girls,” said Nestor Owomuhangi, UNFPA’s Representative in Yemen.
https://www.unfpa.org/news/yemens-man-made-catastrophe-women-and-girls-pay-heaviest-price
(* B H)
Film: Access: Uncovered - Yemen
Humanitarians are working around the clock to reach people in need across Yemen. Step by step, here is a glimpse into one of the systems that helps keep that work going and enables the response.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT-4xOyVCzc
(B H)
Film: "I Believe in Humanity" - Jean-Nicolas Beuze (Representative of UNHCR in Yemen) - Awake at Night
In this episode of Awake at Night, Jean-Nicolas Beuze, Representative of the UN Refugee Agency in Yemen, speaks with Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, about the disparity between the Western world's outlook and the harsh realities most of the Yemeni people face “The Western world worries about the Coronavirus. Yemen cannot even afford to worry about it because we have [several grave communicable diseases] plus, there is a famine.” In a deeply personal interview about his career helping refugees and victims of torture, he describes being driven by the “denial of their human rights” and that “injustice was something I could not accept”. He also reveals fearing for the first time for his own loved ones who face the dangers of COVID-19 back home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_US4YH6DDA
(* B H)
HRW: Yemen’s Donors Need to Tackle Aid Shortfalls
Imagine what it is like to live in the world's worst humanitarian crisis: You are in a daily struggle for survival and you don’t know where your next meal will come from. This is the reality for many in Yemen, where an unmitigated humanitarian emergency fueled by years of armed conflict has pushed millions of people into the “worst famine the world has seen in decades,” according to the United Nations.
Yemen’s international donors need to grapple with these harsh realities when they meet on March 1 for a high-level humanitarian pledging event on Yemen organized by the UN, Switzerland, and Sweden.
Many Yemenis and humanitarian workers are concerned that donors will again fail to meet the challenge. Last year’s pledges were US$1.35 billion, $1 billion less than what the UN said it needed to continue operating its aid programs. A number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kuwait have not even fulfilled the amounts pledged.
But the level of support is not the only issue. Last September Human Rights Watch documented that the parties to the conflict, notably the Houthi armed group, which controls much of the country, as well as the Yemeni government and affiliated forces, and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, have at times severely restricted the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.
As much as it is critical to address the shortfalls in humanitarian aid pledged to Yemen, donors should pressure parties to the conflict to lift obstacles on humanitarian aid and allow aid agencies to have safe and unimpeded access to populations at risk.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/25/yemens-donors-need-tackle-aid-shortfalls
(* B H)
Krieg und Armut
Jemen: Neuer UN-OCHA-Bericht mit erschreckenden Zahlen. Ende der Blockade durch Saudi-Arabiens Militärallianz gefordert
Die humanitäre Situation im Jemen verschlimmert sich immer weiter. Das ist das Fazit eines aktuellen, vom Amt der Vereinten Nationen für die Koordinierung humanitärer Angelegenheiten (UN-OCHA) veröffentlichten Berichts. Die Lage im Jemen gilt demnach weiter als größte humanitäre Katastrophe weltweit und werde sich aller Wahrscheinlichkeit nach auch 2021 noch einmal deutlich verschlechtern, sofern keine politische Lösung in dem Konflikt gefunden wird. Bereits im vergangenen Jahr habe sich dem Bericht zufolge die Anzahl direkter Kampflinien um 14 auf 49 erhöht.
20,7 Millionen Jemenitinnen und Jemeniten sind laut UN-OCHA von humanitären Hilfsleistungen abhängig. Dass die Zahl mit 66 Prozent der Bevölkerung niedriger liegt als die zuletzt angegebenen 80 Prozent, ist einzig dem veränderten Analyseansatz geschuldet, wie die Autoren betonen. Der Schluss, die humanitäre Lage habe sich verbessert, könne daraus keinesfalls gezogen werden – im Gegenteil. 12,1 Millionen Jemenitinnen und Jemeniten seien akut gefährdet. Allein 2,25 Millionen Kinder im Alter von unter fünf Jahren sowie über eine Million Schwangere seien unterernährt.
Besonders betroffen vom Krieg ist das Gesundheitswesen. 20 Millionen Menschen müssten auf notwendige Gesundheitsleistungen »verzichten«, für 11,6 Millionen stelle dies eine große Gefahr dar. Nur die Hälfte der jemenitischen Gesundheitseinrichtungen ist noch in Betrieb, bei den Schulen sind es laut dem Bericht noch zwei Drittel. Große Teile der öffentlichen Infrastruktur sind nicht mehr funktionstüchtig, bei der für die Trinkwasserversorgung notwendigen sind es gar nur noch fünf Prozent.
Der Bericht von UN-OCHA geht auch auf die fatale wirtschaftliche Lage ein und setzt hier ein deutliches Statement: Zwar sei der Jemen bereits vor dem Krieg von Armut gebeutelt gewesen. Die aktuelle Krise sei aber dem Krieg geschuldet, dessen Lösung nur eine politische sein könne. Seit 2015 ist die Wirtschaftsleistung demnach um die Hälfte gesunken, mehr als 80 Prozent der Bevölkerung leben inzwischen unter der Armutsgrenze. Im Zuge der Covid-19-Pandemie seien die Überweisungen von Auslandsjemeniten um 80 Prozent zurückgegangen, womit für Millionen von Menschen der Lebensunterhalt weggebrochen sei. Hinzu kämen die atemberaubende Abwertung des jemenitischen Rial, die die Preise für Nahrungsmittel extrem in die Höhe getrieben hat, sowie die nur zu zehn bis 15 Prozent ausgeschöpften Kapazitäten bei Gas- und Erdölexporten, auf die das Land aber dringend angewiesen ist, bei gleichzeitig sinkenden Preisen auf dem Weltmarkt.
Experten gehen davon aus, dass sich auch im nächsten Jahr die Inflation verschärfen wird
https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/397213.krieg-in-jemen-krieg-und-armut.html
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Yemen humanitarian fund in brief 2020
The Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF) is a Country-Based Pooled Fund (CBPF) that makes funding directly available to humanitarian partners operating in Yemen so they can deliver timely and effective life-saving assistance to those who need it most.
How we work
Donor contributions are unearmarked and are allocated to eligible partners through an inclusive and transparent process in support of priorities set out in the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP).
There are two types of YHF allocations: standard allocations and reserve allocations. The Fund holds a standard allocation once or twice a year through a call for proposals for collectively identified strategic needs in the YHRP. Reserve allocations are launched in response to sudden onset humanitarian needs and specific crises.
Cluster coordinators drive the prioritization exercise, while the Humanitarian Coordinator, in consultation with an Advisory Board, determines the amount available for each allocation
What our priorities are
In 2021, the YHF will focus on the following priorities:
- Helping respond to acute vulnerabilities through covering gaps in first and second line cluster response as identified in the YHRP. This includes emergency, life-saving assistance and protection to people most at risk.
- Covering critical gaps with a focus on hard-to-reach areas.
- Leaving no-one behind by focusing on a range of needs and vulnerabilities specific to different population groups. In support of this, the YHF will ensure funding goes to all marginalized people in most acute needs
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-fund-brief-2020-enar
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Turkey charity helps 800 families in Yemen
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210225-turkey-charity-helps-800-families-in-yemen/
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Save the Children: YEMEN CRISIS APPEAL
PLEASE DONATE NOW
Yemen is a perfect storm of humanitarian, protection and economic crises, with each fuelling the other.
HOW YOUR DONATIONS HELP?
£11 could provide a child with a ‘school in a bag’ to make sure they don’t miss out on their education.
£33 could pay for enough water purification tablets for a family for a month.
£52 could provide a displaced family with basic food commodities for a whole month.
£164 could pay for the treatment of one child with severe acute malnutrition.
https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/yemen-crisis
(A H P)
MTV Documentary Films Acquires Oscar-Shortlisted Doc ‘Hunger Ward,’ Sets March 1 Premiere
MTV Documentary Films is adding Skye Fitzgerald’s Hunger Ward to its portfolio of Oscar-contending films.
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Yemen Key Message Update: Reversal of terrorist designations eases related concerns about potential impacts on food access, January 2021
Key Messages
Protracted conflict and poor macroeconomic conditions in Yemen continue to disrupt livelihoods, reduce access to income, and drive significantly above-average food prices. Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes are widespread, even in the presence of large-scale humanitarian assistance in many areas, with pockets of Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes likely. In the February to May period, Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes are expected at the governorate level in Hajjah and Amran as the lean season progresses. Although not the most likely scenario, Famine (IPC Phase 5) would be possible if food supply is cut off for a prolonged period of time.
On February 5, the US Department of State notified Congress of its intent to reverse the designations of Ansar Allah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) made by the previous US administration on January 19. Based on an analysis of information from key informants across multiple sectors, this is expected to have generally prevented any meaningful disruptions to humanitarian and private sector activities
According to data from UNVIM and FAO, food import levels through Yemen’s main sea ports of Aden, Al Hudaydah, and Salif in January 2021 totaled 645,918 MT, 43 percent higher than the monthly average in 2020. However, key informants reported in December 2020 that the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) in Aden used the last of the $2 billion Saudi deposit. As such, concern is mounting over possible disruption to Yemen’s import financing mechanism, though this is not the expectation in FEWS NET’s most likely scenario.
In southern governorates, the YER appreciated by an average of 7 percent from November to December 2020 according to data from FAO
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Armed conflict alone does not explain the devastation of Yemen’s health system
Driven by the prolonged internal conflict, external aggression, economic decline and scarcity of resources, Yemen faces the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.1 The ongoing violence has played a fundamental role in shaping this humanitarian crisis. However, violence alone cannot account for the extent of suffering across the country and the collapse of the health system; other factors need to be considered with the aim of drawing strategies to respond to the present and future health and humanitarian needs.
Despite concerns from human right groups about the humanitarian crisis in the country, overlapping local, regional and western interests continue to fuel the war and its economy. The long-term impacts of the protracted armed conflict in Yemen are vast and place it among the most destructive conflicts since the end of the Cold War.3 Over the last 5 years, almost a quarter of million deaths have occurred as a direct and indirect result of the conflict4 ; this includes over 12600 civilians killed in targeted attacks.5 Of the dead, 60% are children under the age of five.3 According to the United Nations (UN), if the war continues to 2022, mortality could exceed 480000 deaths with an estimated 330000 deaths of children under 5 years old.3 The conditions Yemen faced shortly after the onset of the armed conflict share similarities to the situation in other Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region countries after several years of armed conflict as in Syria or Libya.
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A cry for help; Yemen’s humanitarian crisis
The author explores how Yemen, a country home to Houthi rebels, is on the verge of collapse. Given the dire state of the country, Yemen needs immediate humanitarian assistance. However, instead of providing assistance, it seems as if the regional powers are using Yemen for their own interests.
Yemen witnesses a desperate humanitarian crisis. Ranging from mass casualties caused by aerial and ground conflicts between Houthis and Saudi led coalition forces to severe food insecurity, Yemenis bear the worst possible scenery.
So far, the role of peacekeeper in bringing stability and peace remains non-existent on the practical ground.
Today, the country is passing through a desperate humanitarian crisis, which, as per the recent surveys of international bodies, is pushing forward a health emergency.
The whole health structure is in a debilitating state against prevalent diseases across the country. Cholera alone has proven to be the deadliest disease which accounted for countless deaths from 2016 to 2019.
Given a report of the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 84% of the total population needs basic humanitarian assistance.
Moreover, the same reports suggest that around 10 million are considered ‘one step away from famine.’ And, two million children are the open victims of malnourishment. With each passing day, the country is moving fast towards a catastrophic situation.
Is Yemen being misused by regional powers?
A reasonable guild of strategists believes Yemen is a flashpoint between regional powers to maintain their geostrategic interests by plotting against each other.
https://www.globalvillagespace.com/a-cry-for-help-yemens-humanitarian-crisis/
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Film: Yemen facing world’s “worst famine in decades” - BBC News
Yemen is at risk of the worst famine the world has seen in decades according to the United Nations. The UN is warning that 16 million people will go hungry this year, including 400,000 children, who will suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die without urgent treatment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LGLlY2ZjWU
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Jemen - MSF: Schwere Mangelernährung bei Kindern stark gestiegen
Ärzte ohne Grenzen fordert mehr humanitäre Hilfe
Sechs Jahre Krieg im Jemen hinterlassen verheerende Spuren. Vor allem Mangelernährung bei Kindern habe in manchen Landesteilen in den letzten Monaten signifikant zugenommen, wie die Hilfsorganisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen (MSF) am Dienstag in einer Aussendung mitteilte. Gerade für Babys und Kleinkinder sei dies mit einer Vielzahl von Gesundheitsproblemen verbunden und könne tödlich enden, warnte Ärzte ohne Grenzen.
Im Krankenhaus Abs, das im Gouvernement Hajjah im Nordwesten des Jemen liegt, habe man in den vergangenen sechs Monaten eine Zunahme von Mangel- und Unterernährung um mehr als 40 Prozent beobachtet. Die Zivilgesellschaft leide massiv unter den Folgen des Krieges, viele Menschen fänden keine Arbeit mehr und könnten sich deshalb kein Essen mehr leisten. Viele Angestellte im öffentlichen Dienst - darunter auch Gesundheitspersonal - hätten seit Jahren kein Gehalt bekommen, berichtete Muriel Boursier, Einsatzleiterin von MSF im Jemen. "Währenddessen steigen die Preise kontinuierlich: ohne humanitäre Hilfe würden viele Familien gar nichts mehr zu essen haben."
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Dear friends, the war and the siege have made the lives of millions of families very difficult, put your hand in our hands to save more lives. Our team works hard on the ground. Please #DONATE via link http://Chuffed.org/project/food-at/food-and-medicine-for-yemen (film)
https://twitter.com/ghalebalsudmy/status/1363965437424373766
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Yemen: Health Cluster Achievements (January 2021)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-health-cluster-achievements-january-2021
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Film: “After years of Saudi war, the Yemeni people can’t take it anymore.” UN has warned that over 2 million Yemeni children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition, of which 400,000 could die if they do not receive urgent treatment. v. AJE/9 hs ago
https://twitter.com/ghalebalsudmy/status/1364230670919303168
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Oxfam reaction to 2021 UN Humanitarian Needs Overview for Yemen
Commenting on the 2021 Humanitarian Needs Overview for Yemen Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen, said: “The number of Yemenis in need is truly overwhelming, but we must remember that behind each of these statistics, there is a story of individual human suffering. The current conflict in Marib – previously a safe haven – means more humanitarian aid is urgently needed as we see people who have already fled danger multiple times being forced to flee again.
At next week’s donor conference, the international community needs to step up to generously fund support for Yemenis as well as to guarantee safe access for humanitarian workers.
https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/oxfam-reaction-2021-un-humanitarian-needs-overview-yemen
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
Marib: Siehe / Look at cp1, cp2, cp4, cp17
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IOM Yemen | Displacement in Marib | Flash Update | 23 February 2021
Since January 2020, fighting in Ma’rib, Al Jawf and Sana’a governorates has led to mass displacement, forcing more than 20,057 families (140,399 people) to flee from areas close to frontlines, mostly towards Ma’rib city, Marib Al Wadi and surrounding districts. More than a year later, the situation has once again escalated with renewed fighting across parts of western, northern and southern Ma’rib displacing more people mainly into Sirwah, Ma’rib city and Ma’rib Al Wadi districts.
Local communities and internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to be impacted the most by the recent escalation of hostilities in parts of Ma’rib. As reported previously, people in Sirwah district have been impacted by the heavy fighting. At least 1,152 households (8,603 individuals) have been forced to flee in the past two weeks alone. Sirwah District hosts more than 4,300 displaced families and at least 14 displacement sites, and many of those fleeing were already displaced before the situation deteriorated again. A majority of new arrivals (840 HHs) have moved from Sirwah Sub-district to safer areas in Arak Sub-district (Al Rawdah Sirwah IDP hosting site). Intention surveys carried out with a group of arriving IDPs in this location indicate major concerns over the security situation and intentions to move to other areas in Sirwah District – Al Minsah and Al Dushoush Sub-districts (closer to Ma’rib city) should the fighting come to their area. Some IDPs have, however, also expressed fatigue with repeated displacement, as most of them are being displayed for the third time or more. Ma’rib city (273 HHs) and Ma’rib Al Wadi (39 HHs) Districts also continue to receive new arrivals from Sirwah and other districts, as the conflict situation remains unstable and frontlines fluid.
There are several IDP hosting sites in close proximity to frontlines in Sirwah and already, there have been reports of three sites being impacted by the fighting
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-displacement-marib-flash-update-23-february-2021
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In Ethiopia, a taste of home for displaced Yemenis
During the day, dozens of guests of all backgrounds crowd around long tables at Yemen Kings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to share traditional Yemeni dishes like fahsa, a stew made out of beef or lamb.
“We all have the love of Ethiopia,” said Gamal, who is half Ethiopian, and half Yemeni.
He was living in Yemen when the conflict broke out. His life story is a testament to the shared history between the two countries.
Today, he works behind the counter at Yemen Kings, a restaurant in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, which his father and uncle opened in 2019.
During the day, dozens of guests of all backgrounds crowd around long tables to share traditional Yemeni dishes like fahsa, a stew made out of beef or lamb.
“It’s a food that you can find in all Yemen houses,” Gamal said. “They burn it in fire at a high temperature” in pots called hareda.
https://www.pri.org/stories/2021-02-23/ethiopia-taste-home-displaced-yemenis
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NRC: Assessing prospects for durable solutions in Yemen
This report includes valuable insights and analysis on Yemeni displaced households’ intentions and preferences in regards to durable solutions. The report concludes that despite the complications and challenges linked to durable solutions in Yemen, there are several prospects to advance this agenda in the country.
These findings and recommendations will be used to further design and refine Norwgian Refugee Council's (NRC) durable solutions ambition and programme strategy, as well as engage with donors and other key external stakeholders.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) conducted an intention survey with the objective of identifying prospects for durable solutions for internally displaced persons (IDPs) across five governorates in Yemen. NRC staff and enumerators interviewed 360 households from the seven districts of Alqanawis, Altuhayta, and Alzuhra in Alhudeydah, Tuban in Lahj, Amran city in Amran, Mahabsha in Hajja, and Mokha district in Taiz governorate.
Majority of the surveyed households (70%) have been displaced for over three years. The main reason for displacement is insecurity and/ or active conflict, coupled with lack of livelihood opportunities. Most of these have been displaced from Hajja (54%), Hodeida (21%), and Taiz (20%) which are governorates that are currently experiencing active conflicts.
The survey identified that two thirds of the assessed population preferred to return to Areas of Origin (AoO) compared to one third who expressed interest to locally integrate at the place of displacement (PoD). Of those who showed interest to return, only 38% demonstrated an intention to return within a period of six months – IDPs in Lahj (Tuban) and Taiz (Mokha) have shown the greatest desire to return within six months among the group. The other 62% who have opted for return as a durable solution, indicated that they would not return immediately or within the next six months due to insecurity at the place of origin and/ or lack of livelihood opportunities. The key conditions for return were identified as improved security situation and access to employment and/ or livelihood opportunities.
In summary, the assessment identified prospects for durable solutions with specific emphasis on returns as a favorable option, and highlighted the potential to pilot local integration in a few locations. In both options, IDPs will require adequate support in order for them to realise a sustainable solution to their displacement
https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/assessing-prospects-for-durable-solutions-in-yemen/
The report in full: https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/assessing-prospects-durable-solutions-yemen/assessing-prospects-for-durable-solutions-in-yemen---an-intentions-survey.pdf
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What is it like to be a woman in Yemen?
Today, one in four displaced families in Yemen is headed by a woman or girl. They are forced to shoulder the burden of displacement, poverty and starvation while taking on the responsibility to sustain their families. With limited mobility and work opportunities they are often deprived from accessing basic services and healthcare.
Too often, girls are forced to drop out of school and marry early as a coping mechanism to deal with hunger. Gender-based violence and abuse are widespread and go largely unreported. Pregnant and lactating women are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and falling victims of diseases - like malaria and dengue - that were long-ago eradicated elsewhere in the world. Despite all the suffering, these strong and ever-resilient women will stop at nothing to build a better future for themselves and their families.
Here are their stories:
Lubna fled escalating violence in her hometown with twelve other family members and ever since has struggled to find food. The money her husband makes fixing shoes is not enough to support the family.
“We escaped to save our lives. I received cash assistance three months ago and used it to buy food and take Danya to the doctor. Since then it has been a struggle. We live on a day-to-day basis, never knowing how we will feed ourselves. Often, I go to the shops and ask for food so the kids eat at least one good meal,” she explains while holding her baby.
Today, 40 percent of the most vulnerable displaced families in Yemen do not have access to income. They are selling off belongings, pulling children out of school, and sending them to work or begging on the streets just to put food on their table. Women are often the ones eating last and least.
Here is how you can support women in Yemen
Despite hardships and trauma endured, Yemeni women are remarkable resilient and continue to support their families and communities amidst the most challenging circumstances. By becoming a monthly donor, you can help us ensure they don’t face this humanitarian crisis alone.
https://www.unrefugees.org/news/what-is-it-like-to-be-a-woman-in-yemen/
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New batch of Yemeni refugees arrives in Somalia
More than 164 Yemenis fled to Somalia to escape from the ongoing armed conflicts and political crises in Yemen.
The Somali authorities said on Wednesday that the Port of Bosaso received a ship carrying the third batch of Yemeni refugees whose number has surpassed 164 people, mostly women and children from areas ravaged by years of conflict and war.
The Somali authorities welcomed the arrival of the Yemeni refugees, but they asked them to undergo a medical examination before being taken to the cities of Bosaso and Qardho in the northeastern Bari region of Somalia (photos)
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32327
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Displaced families face new exodus as Yemen fighting shifts again
As the sound of gunfire grew closer, Mahfouz Ahmed knew to scoop up his children and run, before getting caught in the line of fire between Yemen's warring sides.
The Al-Zor camp where they had been living for four years was no longer safe, as the Iran-backed Huthi rebels drew near in a major offensive against the northern city of Marib and its nearby oil fields.
The family collected what few possessions they had, including a small television, a cooking burner and a few pots and pans, and headed to Jaw al-Naseem, another camp closer to Marib, which is the Saudi-backed government's last northern bastion.
"We were about 600 families living in Al-Zor camp, and now they have dispersed," Ahmed told AFP, as he sat on the floor of a green tent in Jaw al-Naseem, just three kilometres (less than two miles) from the city.
"Some are living with relatives and others -- three or four families, sometimes even seven -- are living in one tent. Only God knows what kind of situation this is."
Ahmed and his family first fled their home in the battleground city of Taez in 2016, part of a huge exodus of Yemenis for whom Marib province became a sanctuary of sorts in a country ravaged by years of war.
Around 140 sites have sprung up in the region to provide basic shelter for the displaced, who number up to one million according to some estimates.
Al-Zor is among a cluster of 14 displacement sites in Marib's Sirwah district -- a flashpoint area on the road to the rebel-held capital Sanaa.
Marib has been menaced by fighting in recent weeks as Saudi-backed government troops struggle to defend the city.
All the camps could be forced to empty as the Huthis intensify their campaign for the province, a huge prize that would consolidate their control of the north and give them possession of Yemen's richest oil and gas fields.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210224-displaced-families-face-new-exodus-as-yemen-fighting-shifts-again = https://www.rfi.fr/en/displaced-families-face-new-exodus-as-yemen-fighting-shifts-again
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Continued fighting and forced displacement in Marib (UN, INGOs, media) (ECHO Daily Flash of 24 February 2021)
Continued fighting has been reported in Marib governorate, in particular in Sirwah district, after conflict intensified on 8 February. Marib governorate hosts approximately 800,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), 4,500 migrants and the humanitarian situation is critical.
Humanitarian actors confirmed that over 1,150 households (approximately 8,600 individuals) have been displaced with actual numbers likely to be higher. This represents an increase of more than 165 households (approximately 1,150 individuals) since 18 February. An estimated 70% of the displaced are women. IDPs have often displaced for a second or third time. In addition, at least two health facilities in Sirwah, closer to the frontlines, have been closed.
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Vast majority of Marib displaced in Yemen are women, children: UN
The vast majority of at least 8,000 people displaced by escalating hostilities in Yemen's oil-rich Marib governorate in recent weeks are women and children, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.
"This comes on top of already high levels of displacement and humanitarian needs in that governorate," said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "Displacement to and within Marib accounted for two-thirds of all displacements in Yemen last year."
The UN and its humanitarian partners are scaling up support and planning.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-02/25/c_139764752.htm
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From 6 - 21 February, more than 12,000 internally displaced people in #Marib have been forced to be displaced somewhere else again due to #Houthis attacks against one of the most densely populated cities in #Yemen.
https://twitter.com/sadeqalwesabi/status/1364259635922878466
(A H K)
What is happening to IDPs in al-Zwr, Hayal and Dhana camps in Serwah western #Marib is considered war crimes & crimes against humanity. Picture of IDPs fleeing from Dhana IDP camp due to the Houthi shelling and now they are in the open without shelte, activist Saleem Alaw said.
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1364316816693198849
Maribi aid workers in Yemen's Marib tell me abt an unfolding unprecedented humanitarian disaster. Houthis continue to show total disregard for the human cost of their senseless military offensive against the densely populated city. Situation in Marib must make more headlines!
https://twitter.com/Afrahnasser/status/1364296086014353414
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Film: Naama Ibrahim's family lives the tragedy of displacement and poverty due to the Houthi bombing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R_Wlt5Mv7c
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A new suffering began': Women and children flee across mountains in Yemen amid Houthi offensive
Yemen is in the grip of a new humanitarian disaster as fierce fighting rages in the rugged, mountainous region near the city of Marib.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels are continuing their offensive against the Yemeni government and local tribal forces, and huge camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are increasingly being engulfed by the violence.
"I fled our IDP camp in Sirwah as the Houthis tightened the noose around it, attempting to entrench themselves and fortify it,” said Mariam Ahmed, a refugee fleeing the violence.
“I took my four children and, embracing my nine month-old baby, headed towards Al Rawdha camp in central Marib city on a hot, tough day," she told The National.
"We walked nearly 25km from Sirwah to the IDP camp in Al Rawdha, under heavy shelling. We were forced to take a mountainous, rough road because the Houthis kept shelling the main road that links Sirwah with the city of Marib, to prevent people from fleeing so they can use them as human shields," Mrs Mariam said.
"A new suffering began as we arrived in the IDP camp in the Al Rawdha area in Marib city. We found ourselves homeless. No tent, no food, no clean water but in fact, the IDPs in the camp didn't spare any effort to help. They shared with us their meagre resources to collect us from the open," she added.
Thousands of IDPs were displaced from more than five camps located in Sirwah and Raghwan, districts of western Marib, to new camps in and around Marib city.
Most of these families, like Ms Fatima and her children, recounted the same stories of suffering, fleeing the Houthi offensive in western and southern Marib, which ramped up on February 11, 2020.
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Conflict Escalation in Ma'rib Displaces 8,000 Yemenis in Two Weeks
Increased hostilities in Yemen’s Ma'rib governorate have led to the displacement of at least 8,000 people in recent weeks, bringing the total number of displacements in that part of the country to more than 116,000.
Humanitarian partners estimate that as many as another 385,000 people also may be displaced if the frontline continues to shift, in addition to the hundreds of thousands more people in Ma'rib city proper who could be impacted by the fighting. Partners warn that such a development would stretch humanitarian resources far beyond what teams in the area presently have capacity for.
The latest epicentre of violence is Sirwah, a mountainous district in Ma'rib governorate. The district hosts around 30,000 displaced people in at least 14 displacement sites, three of which were directly impacted by fighting in recent weeks, including one that was completely emptied of already displaced people fleeing again to safety.
“Displacement sites should be refuges,” said John McCue, the International Organization for Migration (IOM)´s Deputy Chief of Mission in Yemen. “All civilians – including displaced people – must be afforded protection from the fighting. The local community in Ma'rib has long welcomed vulnerable displaced people, but today the situation is far beyond something they can manage alone.”
An estimated 50 per cent of those displaced by the fighting in Sirwah are women, while 30 per cent are children. Their most urgent needs include shelter, water and sanitation, health and food.
“Four days ago, there were airstrikes overhead, so we fled to one area where we stayed for two days before coming here (Al Rawda),” explained Saliha, an elderly displaced woman who was forced to leave a displacement site in Sirwah.
A majority of the newly displaced had been living in displacement sites — some even reported carrying their shelters with them to their new locations — and are currently displaced within Sirwah district. However, many of these people plan to move further east towards Ma'rib city due to the unstable situation and concerns over their safety.
In 2020, displacement to and within Ma'rib accounted for two-thirds of all displacement in Yemen, and prior to that IOM had recorded roughly 800,000 displaced people living in Ma'rib, so humanitarian needs were already extremely high.
Local authorities are supporting them in whatever way possible, while the humanitarian community is working tirelessly to respond to the ongoing displacement crisis.
https://www.iom.int/news/conflict-escalation-marib-displaces-8000-yemenis-two-weeks
Photos: https://twitter.com/UNmigration/status/1364182199365435392
https://twitter.com/IOM_Yemen/status/1364577093078683649
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Yemen Appreciates Iran’s Support mid Western-backed War
Yemen's Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf Abdullah has expressed gratitude to the Iranian people and government for standing by Yemen, which has long been suffering from a Western-sponsored war, dismissing accusations that Tehran is prolonging the conflict.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17972/Yemen-Appreciates-Iran-s-Support-mid-Western-backed-War
(A P)
When they fail to convince them to leave Marib, #Houthis begin threatening hundreds of people who wr forcibly displaced or fled to #Marib. This is a text message from a Houthi leader "Abu Jubrail" to a friend saying his house (in Amran north #Yemen) has bn confiscated (image)
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1365014475695341572
(A P)
Houthis won’t consider any initiative that dismisses Wilayah, says militant
A senior Houthi militant has said that his militia won’t consider any international peace initiative in Yemen “as long as it dismisses the principle of Wilayah,” a Shia Islamic system of government under the custodianship of a religious jurist.
Mohammed al-Bukheiti, the Houthi governor of Dhamar province, from where the theocratic militia recruit the manpower for their endless wars, made the revelations in a tweet.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45330
(A P)
A Houthi militant named Thabet Hassan shot fire and critically injured both his father and brother after returning from a brainwashing Houthi course, calling the two relatives “Daeshis and infidels.” /Anbaa Aden news website.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45332
(A P)
The Director of Aljazeera TV says the spike of assassination incidents in Sana’a reveals the fragility of the security situation./Aden Alghad.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45332
(A P)
A new Houthi extortion policy threatens to shut down 234 healthcare facilities in the militia’s areas of control./Almashehad Alyemeni.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45332
(A P)
A senior Houthi leader, Saleh Habrah, addresses his militia: You have converted religion to a tool of deception, just like ISIS./Multiple websites.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45332
(A P)
Houthis sack Saleh-era intelligence agents
The Houthi militia have sacked 470 intelligence agents from the era of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh after they refused to join the theocratic militia’s warfronts against the government, local sources said.
“Informed sources” told the Voice of Yemen, a news website, that “this measure by the armed group coincides with its huge man power losses .. in Marib.”
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45287
(A K P)
Film: #Houthi field and military commander Brigadier Aref alShaibi: the battle of #Marib is a decisive battle between Infidelity and Islam.
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1364302586392829954
(A P)
Sheikh Muhalhel Dhaban, from Harf Sufyan in Amran, assassinated today by unknown gunmen in Houthi-controlled Sanaa. Local sources claimed it is #Houthis who did that. Just 2 days later Houthi killed Shaikh Abu Nashtan,& around a month from killing Sheikh Musleh al-Worori.
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1364230271772610565
(A K P)
Dhamar Governor receives ten defectors from aggression coalition ranks
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3129813.htm
(B P)
Horrific testimonies of women who were forcibly disappeared in a new report by the Mothers of Abductees Association @abducteesmother. Follow hashtag
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1364357607297794051
After prison management at Central Prison in Sana’a refused to buy milk and diapers for her three children, Samar tried to commit suicide and kill her children. She, after that, was electrocuted as a punishment for her behaviour.
https://twitter.com/abducteesmother/status/1364197322570280962
Abductees' Mothers Association visits the released women, Khaleda Muhammad Al-Asbahi, 57 old, and congratulates her for freedom from Houthi prisons in Sana'a. She was abducted on 11/5/2018.
https://twitter.com/abducteesmother/status/1364278847970168843
(* B P)
Sicherheits- und Geheimdienst schafft Geheimdienstlichen Durchbruch bei Aufdeckung feindlicher Geheimdienstsaktivitäten
Der Sicherheits- und Geheimdienst hat einen Geheimdiensterfolg erzielt, indem er die Spionageaktivitäten der feindlichen amerikanischen und britischen Geheimdienste aufgedeckt und darauf reagiert hat.
Wo der Sicherheits- und Geheimdienst die Anwesenheit amerikanischer und britischer Stützpunkte unter dem Deckmantel der Anwesenheit des saudi-emiratischen Besatzers im Jemen offenbarte.
Die jüngsten Geständnisse der amerikanischen und britischen Geheimdienst-Spionagezelle bestätigten die Nutzung ziviler Flughäfen durch die Länder der Aggressionskoalition für militärische und nachrichtendienstliche Zwecke, da die Zellenmitglieder am Flughafen Al-Ghaydah in der Provinz Al-Mahra geschult wurden.
Die Sicherheitsleistung der Sicherheits- und Geheimdienst zeigte die Haupt- und Fel
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3130123.htm
(* B P)
Security, Intelligence Service reveals information about US, British intelligence spies
The Security and Intelligence Service revealed on Tuesday in Sana'a new information about a spy cell of British and American intelligence arrested in the capital Sana'a in last week.
The Security and Intelligence Service said, in a statement, that the spy cell members were recruited by US intelligence officers and then transferred to work with British intelligence officers to complete the hostile role against the Yemeni people.
The arrested spies had met with the CIA’s officers at Al-Ghaydha airport in Mahra province, east of Yemen, and then worked with British intelligence officers, according to the statement.
The statement affirmed that the British and American intelligence officers were paying a monthly sum estimated at $ 300 to each of the arrested spies for collecting important information and coordinates in the Yemeni army-controlled areas in the northern provinces.
It stated that the members of the spy cell joined the so-called "Special Tasks Battalion", which was led by Fayez Al-Muntasir, and took a military course, noting that the battalion was established to attract the youth from the northern provinces to work with the British and American intelligence in Yemen.
The US and British intelligence, and the Saudi-led coalition countries were focusing and the on the northern provinces, especially Saada and Sanaa, the statement added.
It referred that the spy cell concentrated on searching for air defenses and drones of the Yemeni army, as well as the military forces, with the aim of destroying them.
“The American and British intelligence are working everywhere in Yemen to establish a permanent presence under the pretext of combating terrorism and building what has been destroyed by the aggression coalition, while their goal is to control Yemen and drain its wealth,” the statement said.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3129827.htm
and
(A P)
Yemeni intelligence service releases footage of arrested British spies and infiltrators
The Yemeni Security Intelligence Service (YSIS) has revealed video footage showing the interrogation of a recently-arrested British MI6 cell of Yemenis around the capital.
The video series also includes newly-disclosed images of the British intelligence officers that operate in Yemen and oversee the direction of the intelligence cell.
The recorded confessions of the accused were displayed to the court, in which they admitted to recruiting, training, spying and carrying out sabotage operations on Yemeni soil, under the supervision of a British intelligence chief at the al-Ghatdha airbase in Mahrah province.
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-23351.html
Films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TinQmVISxTk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r-IH77a8Xk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Q6T2NQcAI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEiGEehx7u4
(* A K P)
Why Should Saudi Army Withdraw from Marib Quickly?
Observers considered that officially controlling Marib city by the Yemeni Army and the Popular Committees, and the Sana'a government is a process of declaring a resounding defeat for the Saudi-led aggression coalition in Yemen.
They said that Marib was considered a point for the Saudi-Emirati aggression coalition to promote their narrative false heroics that they tried to promote for years, saying that after Marib they were coming to control Sanaa, and that their forces were on the outskirts of the capital. However, the matter turned against them after the city of Ma'rib was under the fire of the Yemeni forces and it was fallen militarily, months ago.
There was a decision by Sana’a government to slow down and delay the announcement of it, due to mediation by tribal sheikhs and regional parties that took place in order to spare the city of Marib from the battles, handing it over to the control of the homeland forces.
They added, when Saudi Arabia realized that there were losses occurring in Marib, it was confused and launched a campaign of exchange of accusations and betrayal with the Emirates and its mercenaries. The Islah Party, the Salafists and others were accused, and the Abd Rabbu Mansour and Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar group were also accused of being betrayals. This exchange of accusations and treason is considered as an indication for the collapse of the aggression’s forces .
They pointed out that Saudi Arabia had taken a decision to withdraw the Saudi officers present in Marib, without any media coverage or even recognition, however, by its step it had officially announced lossing Marib and its project in Yemen.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17943/Why-Should-Saudi-Army-Withdraw-from-Marib-Quickly%3F
My comment: There is a Houthi propaganda fireworks to justify why they should occupy Marib now.
(A P)
Minister of Health Denounces UN Concern about Marib, Ignoring Yemen’s Humanitarian Situation
Yemen’s Minister of Public Health and Population denounced the United Nations concern about Marib governorate, while ignoring the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen for 6 years of brutal aggression.
“We deplore the international concern, with humanitarian titles, about an area in Marib, while for 6 years it has ignored the humanitarian situation in Yemen as a whole,” Dr. Taha Al-Mutawakel said during an extended meeting.
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-23344.html
and
(A P)
Yemeni Minister: US Seeking to Block Ma’arib Freedom
Information Minister of Yemen's National Salvation Government Zaifollah al-Shami warned of Washington’s attempts to prevent the Yemeni Army’s efforts to liberate Ma’arib province, with the help of terrorists.
“The US seeks to hinder liberation of Ma’arib and purging the province from the occupiers and their puppets, and now it has been forced to expose its games and interventions because it no longer trusts its tools,” al-Shami told FNA on Wednesday.
“Involvement of al-Qaeda and ISIL in the battle of Ma'arib is nothing new because they are a crucial part of the forces used by the US. They are the two tools of Washington in the world, and the US moves them anywhere whenever it wants,” he added.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991206000842/Yemeni-Miniser-US-Seeking-Blck-Ma%E2%80%99arib-Freedm
and
(A P)
Abdulsalam: US-Saudi Forces Use Marib as Starting Point for Military Operations
The head of the National Delegation Mohammad Abdulsalam confirmed on Wednesday that the ongoing battle in Marib is a response to the escalation of the US-Saudi aggression, pointing out that the enemy used Marib to attack Sana’a, Al-Jawf and Al-Baidha, making it a starting point for its military operations.
In a phone call with Almasirah TV, Abdulsalam explained that the aggression on Yemen was waged with an external alliance, which was not satisfied with bombing and siege, but rather has occupied areas and made them a starting point for military operations, such as Marib Governorate.
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-23381.html
and
(A P)
Al-Fishi: Marib Base for Saudi-Emirati Aggression, Launching Attacks on Neighboring Governorates
The Head of the Comprehensive National Reconciliation and Political Solution Team, Youssef Al-fishi, has said that Marib is a base for the US-Saudi aggression from which it launched attacks on the neighboring governorates. Under the command of a Saudi officer, a group of takfiris left their countries and occupied Marab.
“Those present in the city of Marab, a group of the Islah party, the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda and ISIS, gathered from inside and outside the country, have displaced the indigenous population and occupied their land. We call on them to lay down their arms and to spare the city destruction,” he said in a statement on Friday.
and
(A P)
Houthi militant: Marib must be ‘liberated’ even if we sacrifice a million martyrs
A member of the Shia extremist militia of Houthis has said that Marib, the embattled government-held province, “must be liberated even if sacrifice a million martyrs.”
Abdusalam Jahaf a member of the theocratic militia’s supremacist Hashemite dynasty said in a tweet, “Marib must be liberated even if sacrifice a million martyrs… it must be liberated no matter the losses.”
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45313
and also https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1364255842661457924
and
(A P)
Film: Houthi top leader Mohammed al-Bukaiti today: "as God directed us to liberate #Marib for our dignity, he also directed us to liberate Palestine."
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1364675374161027072
and
(A P)
Hamed: Qaeda, Daesh Use Marib As Their Base
Al-Qaeda and Daesh organizations have taken Marib governorate as a base to attack all Yemen by sending booby-traps and assassination squads, Director of the Office of the Presidency Ahmed Hamed said on Teusday.
Hamad stressed that these terrorist groups are managed by a Saudi officer.
“We are surprised by the noise about Marib governorate, which we have not seen in any other region or in Sana’a, while being threatened by Islah, Al-Qaeda and Daesh,” he added.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17927/Hamed-Qaeda%2C-Daesh-Use-Marib-As-Their-Base
and
(A K P)
Marib was as base for aggression to launch attack on neighboring provinces: Al-Faishi
The head of the comprehensive national reconciliation and political solution team, Youssef Al-Faishi, confirmed that Marib was a base for the aggression from which he launched the attack on the neighboring provinces under the command of a Saudi officer.
Al-Faishi said in a statement to Saba, "Those present in Marib from the Islah Party, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS are gathered from inside and outside the homeland, displacing the indigenous people and occupying their land, and we call on them to lay down their arms and return to the homeland and spare the sites of destruction."
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3129926.htm
(* B P)
Exclusive: Yemeni captives share five-year nightmare in Houthi prisons
Speaking to TRT World, five Yemeni journalists detail their horrific experience in a series of Houthi prisons where they were subjected to physical and psychological torture after being detained in 2015.
On 5 October 2020, five imprisoned Yemeni journalists were released as part of a prisoner swap deal between their captors – the Houthi militias – and the internationally recognised government of Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, after being held and tortured for five years in a series of prisons in and around the capital Sanaa.
Four of their colleagues, however, remain in prison and have been sentenced to death, despite the protests of human rights groups around the world, which have accused the Houthi militias of targeting journalists for doing their job.
In this exclusive with TRT World, the five released journalists, Haitham al Shihab, Hisham Ahmed Tarmoom, Hisham Abdulmalik al Yousefi, Essam Amin Balgheeth and Hassan Abdullah Annab, break their silence to share details of their horrific ordeal with the world, and thus raising further concerns for the welfare of their colleagues who await execution, including Abdul Khaleq Amran, Akram al Walidi, Hareth Humaid, and Tawfiq al Mansour.
“We were distributed into different cells and they started interrogating us while torturing us physically and psychologically as we were summoned, blindfolded and handcuffed when we were taken individually to the interrogation room,” said al Shihab.
“They denied us food for several days, and sometimes denied us using bathrooms for 24 hours. We were exposed to different forms of physical and psychological torture while we were being interrogated in addition to being threatened to be placed in an armoury, so that we’d be killed by a Saudi-led coalition airstrike, a method the Houthis have used to kill our collegaues Abdullah Qabel and Yousif Al Aizari earlier.”
Nobody knew of the men's whereabouts. From the perspective of their loved ones, they had gone missing without a trace, presumed dead. Cruelly, the journalists’ Houthi captors denied their requests to contact their families.
Interrogation, abuse, solitary confinement, torture and threats of execution would become an almost daily occurrence for the men at al Thawra pretrial detention centre, the target of a number of Saudi-UAE airstrikes.
“We remember once when the prison director and a number of gunmen belonging to the Houthis broke into our cell. They took us out and beat us with sticks and electrical wires. The prison director was loading his gun and pointing it at us in addition to threatening us with his blade weapon,” said al Shihab.
Al Shihab recalled how Houthi prison guards dragged all nine of the journalists into a hall to listen to a speech given by leader of the Houthi revolution movement Abdul Malik Badreddin al Houthi on 21 September, 2015 to mark the first anniversary of the rebel group’s takeover of Sanaa.
“In this speech, the leader of Houthis incited directly against journalists saying that they were more dangerous than those fighting on the front lines,” remembers al Shihab.
When the speech was over the men were returned to their cells but fearful the guards would be inflamed by their leader’s indictment against journalists.
“It had been two hours since the speech when our colleague Salah al Qaadi, who had been arrested and detained separately to us, heard the sound of the key opening the door to the prison. Then he heard the footsteps of the Houthis as they were getting closer to his cell. They opened the cell door and took him out of it...blindfolded him and tied his hands behind his back.”
“The interrogator slapped, beat and insulted him. He accused him of working for news channels while he continued beating him. Sometimes he charged him with working for international intelligence agencies and sometimes for the (Saudi-led) coalition. A guard then held his gun to Salah’s head and threatened to kill him.”
Al Shihab said the guards then took turns beating him and then spraying ice cold water on his face whenever he passed out from the pain. They tortured him through the night and into the early hours of the morning. He was beaten so badly that he was unable to walk and eat for three days.
“Every prisoner heard the sound of the beating and him screaming out in pain. There was blood streaming out of his nose and mouth and running down his clothes and these signs of torture remained visible on him for a month.”
(A P)
[Hadi] Yemeni gov't warns Houthis against executing four journalists
The Yemeni official government on Tuesday warned the Houthi group against executing four reporters detained at the group's jails.
"After aborting the recent round of talks on prisoner and detainee swap deal, the Houthis instructed the so-called court of appeals under their control to hold the first session of trying four journalists.. on 7 March," the Yemeni information minister tweeted.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23361.html
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp6 – cp19
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-721b-yemen-war-mosaic-721b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-720-yemen-war-mosaic-720
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-720 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-720:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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