... Soldaten der Hadi-Regierung und ihr Kampf um Sold – Es gibt keine Jemen-Politik der USA – Die USA helfen Saudi-Arabien im Jemen-Krieg immer noch – Biden hat über den Jemen gelogen – und mehr
May 1, 2021: How children in Yemen became collateral damage – The war has ripped Yemeni society apart – Yemen’s food security crisis – Hadi government Yemeni soldiers and the battle for pay – There is no US Yemen policy – The US may still be helping Saudi Arabia in the Yemen war after all – Biden lied about Yemen – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-738b-yemen-war-mosaic-738b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus 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
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13 Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp17a Kriegsereignisse: Schlacht um Marib / Theater of War: Marib battle
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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Jemen-Konflikt: Die Huthi greifen erneut eine militärische Einrichtung in Saudiarabien an
Jemen ist zum Schauplatz eines Stellvertreterkriegs zwischen Saudiarabien und Iran geworden. Den Preis dafür zahlt die Zivilbevölkerung. Doch weshalb kam es zum Bürgerkrieg und welche Interessen verfolgen die Strippenzieher?
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Wie ist die derzeitige Situation in Jemen?
Was war der Auslöser des Konflikts?
Woher kommt die Huthi-Bewegung?
Warum hat Saudiarabien in den Bürgerkrieg eingegriffen?
Welche Rolle spielt Iran in dem Konflikt?
Welche Interessen verfolgen die Emirate in Jemen?
Was wollen die Separatisten in Südjemen?
https://www.nzz.ch/international/jemen-die-hintergruende-des-buergerkriegs-ld.1556197
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H K)
How Children in Yemen Became Collateral Damage
Yemen's humanitarian crisis has never been worse, with fighting around the strategically important city of Marib escalating by the day. Vice News were the first international journalists to embed with Yemen's government armed forces there and witnessed firsthand how the conflict is injuring, killing and recruiting the most vulnerable citizens: children.
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has never been worse, particularly for children: girls are being married off increasingly younger, and boys are easy prey for military recruitment. Then there are the bombs
Last month, VICE World News met eight year-old Karam Shawqi, who was playing football in the same field where he’d watched his friend Amran dying. “He was our closest friend. We used to go and have ice cream together,” says Shawqi, who was also injured that day. “I saw him in the vehicle on the way to the hospital. My father told me to look away. I told him I needed to see Amran. It was the first time I ever saw someone dying in front of me.”
Children have become collateral damage in this nightmare. The war has driven up prices of fuel and basic goods, leaving one in five children severely malnourished. On a recent trip across both sides of the conflict, VICE World News witnessed babies with arms the width of pencils dying because their mothers could not afford to feed them. Girls are being married off younger and younger, so as not to burden families further. And boys have become easy prey for military recruitment.
Almost 80 percent of Yemenis are dependent on humanitarian aid for survival, but only a fraction will receive what they need.
Both sides have committed war crimes. The coalition has carried out aerial bombardment on bridges, hospitals, markets and even a bus full of children. The Houthis have also indiscriminately attacked civilian neighbourhoods, tampered with aid distribution and recruited tens of thousands of young boys to the frontlines.
Many of those displaced are children whose lives have been uprooted multiple times, as the frontlines continue to shift. They’re now living in makeshift camps surrounding the city, unsure when or where they might be forced to go next.
“The impact of the conflict on Yemen’s children has been brutal and it is unclear what the long-lasting effects will be,” says Olivia Headon, IOM’s Spokesperson in Yemen. “Displaced children not only have to deal with the distress that they experience when fleeing their homes, but also major challenges in accessing aid and education.”
Neither the Houthis or the Saudi-led coalition are eager to take accountability for their role in the disruption and chaos that haunts these children’s lives.
“We don't want our citizens to die. They're our brothers and sisters.... We ask them to get away [from the fighting]. We will do our best to avoid them. But at the end, if something has to happen, everything has its cost,” said Hisham Sharaf Abdallah, Foreign Minister of the Northern Houthi-held territory.
Like thousands of other Yemeni families, Amran’s mother Iftikar Ali Mohammed is left grieving her losses and doubts that she’ll ever get the recognition she deserves, let alone an apology.
“When Amran died, I felt like something inside me died. Like I died with him,” she says. “There is no heart left unbroken in Yemen… Our hearts were broken from the inside. We were shattered.”
https://www.vice.com/en/article/k78adm/yemen-war-children-humanitarian-crisis
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nJTA4uBTgo
(** B H K P)
The war has ripped Yemeni society apart
Even if foreign intervention ends, the war will not stop until Yemenis decide to forgive.
I realise that the war has completely destroyed the social fabric of my country. It has devastated Yemen and disfigured it beyond recognition. The polarisation, hate and desire for revenge that I see every day make me fear that this war may never end. How can the families of fighters on the opposite sides of the front line ever learn to live side by side? How will their children go to school and play together? How can we put aside all the pain and suffering, all the insult and injury to come back together as a society?
Thinking of these questions today makes it difficult for me to grasp that just 10 years ago we were going through a moment of unprecedented national unity.
But the spirit of unity we felt during the revolution was short-lived. The revolution was undermined and overtaken by a coup. Then came the Saudi-led military intervention and the war. Former comrades who protested together in Sanaa’s Tahrir Square turned into bitter enemies.
As the Yemeni state has disintegrated, social provision has disappeared and the economy has been shattered. The war has completely decimated the infrastructure in the country and caused shortages of all basic goods, including fuel.
As the Yemeni state has disintegrated, social provision has disappeared and the economy has been shattered. The war has completely decimated the infrastructure in the country and caused shortages of all basic goods, including fuel.
But Yemen has become not just an unviable state, it is also now a place where people can no longer bear to live together. For foreign observers, it may be difficult to grasp the devastation Yemeni society has suffered. In the foreign media, the war is often explained through sectarianism, a north-south divide and tribal rivalries. It is almost like conflict is perceived as natural to Yemen.
But the rifts this war has caused go beyond these imagined “natural divisions”.
There are three fronts now open in three different cities: Hodeidah, Marib and Taiz. All the fighters are Yemeni, the majority are locals, many are from the same sect and even from the same tribe or extended family. And yet, they fight for opposing sides and they kill each other as if they have been enemies for centuries.
Earlier this year, I went to mourn with a woman who had lost her 20-year-old son on the front in Hodeidah. He along with his brother had no religious or ideological affiliation with the Houthis (also known as Ansar Allah), but nevertheless, decided to join them because it was the only way to provide for the family. Her pleas and crying did not dissuade them from going to the battlefield to get a meagre wage.
When I saw her, she was smiling quietly. She told me that she had lost her ability to cry and that she did not feel anything. She did not want to talk to her other son or try to dissuade him from going to war. The Ansar Allah leaders often say: “He is in heaven eating apples,” as a metaphor for the bliss that a dead fighter supposedly feel in paradise. As she talked to me about her son, the woman stretched her lips, saying sarcastically: “He is eating apples in paradise and has left me here to eat yoghurt.”
It is not unheard of for members of the same family to fight on different sides. I recently read on social media about a young man named Abdelmalik who was fighting with the Houthis in Marib, while his father, Mutia, was fighting for the other side. Both of them were killed on the same front.
There have been other cases I have heard of about brothers, relatives, friends fighting against each other. To say that the conflict in Yemen is a fratricide would not be an exaggeration.
The front lines do not follow any “tribal” or “sectarian” logic. They cut across communities, even families, and leave many people stranded, without their natural social surroundings. That much became clear when the large prisoner exchange happened in October 2020. Many families had to cross into “enemy territory” in order to go see their released loved ones, “deported” to the “other side”.
Tightly knit communities that have lived in peace for as long as they have existed, have been ravaged, divided and dispersed. And unfortunately, local media has been playing an exceedingly active role in drawing lines of division across Yemeni society.
Footage of battles and the capture of prisoners are broadcast proudly on the official TV channels of the warring parties as propaganda to mobilise support. Dead bodies are often displayed accompanied by war cries, while prisoners of war – visibly afraid and intimidated – are forced to repeat scripted “confessions”.
Yemeni journalists and intellectuals of various affiliations do not shy away from writing public comments in which they gloat about the capture of prisoners of war or the death of Yemeni combatants.
And even when Yemeni journalists go abroad, they still persist in this type of behaviour.
We shared so much and yet, when we sat down at one table in the workshop, we could not find a common language. Each defended a warring party they sympathised with and some went as far as justifying war crimes.
It seems clear that the Yemeni people, in addition to the many deprivations they are suffering from and the loss of loved ones and livelihoods, are also experiencing a terrifying absence of the most basic form of humanity.
Many believe that the war will end when the external support given to the warring parties by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran is cut off. But I doubt it. I fear the urge to seek revenge will keep the war going, and so will the desire to evade justice by those who committed massacres and grave violations.
If Yemenis want this war to end, they have no choice but to shake hands and forgive. They will have to accept living next to the murderer of their loved ones and sending their children to the same school as his children.
This is the only way to save our country, once called “Arabia Felix”, from becoming an unviable state – by Manal Qaed Alwesab
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/4/28/the-war-has-ripped-yemeni-society-apart
(** B H)
Bread and Tea: A Look Into Yemen’s Food Security Crisis
Yemen has become nearly synonymous with food insecurity
Continued depreciation of the Yemeni riyal has resulted in exponential price increases. Food prices doubled between 2015 and 2020, and continue to rise, while the number of employed Yemenis decreased by half over the same period. As food security continues to deteriorate, around two-thirds of the Yemeni population are now in need of food and livelihood support. According to the December 2020 FEWS NET Food Security Outlook Update, much of the country is classified as crisis level food insecure (IPC Phase 3); without the presence of humanitarian aid many of these areas would slip into an emergency-level food insecurity situation.
Alarming levels of food insecurity in Ta’izz
Split between the IRG, Ansar Allah, and Joint Resistance Forces (JRF) control, Ta’izz governorate and its capital Ta’izz City have been at the center of some of the most intense fighting in the country. Residents are often victim to indiscriminate violence, stray shells, and forced displacement. Access to the city and surrounding areas have been a major ongoing challenge for humanitarian aid organizations, hindering their ability to deliver aid to those who need it most. Direct routes and humanitarian corridors into the city continue to be closed, and civilians must travel by long detours just to access basic services. In a recent IPC assessment, Ta’izz was found to have the largest number of people in crisis or emergency food insecurity, at nearly 600,000.
But what does the lived experience of hunger look like on a day-to-day basis? Navanti spoke with several female head of households in Ta’izz City and nearby rural areas (Map 2) to help bring the issue of food insecurity in Yemen into full focus. The women agreed to be interviewed and share details of their daily lives and how they struggle to feed their families in the midst of the conflict.
Food access struggle leads to adults skipping meals
A household of limited means in Ta’izz might eat a breakfast of tea with sugar, often seasoned with fragrant cardamom and cinnamon, sometimes with milk, and a home-baked flatbread (fatteh). For lunch, a sauce of potatoes might be served alongside rice; for dinner another round of flatbread dipped in a tomato-based hot pepper sauce (sahawek) and a simple yogurt sauce on the side. Once or twice a week, a porridge (asida) made of wheat flour, water, and salt might be eaten. (See Appendix A: For recipes). On special occasions, a household may prepare chicken. But for a growing number of households, meeting even the minimum amount of food required is difficult.
All of the women Navanti spoke with told us they had difficulty providing three daily meals for all members of their household; family members often had to eat whatever leftovers there were from lunch for dinner or skip meals altogether. On days when food was scarce, the adults in the family ration the food so the children can eat as they are less able to tolerate hunger.
In the early days of the conflict, households could borrow money from relatives and neighbors or buying on credit had been used as a safety net strategy when food became scarce. At this time, more people had access to regular salaries and daily work, and food prices were relatively low. As the conflict has progressed, these options have dwindled as many Yemenis are unable to spare extra food to share and shopkeepers can no longer risk selling on credit without collateral or a guarantee of payment.
Some of the children in the households interviewed go to school. However, the costs of going to school, such as buying supplies and paying the tuition fees, are a barrier for most. Those who go to school often attend up to the sixth grade. In order to support their families, males often drop out to look for work, while females may help with household chores or work for their neighbors in exchange for small amounts of money.
Life has become more expensive over time. Since the conflict began, labor wages in Ta’izz have increased slowly compared to the rate of inflation (Figure 1). On average across the governorate, wage rates have increased only 50-60% since 2016 while the inflation rate increased 127%, meaning the cost of living has increased at a greater rate than the value of wages. In addition to inflation, primary income earners can often go days or even weeks between work.
Aside from sugar, grains and oil contain the most calories per gram. To boost overall caloric intake to meet the minimum threshold at the lowest cost per calorie, households would need to increase the amount of grains and oils consumed by around 344 calories.
Displacement increases vulnerability to food insecurity
Since the beginning of the conflict, nearly four million citizens have been forced to flee their homes, with over 166,000 of the four million fleeing in 2020 alone, while many households have been repeatedly displaced as frontlines shift. In 2020, a significant number of conflict-related displacements occurred due to fighting in Ma’rib, Al Hudaydah, and Ta’izz governorates.
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are at especially high risk of hunger and food insecurity due to the loss of their livelihoods and social safety networks. IDPs often permanently lose their homes valuables and are forced to live in IDP camps or abandoned structures. Almost all of the households with which we spoke said they have previously been displaced or are currently displaced as a result of the conflict, and most have been displaced several times.
Families face a grim future
Before the conflict began in 2015, the women interviewed told us their lives were significantly more stable—food prices were affordable, and jobs were more available. Families lived in their own homes without daily fear of being displaced. Other families earned income off their land, growing food and raising livestock. A recently conducted CARE survey found that 93% of respondents interviewed in several districts of the governorate had significantly worsened livelihoods and well-being compared to before the conflict.
When asked about their expectations of the future, the women interviewed expressed concern. As the war continues, the coping mechanisms that people use to secure their needs are becoming increasingly exhausted. Insecurity and high inflation rates are affecting more and more portions of the population (illustrations) – by Amber Liskey
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[Hadi gov.] Yemeni Soldiers and the Battle for Pay
Lacking and intermittent payments to soldiers risk incentivizing local small wars that could persist regardless of whether a national conflict resolution deal is achieved.
The salary problem further undermines the capacity and motivation of pro-Hadi government forces, while often favoring recruitment by local forces mostly tied to foreign players. This has two main implications for the armed conflict. First, the salary asymmetry among fighting groups fuels prolonged hostilities. Second, this reduces prospects for durable conflict resolution and a viable disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration process, as economic ties with competitive foreign actors persist.
At the beginning of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, the coalition promised each recruit a minimum salary of about $270 per month. However, the Saudis were reportedly slow and inconsistent in issuing payments. Meanwhile, soldiers in areas held by the United Arab Emirates reported regular payments that were often higher than those received by soldiers working with the Saudis. On the other side of the conflict, fighters allied with the Houthi rebels in some instances reported receiving a regular payment of $200 to $300 each month, while some military officers in Sanaa said that the Houthis paid fighters a salary of 25,000 Yemeni rials (about $31) per month. The Houthis are generally able to pay salaries that higher and more regular compared to the Hadi government, as they use port revenue, widespread smuggling networks, collected taxes, and, in some cases, funds diversion to finance their war effort, thus keeping cohesion among ranks.
Widespread delays and failures in the payment of soldiers have long been an issue in Yemen, in part due to persisting political and institutional fragmentation.
The deep hybridization between formal and informal security forces in Yemen affects also their financing structure. These financial relationships are often intertangled, adding more complexity to accountability, chains of command, and reintegration prospects.
Reintegration of fighters from various groups into the regular army is another major problem.
The nonpayment of salaries by the Hadi government is boosting recruitment for the composite West Coast forces headed by Tareq Salih, nephew of the former president. His militia forces, especially the Republican Guards based in Mokha – where he established a political bureau, the National Resistance, in March – are financially supported by the UAE. Soldiers from the Yemeni army around Mokha (Taiz governorate) are joining Saleh’s forces since they have not been paid by the Hadi government.
But differences regarding Yemen’s fighting groups exist also between foreign supporters: Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In the Saudi case, Riyadh adopts a case-by-case approach regarding Yemeni soldiers’ salaries. In many cases, it does not pay salaries directly to Yemeni soldiers, as payments are commonly made through the Hadi government, which has been funded by the kingdom. However, things are likely different with regard to the Yemeni-Saudi border, with Riyadh prioritizing direct national security threats.
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has moved hundreds of Yemeni pro-government soldiers who previously fought in Yemen’s internal battlefields (such as Marib, Jawf, Bayda, and Nihm) to the Saudi-Yemeni border when salaries from Yemen’s military stopped. Soldiers deployed to the border receive higher salaries than those fighting internally in Yemen. Conversely, since the battle started in 2020 in Marib, many fighters there associated with the Islah party (which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood) have not received a salary from the Saudis, who primarily consider them “allies of military convenience” against the Houthis, preferring to lean on Salafis and pro-Saudi tribal commanders. Pro-government tribal fighters also haven’t received sufficient monetary incentives.
Between 2015 and 2019, the UAE directly paid the Yemeni militias in the south that it helped to organize, train, and equip.
Yemen’s military has a salary problem: This is likely to play a role in the future power balance in the country. Lacking and intermittent payments to soldiers risk incentivizing local small wars that could persist regardless of whether a national conflict resolution deal is achieved. Financial instability triggers shifting allegiances on the ground, and this can be easily exploited by external players still actively involved in Yemen. Yet, for all of Yemen’s economic issues, joining an armed group is still seen as the one avenue to viable employment in the country – by Eleonora Ardemagni
https://agsiw.org/yemeni-soldiers-battle-for-pay/
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There Is No [US] Yemen Policy
It remains unclear what, if anything, Biden has done to stop the Saudi Arabia–led military intervention.
Nearly three months have elapsed since Biden’s statement, and he has yet to specify what constitutes an “offensive” operation. It remains unclear what, if anything, his administration has actually done to stop the Saudi Arabia–led military intervention. When asked by Congress last week for updates, Biden’s Yemen envoy, Tim Lenderking, claimed ignorance. And this month, the White House announced that it was moving forward with a $23 billion arms sale to the United Arab Emirates, one of the main players in Yemen’s war.
The Biden administration also recently played down one of the main drivers of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis: a Saudi naval and air blockade that is preventing fuel and other critical supplies from entering the country.
“The fact that the Saudis determine what gets into Yemen and what doesn’t and when, that is a blockade,” said Jumaan, adding that her organization hasn’t been able to send medicine to Yemen in over a year.
The Biden administration’s equivocating and willingness to cover for Saudi Arabia’s actions in Yemen and its opaqueness about its own continued involvement in the conflict track with a trend in US policy in the region—one that far predates the six-year war.
“There is no US Yemen policy,” said Afrah Nasser, Yemen researcher for Human Rights Watch and a former journalist. “There is counterterrorism. There is Saudi. There is the Gulf. There is Iran. But there is no Yemen policy for Yemen.”
As the Biden administration continues in the tradition of US nonpolicy, the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which has been widely considered to be the world’s most dire for roughly five years, grows more calamitous.
Biden “has been given a very rare chance to correct the wrongs [the United States has] inflicted on the Yemeni people,” said Jumaan. “And instead of [his] taking the chance to correct that, we’re seeing the same old story and same old behavior.”
In the months following the start of the extensive, often indiscriminate air campaign against the Houthis, the Obama administration gave several explanations for the targeting assistance, midair refueling, arms sales, and diplomatic cover it provided to the Saudi-led coalition conducting it.
The Houthi insurgency proved formidable, however, outlasting both the Obama and the Trump administrations’ support for the Saudi-led assault. Today, the Houthis control roughly the same amount of territory as they did in 2015, and they’ve established a brutal regime that has detained, tortured, and killed dissidents and journalists; blocked and confiscated aid meant for civilians; and likely committed war crimes. The Houthis have also reneged on several negotiated agreements with the Yemeni government during the war, likely betting that the Saudi-led coalition can’t be trusted and instead falling back on their military upper hand.
Six years of Houthi resilience make it clear to advocates that peace will come to Yemen only through diplomacy. And there is precedent for it.
“When Yemenis start talking anything is possible,” diplomat Jamal Benomar wrote in The Guardian last month.
With that prior dialogue process in mind, Benomar has joined Yemeni advocates who have long argued that peace is possible if warring parties, including the United States and the Saudi-led coalition, drop preconditions that have eroded past cease-fire negotiations.
Jumaan of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation noted that in some ways 2021 looks a lot like 2015: The US administration is trying to get back into the Iran nuclear deal, while appeasing Saudi Arabia and talking out of both sides of its mouth on Yemen—which doesn’t bode well for ending the offensive. “I fear right now that history is repeating itself,” she said, “that they are going to sacrifice Yemen again to please the Saudis.”
Al-Adeimi recalled that during the 2020 campaign, one of Biden’s senior national security advisers told her and a group of Yemeni Americans in Michigan that Biden would quickly end “all” support and arms sales for the war.
So when it comes to Biden’s promises, “these are just, as far as I’m concerned, words,” she said – by Chris Gelardi
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/biden-yemen-houthis/
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The US may still be helping Saudi Arabia in the Yemen war after all
The US authorized contractors to service Saudi warplanes. Some of those warplanes fight in the Yemen war.
The Biden administration finally clarified its support of Saudi’s military
It took a long time to get a straight answer as to how, exactly, the US was assisting Saudi Arabia after Biden’s February announcement.
Lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee asked Tim Lenderking, the State Department’s special envoy for Yemen, last Wednesday about the new policy. His response was wanting. He said he was “not totally in the loop” and that the panel should ask the Pentagon for specifics.
A reporter the next day asked Marine Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, who oversees all US troops in the Middle East, to provide some clarity. He responded that, when possible, the US military provides the Saudis with warning of any incoming attacks on Saudi Arabia that the US has detected coming from Yemen.
“The principal thing I do with the Saudis is I give them advanced notice when I’m able to do that,” he said, adding that the US provides no intelligence, surveillance, or reconnaissance support inside Yemen. “I would characterize our support as essentially defensive in nature.”
I wanted to know specifically whether the US provides any maintenance, logistical, or refueling support for Saudi warplanes, so on Friday, I asked chief Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby those questions during a regular briefing. His staff got back to me with an answer over the weekend.
“The United States continues to provide maintenance support to Saudi Arabia’s Air Force given the critical role it plays in Saudi air defense and our longstanding security partnership,” said Navy Commander Jessica McNulty, a Pentagon spokesperson.
While more specific than the administration had been to date, that statement still wasn’t entirely clear. Was the US military directly providing that support? And did the maintenance go to Saudi fighter jets, its missile defense system, or both?
So I asked McNulty to clarify her statement, which she did on Monday in an email. “[The] Department of Defense supports Saudi aircraft maintenance through Foreign Military Sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for which Saudi Arabia bears the costs and implementation is conducted by DoD contractors,” she wrote.
That means Riyadh, with its own money and at no cost to the US taxpayer, uses a US government program to procure maintenance for its warplanes. (That service likely was included when the Saudis bought the American-made warplanes.) It may not be the US military providing direct support, then, but the service was still greenlit by the US.
This doesn’t please critics of the war and America’s role in it. A Democratic congressional aide complained, “Oh, great, the ‘they’re civilian contractors’ line,” adding that a US-approved service to provide maintenance and spare parts for Saudi aircraft is tantamount to America backing Riyadh’s offensive plans.
Others agreed. “The recent admission by the Department of Defense that US companies are still authorized to maintain Saudi warplanes ... means that our government is still enabling the Saudi operations, including bombings and enforcing a blockade on Yemen’s ports,” Hassan El-Tayyab, the legislative manager for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation lobbying group, told me. “The administration should use its existing authority to block US military contractors from aiding the Saudi war effort in Yemen.”
Later on Monday, I asked Kirby, the top Pentagon spokesperson, to address those concerns.
“What the president has decided is that the support we’re giving [Saudi Arabia] will be primarily for their self-defense, and not further participating in the Saudi-led coalition’s offensive operations inside Yemen,” he told me and other reporters in a regular briefing.
“I understand where the question’s going,” he continued, “that maintenance support for systems could be used for both purposes” — that is, offensive and defensive operations. But, he said, the US is doing what it’s doing because “we have a military-to-military relationship with Saudi Arabia that is important to the region and to our interests, and we have a commitment to help them defend themselves against what are real threats.”
Okay, so what does this all mean? Is the US participating in Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen or not? The unsatisfying answer: possibly, but if so, not directly.
The US probably supports some Saudi offensive operations. But canceling the maintenance contract has drawbacks.
There are two main issues here: 1) How do you define an offensive versus defensive operation? and 2) what would the US government canceling the maintenance contract actually mean? – by Alex Ward
But it’s also true that without the maintenance support, Saudi Arabia would be further exposed to all kinds of attacks from the Houthis (and others). And after nixing the contract, the decades-old ties between Washington and Riyadh might not just spiral downward but sever entirely.
Biden’s definitive line between offensive and defensive support isn’t as clean as he may have hoped. The question is if he’ll do anything about it.
https://www.vox.com/2021/4/27/22403579/biden-saudi-yemen-war-pentagon
My comment: No, the US really stopping this support US-Saudi relations would not “might not just spiral downward but sever entirely”, as Saudi Arabia still depends on the US and the Yemen War should be brought to an end. What would happen after the end of the war, is a different question.
und ein Überblick auf Deutsch:
(* B K P)
USA warten weiterhin saudische Kampfflugzeuge, die den Jemen bombardieren
In Kommentaren gegenüber Vox gaben Vertreter des Pentagons zu, dass die USA immer noch Saudi-Arabiens Kampfflugzeuge mit Hilfe von Kontraktoren warten. Die USA könnten die Verträge jederzeit kündigen und somit effektiv die saudische Luftwaffe am Boden halten und die bösartige Bombenkampagne beenden, die diese seit März 2015 durchführt.
"Die Vereinigten Staaten stellen weiterhin Wartungsunterstützung für die saudi-arabische Luftwaffe zur Verfügung, angesichts der kritischen Rolle, die sie in der saudi-arabischen Luftverteidigung und in unserer langjährigen Sicherheitspartnerschaft spielt," sagte ein Pentagon-Sprecher zu Vox über das Wochenende.
Die Wartung wird durch das Pentagon Foreign Military Sales Programm durchgeführt, was bedeutet, dass Saudi-Arabien die USA bezahlt, um Vertragspartner zur Verfügung zu stellen, die die Kampfflugzeuge warten können.
Das Eingeständnis kommt über zwei Monate, nachdem Präsident Biden gesagt hatte, er würde die Unterstützung für Riads "offensive" Operationen im Jemen einstellen. Vox Reporter Alex Ward fragte Pentagon-Sprecher John Kirby am Montag, ob die Flugzeuge, die die USA warten, für offensive Operationen im Jemen verwendet werden könnten. Kirby räumte ein, dass die Wartungsunterstützung für Systeme sowohl für offensive als auch für defensive Operationen verwendet werden könnte.
Bidens Sondergesandter für den Jemen, Tim Lenderking, behauptete letzte Woche vor dem Kongress, dass er nicht "in der Informationsschleife" darüber war, wie viel Unterstützung die USA der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Koalition geben. Später in der Woche sagte General Frank McKenzie, dass die USA keine nachrichtendienstlichen oder logistischen Informationen für saudische Operationen im Jemen bereitstellen und dass seine Rolle darin besteht, Riad vor drohenden Houthi-Angriffen zu warnen, wenn er kann.
Neben der weiteren Aufrechterhaltung der saudischen Luftwaffe hat die Biden-Administration Riad die politische Deckung gegeben, um die Blockade gegen den Jemen weiter durchzusetzen. Biden-Beamte haben behauptet, dass der Jemen nicht unter einer Blockade steht, obwohl saudische Kriegsschiffe das Andocken von Treibstofflieferungen im Hafen von Hodeidah verhindern, was es unmöglich macht, die hungernde Zivilbevölkerung des Jemen mit Lebensmitteln zu versorgen.
and
(** B K P)
Biden lied about Yemen
The Biden administration finally admitted the US is providing offensive support to Saudi Arabia’s genocidal assault on Yemen, directly contradicting February’s claim it would no longer be providing offensive support in that war.
We are being lied to about yet another US war by yet another US president.
“The United States continues to provide maintenance support to Saudi Arabia’s Air Force given the critical role it plays in Saudi air defense and our longstanding security partnership,” Pentagon spokesperson Jessica McNulty informed Vox reporter Alex Ward.
El-Tayyab is on record speaking out after Biden’s deceitful February announcement, saying this administration needs to make it abundantly clear what it actually means by ending offensive support for the war on Yemen and actually stick to it. “I’m not a full pessimist here. I welcome the news,” he told Al Jazeera at the time. “But I’m just trying to stay vigilant and not take the foot off the gas on advocacy pressure. Because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Well, now we do know. The US is maintaining and servicing the war planes that are bombing Yemen and enforcing a blockade which has killed hundreds of thousands and the United Nations warns could kill 400,000 more this year alone if conditions don’t change, proving Joe Biden a liar and vindicating the experts and activists who cautioned against accepting his announcement on blind faith.
Getting to this point where questions are finally answered about the reality of the Biden administration’s Yemen policy has been like pulling teeth, with officials giving questioners the runaround for months on this issue.Watch this clip of US Yemen Envoy Tim Lenderking dodging questions like George Bush dodges shoes, as Congressman Ted Lieu tries to get a straight answer as to whether the US has stopped supporting the war on Yemen.
When people hear the word ‘famine’ they usually think of mass hunger caused by droughts or other naturally occurring phenomena, but in reality, the starvation deaths we are seeing in Yemen (a huge percentage of which are children under the age of five) are caused by something that is no more natural than the starvation deaths you’d see in a medieval siege. They are the result of the Saudi coalition’s use of blockades and its deliberate targeting of farms, fishing boats, marketplaces, food storage sites, and cholera treatment centers with airstrikes aimed at making the Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen so weak and miserable that they break.
The United States lies about all its wars with the help of the mass media, but up until this year, its lies about Yemen have largely consisted of lies by omission – simply not talking about Yemen (like when MSNBC went an entire year without mentioning it a single time during the height of Russiagate hysteria), reporting on the famine as though it’s the result of a tragic natural disaster, or omitting America’s role in the slaughter. This time, it was just a straightforward lie – Biden said the US was ending offensive support, and it wasn’t.
As we’ve discussed previously, when the people demand something of their government, it’s a lot easier to simply tell them you’re on their side and redirect them than to tell them no. Democrats are especially good at this.
And meanwhile the slaughter continues, unbroken from Obama to Trump and from Trump to Biden. The names change, the narratives change, but the murderous imperial war machine rolls on uninterrupted – by Caitlin Johnstone
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/522500-biden-lied-about-yemen/ = https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/biden-lied-about-yemen = https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2104/S00124/biden-lied-about-yemen.htm
and also https://news.antiwar.com/2021/04/27/us-still-servicing-saudi-warplanes-that-are-bombing-yemen/
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
(* A H)
23 new cases of coronavirus reported, 6,317 in total
The committee also reported the death of 4 coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 20 others.
1,076 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day, the statement added.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32837
(A H)
Former Yemen defence minister dies from Covid-19 in Sanaa
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24811.html
(* A H)
31 new cases of coronavirus reported, 6,294 in total
The committee also reported the death of 6 coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 31 others.
1,208 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day, the statement added.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32831
(A H)
Yemeni Sana'a airport receives 14.5-ton vaccines
14.5 tons of anti-polio and other vaccines have arrived at the Houthi-held Sana'a international airport, north Yemen, the UNICEF said Thursday.
This is the second shipment of vaccines the UNICEF brings to the Yemeni capital in ten days.
A UN plane landed in Sana'a airport on Thursday with 14.5 tons of anti-polio and other vaccines onboard, the Child Fund tweeted.
The shots will be used in routine vaccination campaigns targeting 700,000 under-two-year children in Houthi-held provinces, it added.
Late last year, the UNICEF highlighted the need for being allowed to vaccinate children against polio, which spread anew in many Yemeni northern areas.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24800.html
(* A H)
43 new cases of coronavirus reported, 6,263 in total
The committee also reported the death of 9 coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 26 others.
921 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day, the statement added.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32823
(* A H)
37 new cases of coronavirus reported, 6,220 in total
The committee also reported the death of two coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 44 others.
1,094 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day, the statement added.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32814
(B H)
The Compounding Implications of COVID-19 in Yemen
COVID-19 in Yemen is another struggle, adding to the laundry list of issues the country currently faces. The civil war and resulting humanitarian crises have created an unstable environment in Yemen in which a pandemic may thrive. Infection-limiting practices, like social distancing, are nearly impossible as civilians are under the pressure of violence and food inaccessibility. With very limited housing available, many must also live in overcrowded homes, facilitating the rampant spread of the virus even further.
In April 2020, the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Yemen, although there is no way to know the true numbers or the date of the first infection due to Houthi influence. COVID-19 in Yemen has a high death rate, as well. Healthcare facilities, healthcare workers and medical supplies have been hard to find due to internal struggles, especially with many healthcare workers fleeing the state’s violence. Most alarming is that more than half of Yemen’s healthcare facilities are either closed or only partially functional.
Although Yemen faces a massive humanitarian crisis on all fronts, The IRC works to counteract the violence and sickness that are plaguing the country.
https://www.borgenmagazine.com/covid-19-in-yemen/
(B H)
UNDP Yemen COVID-19 Response (January to March 2021)
(A H)
Appeals to save Yemeni health sector amid Covid-19
A Yemeni expat union on Monday made an appeal to save the war-torn country's deteriorating health sector and its staff, after Covid-19 killed tens of medics.
Death toll among medical staff topped 153 cases in Yemen since 2020 until Sunday evening, Yemen's Medics Abroad union said in a statement.
The statement called on the international community, UN and regional organizations and local authorities to take urgent steps to deliver vaccines to health workers in Yemen.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24742.html
(* B H)
Yemen: Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin: Volume 09, lssue 14, Epi week 14,(5-11 April ,2021)
Leading causes of morbidity mortality in Epi-Week 14,2021
(URTI) 13.6%, suspected Malaria (7.3%),(DD) (7.1%) and (LRTI) (6.1%)Remain the leading causes of morbidity representing a total of (34.1%)
Acute viral hepatitis, acute watery diarrhea and Schistosomiasis represented less than 1% of total morbidity in reporting period Bloody diarrhea represented 0.3% Of this morbidity
All diarrheal disease comprised 7.1% and LRTI 6.1% of total morbidity in pilot Governorates this week.
All diarrheal disease comprised 7.1% and OAD 6.5% of total morbidity in all age group
(* B H)
Film, from Dec. 2019: Dengue fever becomes a new epidemic in Yemen
Mosquito-borne dengue fever has killed 219 people in Yemen since February, The World Health Organization says. A further 60,000 people have been infected. Dengue Fever is treatable, but the lack of medical facilities in the war-ravaged country is takings its toll. Shoaib Hasan has the latest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHxYmNNXeVo&t=8s
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
Yemen War Map Updates, April 27 to 29:
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-april-29-map-update/
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-april-28-2021-map-update/
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-april-27-2021-map-update/
(A K pS)
Photos: Floods sweep passenger cars out of Taiz in the Al-Sarm region with loans, The only road that connects inside the city with outside, Passing through bumpy roads and in torrential corridors, After the Houthis closed the main roads. The road is closed, hundreds of travelers are stranded, and militias continue their strict siege of the city.
https://twitter.com/taha_saleh_taiz/status/1388254380298801164
(* B K P)
Audio: Scott Horton Show: Aisha Jumaan on US complicity in Yemens dire humanitarian crisis
Aisha Jumaan discusses the situation in Yemen. Although the Biden administration claimed earlier this year that it would end American support for Saudi “offensive operations” in Yemen, they have recently announced that certain support functions—like providing maintenance and spare parts for the Saudi air force—will continue. But this bald-faced reversal, says Jumaan, isn’t even the main issue. Yes, the Saudis are killing innocent Yemenis in air strikes and other direct attacks, but by far the biggest threat to the health and safety of Yemeni civilians today is the Saudi blockade, which continues to stop critical goods like food and medicine from getting into the country. Those who care about ending this U.S.-sponsored humanitarian crisis must forcefully oppose continued American support for the war in all its forms.
Discussed on the show:
“Biden “Continues to Support Saudi Aggression on the People of Yemen”” (accuracy.org)
“In Yemen ‘Diplomacy is Back.’ What Next?” (Newsweek)
“Murphy Chairs First Subcommittee Hearing on Yemen” (murphy.senate.gov)
“Quiet Support for Saudis Entangles U.S. in Yemen” (The New York Times)
“‘We Think the Price Is Worth It’” (FAIR)
Dr. Aisha Jumaan is an epidemiologist and the founder and president of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation. Find her on Twitter @AishaJumaan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8L6gQ9RvKY = https://player.fm/series/the-scott-horton-show-from-the-libertarian-institute/ep-43021-aisha-jumaan-on-us-complicity-in-yemens-dire-humanitarian-crisis
and Aisha Jumaan, one month ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-6n-m9pjnE
(* B K P)
Yemen 101 || Colonizer's World Tour
Dr. Erin and Dr. Kristen take a virtual trip to Yemen this week to learn about the country's culture, history, and people.
Check out our resources list for links and references here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMQXsKBCgnk
Yemen: A History of Conflict || Colonizer's World Tour
European Influence and Partial European Control Movie Review With art created in Yemen difficult to access, The Good Doctors watch 'Yemen: A History of Conflict' instead. They share their strong and painful feelings about what they learned Check out our resources list for links and references here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NzKBEYgjb0
(A H P)
Houthi: Westliche Banden verkaufen jemenitische Kinder an Golf-Staaten
Der Leiter der beliebten Houthi Ansarullah-Bewegung im Jemen gab an, Sicherheitsdienste hätten Kinderhandelsbanden in dem Land identifiziert, in dem die schlimmste humanitäre Krise der Welt inmitten einer blutigen, von Saudi-Arabien geführten Kampagne militärischer Aggression herrscht.
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi sagte am Mittwoch, dass jemenitische Kinder nach Saudi-Arabien und in andere arabische Staaten am Persischen Golf geschmuggelt werden, wo sie ausgenutzt werden, berichtete der Fernsehsender al-Masirah.
Die kriminellen Banden teilen die gehandelten Kinder in drei Gruppen ein, von denen einige zur Zwangsarbeit verkauft werden, andere zur sexuellen Ausbeutung und der Rest zum Betteln, fügte er hinzu.
Houthi bemerkte weiter, dass die Banden, die mit Mafias in den USA und in Europa verbunden sind, auch am Organschmuggel der Kinder beteiligt sind.
(A H P)
Houthi leader claims gangs buy Yemeni children, sell them in Gulf
There are gangs buying Yemeni children from their families to sell them in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States, the leader of the Houthi group, Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, claimed on Wednesday.
In a lecture aired by his group's TV mouthpiece Almasirah, he said the security forces recently arrested some gangs trading in children and smuggling them to Gulf States.
Those gangs sort children into three groups, the first is children in good health who are being sold for hard labor and smuggling operations, he said. Other children are being sold for sexual purposes, and used to beg in streets for the gangs, he said.
The gangs are also trading in human organs and have links with American and European mafias, he added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24775.html
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-24786.html
(B P)
Audio: SEPADPod With Nadwa Dawsari
On this episode of SEPADPod Simon speaks with Nadwa Al Dawsari, a conflict and policy analyst, and a specialist in Yemeni tribes with over 18 years of field experience in conflict management and civil society development in Yemen.
On this episode, Simon and Nadwa speak about Yemeni politics, the fragmentation of the state, the challenges of peace building and much more.
https://soundcloud.com/richardsoninstitute/sepadpod-with-nadwa-dawsari/s-3bfS1JTn4kI
(* A K)
April 2021 Map Update: Al Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia
The al Houthi movement has increased its attack rate significantly since mid-February 2021 and appears to be sustaining this higher frequency. The group attempted a bold drone and ballistic missile attack on March 7 that targeted Saudi oil facilities in Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern region. The al Houthis claimed the latter attack as part of their “balanced deterrence” campaign.
Iran has enabled the development of the al Houthis’ advanced attack capabilities since 2015.
https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/april-2021-map-update-al-houthi-attacks-on-saudi-arabia
(* B K P)
Can Iran and Saudi Arabia bury the past and end the Yemen war?
“From the Saudi perspective, the Houthi attacks are getting out of control. It has been an unwinnable war for them. They also realise that the Biden administration wants the Yemen war to come to an end,” says Hiltermann.
“But the Saudis also want some of their concerns to be addressed - the main one being the Houthis and how Iran brings them to the negotiating table.”
Another development that has prompted Saudi Arabia and Iran to explore ways of easing tensions has to do with the 2015 nuclear agreement, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Riyadh, which had earlier backed Trump over his Iran sanctions, is now expected to refrain from lobbying against the deal.
Instead, Saudi Arabia and its partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) insist that a US deal with Iran goes beyond just the nuclear talks and cover issues such as Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.
“Obviously the ballistic programme is out of reach for the most part,” says Dr Andreas Krieg, a lecturer at the School of Security Studies at the King’s College London.
“But they (the Americans) want a solution that at least works in a way that they can send it to the Saudis and other gulf states as a wider agreement beyond the nuclear programme.”
At the same time, the US has made it clear to the Iranians that its interference in other countries including Yemen can undermine the JCPOA.
While there’s an expectation that Iran will influence the Houthis to end the war, it’s unclear if its efforts will actually work.
“Iranians have control but not enough where they can switch off the Houthi activity as they wish,” says Krieg.
“Houthis are self contained and self sufficient actors in many ways. Even if the Iranians withdraw entirely from Yemen, the Houthis can continue fighting.”
(* B P)
‘Yemen’s uprising was magical, spiritual, powerful’
But that all changed when government forces fired on peaceful protesters. A Yemeni demonstrator remembers that day.
“The revolution began right next to the university – I was very close to the action,” Taha recalls of those early days. “Every day when I went to class and always passed the demonstrators, I said to myself ‘what are they doing here?’ And I got curious, I went over and I realised that they were protesting because everything was too expensive, and they couldn’t buy food.”
Taha started to join them and says he dreamed that a revolution could bring better representation for young people, a new constitution, access to work and fundamental rights.
Change Square had become a sea of colourful banners and flags as more and more people gathered to protest peacefully every day. Some of them pitched tents, organised the distribution of food and shouted chants and slogans.
“The presence of more and more women – determined, courageous – day by day was extraordinary,” says Taha. “It made the square safer, kinder and more peaceful. People were sure that protesting was the right thing to do and they would succeed in their intent, because change was being demanded by all the Arab people at that time.
“The verse of the Maghreb prayer of the protesters, ‘There is no God but God,’ was impressed in my mind. I can’t forget the sense of brotherhood, belonging – the belief that together, in one body, we would be able to recompose a country and free it from the dictator.”
Despite the devastation that has followed, Taha still believes it was right for the people to rise up against dictatorship back in 2011. “Some people in Yemen keep telling us that this revolution was a mistake. I say it wasn’t the wrong revolution.
“The mistake was not to hold firm to the principles of the post-revolution – don’t let it get stolen. Because the people who arrived after having occupied the square are those who stole the revolution from the young people. What I regret now is that the revolution accepted everyone, even those who then used it for their own ends [which led to civil war]. We were so stupid to accept every social body in the revolution, without defences”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/4/27/yemens-uprising-was-magical-spiritual-powerful
(B P)
Towards an ecological disaster in Yemen? Abandoned tanker sparks concern in Red Sea
In Yemen, an old tanker containing 200 million liters of oil is causing concern at the United Nations. The ship has not been maintained for years, which could lead to a major environmental disaster.
and
(A P)
Washington expresses concern over safety of Safer oil tanker
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46512
(* B K P)
Nadwa al-Dawsari on 2021 Mareb Battle
Excerpt of longer video on the "Battle of Mareb" which was part of a video conference on March 11, 2021, held to discuss Local Dynamics in Yemen. Nadwa al-Dawsari is a Nonresident Fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxPgQjZ_b8E&t=36s
Luca Nevola on Islamic Ideology [Houthi ideology]
Excerpt of longer video on the "Battle of Mareb" which was part of a video conference on March 11, 2021, held to discuss Local Dynamics in Yemen. Luca Nevola is Research Associate for the VERSUS Project at Sussex University.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7056nDU2UW4
Stephen Day on Aden's 2021 Political Instability
Excerpt from a video conference “Local Dynamics in the Yemen War” held among contributors to the 2020 book, “Global, Regional & Local Dynamics in the Yemen Crisis.” Stephen Day is a professor of international affairs at Rollins College, Holt School.
Explained dynamics at southern port city of Aden where an Emirati-allied group, called the Southern Transitional Council, is a rival to the Saudi-allied faction at Mareb, although the two are now in formal coalition with each other.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m1DJEttilA
The Saudi Role in Yemen's Crisis, ret. Ambassador Gerald Feierstein
At the start of a panel on Regional Dynamics in Yemen's War, former US Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein spoke about the role of Saudi Arabia in the Yemen Crisis. This was part of a wider discussion on Saudi-Iranian influences in Yemen which was one of three panels organized during a Zoom meeting held on April 15, 2021
Saudi Arabia's three "red-lines" in Yemen, and what the monarchy seeks as a resolution to the conflict
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSJ-oeu-Y0Y&t=3s
Iran's Role in Yemeni Crisis, Alex Vatanka
At the start of a panel on Regional Dynamics in Yemen's War, the Middle East Institute’s expert on Iran, Alex Vatanka, spoke about the role Iran currently plays in the Yemen Crisis. This was part of a wider discussion on Saudi-Iranian influences in Yemen which was one of three panels organized during a Zoom meeting held on April 15, 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpTyu3yGKKg&t=13s
The Emirati Role in Yemen's Crisis, Noel Brehony
On the second panel about Regional Dynamics in Yemen's War, Noel Brehony, Co-Editor of “Global, Regional, and Local Dynamics in the Yemen Crisis,” spoke about the role currently played by the United Arab Emirates in Yemen. This was part of a wider discussion on Emirati-Omani influences in Yemen which was the second of three panels organized during a Zoom meeting held on April 15, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlQU4euGeGk&t=23s
The Role of Sudan and Red Sea States, Alex de Waal
On the third panel about Regional Dynamics in Yemen's War, Alex de Waal, a professor at Tufts University in Boston, MA, and executive director of the World Peace Foundation, spoke about the current role played in Yemen by Sudan and other Red Sea states. This was part of a wider discussion on Qatari, Turkish, Egyptian, Sudanese, and other Red Sea influences on Yemen’s crisis which was the last of three panels organized during a Zoom meeting held on April 15, 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9kARxc9508&t=1s
My remark: Two video conferences where anti-Houthi bias is to be expected.
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(A K P)
Yet another vessel with much-needed oil supplies for Yemen illegally seized by Saudi blockade
The Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC) said the US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition has seized a new ship, carrying 23,960 tons of gasoline.
Issam al-Mutawakil, spokesman for the company, told The Yemeni news agency Saba that the ship named Tango had been prevented from reaching the port of Hodeidah, despite being inspected and obtaining UN entry permits. The ship was carrying diesel fuel for the electricity sector.
He explained out that the six ships laden with oil derivatives detained by the coalition forces including one loaded with gasoline and five ships loaded with 128,035 tons of gasoline and diesel.
(B K P)
Houthis accuse coalition of holding fuel imported for power stations
The Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, on Thursday accused the Saudi-led coalition of holding a vessel carrying 23.960 tons of mazut imported for power stations.
The vessel, called Tango, was inspected by the UN and granted a license to enter Yemen, the Yemen Petroleum Company which is controlled by the group said.
The coalition is now holding off the Saudi port of Jizan 6 vessels carrying 128.035 tons of fuel and preventing them from entering Hudaydah province, it said.
Recently, the company said the coalition has allowed only one fuel shipment into Yemen this year, meeting 6.5% of the local demand.
Three vessels left the Saudi port to other countries after they had been prevented for months from berthing in Hudaydah, it added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24797.html
and also https://english.almasirah.net/post/19110/YPC-Saudi-led-Aggression-Detains-New-Fuel-Ship
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(B H)
Film: Ramadan | Yemen Bread Factory | Muslim Hands
Our two Yemen bread factories are feeding thousands daily, but we want to open and feed more! Your Sadaqah and Zakat will reach those most in need, feeding the hungry every single day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJK_sUTq_FI
(B H)
Film by UNHCR: Yemen, Humaniti
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=298782191823047
(A H)
Film: With the support from Singaporeans, Americans and other donors, @hope_relief has distributed 400 food baskets for 400 families in Hajjah, Hodeidah and Ibb governorates.
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1388258341781131268
(A H)
Film: Sadness and anxiety loom over some families ... An example of malnutrition cases in Rima
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc1oTaWFUqc
(* B H)
Save the Children: Yemen: 15,000 children at immediate risk, critical child protection services under threat
“I saw my children screaming, crying and bleeding. I felt dizzy, I lost consciousness. Doctors were trying to help me. I did not know out of my children who was injured and who had been killed,” Ali*, father of Yasmeen* (pictured above)
Children in Yemen live in constant fear. Every day they risk being killed or injured in hostilities or by unexploded bombs.
The very places children should feel safe – schools, markets and hospitals – are being targeted. Many have lost loved ones or been separated from their families. Child rights violations are endemic as a result of the conflict. 1 in 4 civilian casualties are children and more than 13,000 grave violations against children have been reported since the escalation of the conflict in 2015.
CHILDREN UNDER EXTREME STRESS
The impact of the conflict on children’s mental health and wellbeing is profound. Based on a Save the Children survey of 1,250 children, parents and other caregivers conducted in 2020:
more than half of children said they struggle with feelings of sadness and depression
more than one in ten said they feel that way constantly
one in five children said they are always afraid and always grieving.
Prolonged exposure to extreme stress risks undermining the developmental potential of an entire generation of children and adolescents.
A CHANCE TO RECOVER?
However, if the right mental health and psychosocial support is provided, the long-term impact on children's emotional, behavioural, cognitive and physical development can be mitigated and they stand a chance to recover from their experiences.
Similarly, our case management services provide a critical mechanism through which children are able to access the critical child protection services they desperately need. In 2020 alone, we provided case management support to 316 survivors of grave violations.
SAVAGE FUNDING CUTS
Without an urgent increase in funding in the next two months, we're in real danger of having to close case management, mental health and psychosocial support, and child protection services in some of areas where the needs are greatest.
https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/blogs/2021/yemen-children-at-risk
(* B H)
How Yemen’s teachers are being forced into extreme poverty
With salaries cut by up to half, many teachers take on extra jobs outside their teaching hours, in efforts to make ends meet
Forty-six-year-old Sana* , wakes up early while fasting, to graze livestock. She is neither a shepherd nor a farmer. Sana has been a public school teacher in Dhamar, south of capital city Sana’a since 1996. She took on extra work with livestock in addition to teaching, so that she could provide for her family.
She told openDemocracy that her teaching salary was not even covering the cost of transportation or a meal.
The situation started deteriorating when the salaries of public employees, teachers included, were cut following the Huthi’s takeover of Sana’a in 2015 and the decision to move the government and central bank to the southern port city of Aden in September 2016.
This move led to a decrease in the currency exchange rate. Today one USD is worth 600 Yemeni Riyals of the northern currency used in the Huthi territories, compared to 250 previously. In addition to this, Sanaa’s government pays only half a salary to public sector workers whenever possible.
Juggling two jobs
Sana had to buy and raise animals to make ends meet. “A year ago, I thought to buy livestock and keep them at a neighbor’s place to take care of them, so that in the future we can share the profit equally. But time passed and the neighbors refused to take them, so I had to care for, clean and graze them myself. And their number gradually increased,” she explains.
“Breeding and grazing stock is not an easy task, but it is still much better than teaching since there are no salaries amid the present difficult financial situation. What helped me through this was need, patience and my love for animals,” she adds.
But she also needs to keep her teaching position since the government forces teachers to attend otherwise they would lose their jobs. She explained: “I keep attending so I don’t lose my job, just in case one day the situation is better and life gets back to normal”. Addressing the government she adds, “have mercy on us and pay us our salary to spare us this disarray”.
Sana is planning to sell her stock in the summer to earn money for her family.
Sana describes the situation this year as much more difficult than the previous one, “In the last couple of years, the situation was better during Ramadan, thanks to the UNICEF benefits we received. It helped us pay for Ramadan supplies and buy the Eid clothes… but this year, these aids were discontinued, which put us in an ordeal.”
Over the past couple of years, UNICEF paid monthly incentives to teachers and school workers in Yemen after providing 70 million USD for this purpose.
Teachers received 250 USD each during Ramadan last year. This helped many to buy their Ramadan supplies and pay off their debts after three years without full salaries.
Displacement
Salem* , also works in education, he used to be a teacher at Al Hudaydah University west of Sanaa. But unlike Sana, he decided to leave his job and move to the capital during Ramadan 2018, fleeing the war and the difficult living situation, in hope of finding a better job.
Salem was surprised, like many others who were also displaced, by the difficult living situation in Sana’a. “As a displacement area, the city is safe. But it is destructive on the psychological level due to the bad living situation,” he told openDemocracy.
Many workers are forced to work despite their salary cuts since 2015.
The 45-year-old academic explains, “When I left Al Hudaydah, I thought I would find a job in Sana’a and be at ease, but the salaries are cut. Even merchants who are still working and making profit are complaining about the situation, so what can we do?” – by Zahra Alqadasi
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/yemen-ramadan-teachers-poverty/
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Film: US Sen. Chris Murphy and UN Humanitarian Chief mark Lowcock on the Yemen Crisis
https://twitter.com/UNReliefChief/status/1387830494574915584 = https://www.pscp.tv/w/1rmGPzQObaQxN?t=6s
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https://twitter.com/yemenrrf/status/1387844266572099588
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@UNReliefChief says that they need more money to prevent tragedy in #Yemen. But by having Yemenis depend on agencies, it will create a vicious cycle of starvation and growing needs. Solution is to focus on real solutions through SDGs that will empower Yemenis= independency.
UN agencies will never catch up to the needs of this humanitarian crisis b/c it is the result of layered issues and it starts w/ instability + economy. Until this conflict ends via a viable solution (peace) & framework for stabilizing state institutions, no amount of $ can help.
https://twitter.com/ToEducate/status/1387810135775526919
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‘Do not surrender’: Disabled Yemenis forge a path amid war
Yemenis have not let their disabilities get in the way of starting their own projects to sustain themselves and their families.
Faisal has adapted to his disability. Not wanting to see himself as dependent on others, he decided to start his own project which would help provide for himself.
At the beginning of the war in Taiz, many shops were forced to close and many businesses went bankrupt. Faisal decided to buy one of the shops and started selling ice cream.
“I opened this ice cream shop in 2017. It was damaged and this street was almost empty back then,” Faisal recalled.
“I rehabilitated the shop and started my work - and succeeded against all odds.”
Later more shops reopened near Faisal's, as life started to return to the street - and revenues along with it.
“Because of the bad economic situation, there are not many opportunities to make money. But work is good and it is better than unemployment,” Faisal added.
Faisal started without any experience, but it ended up being a good choice as the same shop was selling ice cream before the war. He works in the shop with other employees who help him in making the ice cream.
Now he is happy with his newfound project, and advises other disabled people not to fall into despair but to try finding work that is a good fit for them.
“My advice to disabled people not to surrender to disability and stay at home, but to seek out work and they will find it,” he said.
“If you surrender to disability, you will stay in need of people forever. Those who stay without work, they destroy themselves. Allah [God] supports anyone who works.”
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/do-not-surrender-disabled-yemenis-forge-a-path-amid-war-46314
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Doctors Without Borders: Yemen: “What would happen to her if our hospital wasn’t there?”
Nurse Alison Criado-Perez recently returned from Yemen, where she joined a team treating pregnant mothers and children surviving the country’s brutal civil war.
When we arrived in Marib, we found the local hospitals overwhelmed by the sheer number of people and by an influx of war-wounded.
Around 2.7 million people are in the province now, many of them displaced from their homes elsewhere and looking for a safe haven.
People were living in makeshift shelters made of plastic and metal sheets. There were no latrines, just pits dug in the ground outside the tents.
People were very worried about their health, about the risk of disease, about not having enough food.
We were very concerned about the health of mothers and children, and pregnant women were a major concern too.
Over the next month, our small team worked around the clock to set up clinics providing basic healthcare and to supply hospitals that were struggling.
Getting medicines to this part of Yemen wasn’t easy. Supplies often had to cross frontlines. One of our trucks carrying antibiotics, medicines and other supplies was hijacked.
It was an incredibly difficult environment to work in.
Along with general healthcare, we provided routine vaccinations for children and offered antenatal and postnatal care.
We saw a lot of pregnant women and children and were able to refer pregnant women with complications to larger hospitals for emergency caesareans.
It made a real difference.
As the frontline approaches Marib city, we are concerned that people sheltering in the area may find themselves with no place else to go.
After six years of conflict, the situation is desperate. These people need our help now more than ever.
https://msf.org.uk/article/yemen-what-would-happen-her-if-our-hospital-wasnt-there
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Muslim Aid: We Are Yemen
Fundraiser by Juju Ghaz
https://www.muslimaid.org/fundraising/jujug/we-are-yemen/
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Another 100 food aid baskets were delivered today in the capital Sana'a to the most vulnerable families Our project which aims to target 2000 families in #Yemen was funded by @monareliefye's fundraising campaign in Patreon along with the support of Partners Relief and Development (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1387901849907470339
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UNFPA Yemen Response: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support - Quarterly update: January – March 2021
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Programmes in Yemen: Measuring the Difference They Make to People’s Lives
Since 2018, UNFPA continues to provide specialized clinical mental health care services in addition to the already existing community-based and nonspecialized mental health services being provided as part of UNFPA’s overall women’s protection programme in Yemen.
To understand the impact of these specialized services, in 2021, UNFPA introduced technical evaluation tools (psychometric tools, psychological scales and indexes) to measure change in terms of general well-being and severity of psychiatric symptoms in people referred and treated
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ICRC in Yemen Annual Activity Report 2020
The ICRC has been in Yemen since 1962 and has a permanent presence in several governorates. Since the outbreak of the armed conflict in Yemen in 2015, the ICRC has been assisting victims of armed conflict by providing relief, medical aid, and clean water. It also supports health centers, hospitals, the Local Water and Sanitation Corporations and places of detention, and other activities.
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-yemen-annual-activity-report-2020
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Film: Yemen- Acute Shortage in Gas Containers Exacerbates Citizens' Distress in Taiz Under the invincible siege imposed by Iran-backed Houthis in Taiz, families complain about the soaring prices of the gas containers, hitting a new price of 7500 Riyals (30 dollars) instead of 5300 (20 dollars) per container. Suppliers complain about a grave crisis in providing the people with gas containers given the shortage in supply that doesn't meet people's needs. This was exacerbated by Houthi militias' siege, in which they force trucks into taking certain roads that are mostly rugged, and accordingly, they need weeks until they reach the city.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJwgE1umhoI
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Motherhood On The Brink In Yemen
War, a humanitarian crisis, a looming famine, a health system close to collapse and the deepening impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a “catastrophic situation” in which a woman dies in childbirth every two hours in Yemen, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
Childbirth can be harrowing in even the best of times but the cascade of humanitarian crises in Yemen have made the journey to motherhood more dangerous than ever. The country’s long-running conflict has depleted the health system. Currently only half of all health facilities are functioning.
The pandemic has only aggravated the situation, with roughly 15 per cent of the health system shifted to deal with COVID-19 cases. Only 20 per cent of functioning health facilities are providing maternal and child health services.
Today, a woman in Yemen dies during childbirth every two hours, almost always from preventable causes. And now, the threat of famine looms.
“The situation is catastrophic,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem, during her recent three-day visit to the country.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women are especially vulnerable during times of food insecurity. Currently 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished, and these numbers could double if humanitarian funding does not materialize.
“When I came to receive antenatal care at Al Shaab Hospital, I was very weak and pale. I could not stand straight”, 33-year-old Hafsa told UNFPA during Dr. Kanem’s visit. “My nutritional status was very poor. I was given medicines to supplement my diet, and I was advised to eat meat, vegetables and fruits.”
Malnutrition puts both women in childbirth and newborn babies at serious risk.
Women’s and girls’ vulnerability to violence has greatly escalated under the country’s crisis.
UNFPA is supporting eight such shelters and 51 women’s and girls’ safe spaces. Last year, UNFPA provided more than half of all health facilities in Yemen with essential life-saving medicines and reached more than 1.2 million women and girls with reproductive health services.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2104/S00305/motherhood-on-the-brink-in-yemen.htm
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Yemen: Child Protection Area of Responsibility: Achievements in 2020
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support was provided to 452,853 people, including 298,402 children (150,396 boys; 148,006 girls) and 154,451 of the children caregivers (66,868 males; 87,583 females) in 20 governorates through a network of fixed and mobile child friendly spaces to help them overcome the immediate and limit long-term consequences of their exposure to violence.
Through the Critical Services activity, CP AoR supported the referral and provision of critical services to children in 21 governorates, including facilitating access to life-saving health services for the most vulnerable children. 16,463 children (6,557 girls; 9,906 boys) were received services. These services include victims’ assistance for (169 girls; 381 boys).
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-child-protection-area-responsibility-achievements-2020
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The Government of Japan and UNOPS Support Health Response in Yeme
The Government of Japan and UNOPS launched a project to provide urgent support to the health care system in Yemen. The new project will enhance the operational capacity and resilience of the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Aden in providing essential health services, including urgent response to the COVID-19 pandemic, through the supply of mobile clinics for the targeted southern governorates in Yemen: Aden, Lahj, Abyan, Shabwah, Hadramout, and Al Marah governorates. The project will contribute to the well-being of local communities, supporting approximately 50,000 people, of whom 47% are females.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/government-japan-and-unops-support-health-response-yemen
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Audio: Meine Hoffnung sind Menschen
Ein Mann aus dem Jemen geht durch die Straßen und sammelt Trümmer. Warum er diese Trümmer sammelt und was er damit vor hat, erfahren Sie von Autor Michael Becker.
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
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IOM Yemen Quarterly Migration Overview (January - March 2021)
In the first quarter of 2021, migrant arrivals into Yemen remained low compared to pre-pandemic years, despite some loosening of movement restrictions and border security. Some 5,113 migrants arrived in Yemen in the first quarter of this year, compared with 27,948 in the same period in 2020, and 37,109 in 2019. The few migrants, who have attempted to migrate irregularly to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) during the pandemic, have typically found themselves stranded at some point along the journey in the Horn of Africa or Yemen. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that more than 32,000 migrants are stranded across Yemen in dire conditions, with extremely limited-to-no access to essential services like shelter, food, water and health care.
Despite the closure of the Immigration Holding Facility in Sana’a, it is reported that forced transfers to southern governorates are continuing. Migrants are typically dropped near the control-line and then make their way over it and onto Aden where there are over 6,000 migrants stranded. IOM estimates that over 22,000 migrants have been forcibly transferred in this manner since November 2019.
As conditions for stranded migrants in Yemen have continued to deteriorate, migrants often feel that they have no options other than to put their lives back into the hands of smugglers to travel home to the Horn of Africa. Over 11,400 people have made this unsafe and, at times, deadly return journey across the Gulf of Aden since May 2020, according to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix. The boat journey between Yemen and Djibouti is short but dangerous, as sadly illustrated by a boat incident in March when smugglers forced migrants into the sea causing some to drown on their way to Yemen. For those returning, once they reach Djibouti, they must make the land journey through the scorching hot Djiboutian desert to the Ethiopian border, often walking a large portion of the way.
With movement restrictions in place globally and possible public health risks related to international travel, IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) Programme from Aden to Ethiopia was put on hold as of March 2020 when the last two flights took off. Working with the Government of Ethiopia, IOM was able to restart the Programme with a flight carrying 140 Ethiopian migrants safely from Aden to Addis Ababa on 16 March 2021. This flight was the first in an initial batch of 1,100 people.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-quarterly-migration-overview-january-march-2021
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IOM Yemen Quarterly Update - Quarter 1: January to March 2021
In the first quarter of the year, IOM estimates that 26,844 people were displaced across 13 governorates – similar to trends during this period in 2020, when 27,402 people were displaced. Civilian casualties resulting from conflict incidents in communities increased this quarter, and migrants continued to be under threat from not just the conflict, but also from increased detention, forced transfers and deteriorating living conditions. A fire at a migrant holding facility in Sana’a, which took the lives of more than 40 people , clearly illustrated the dangers for migrant across the country.
Authorities in several locations across the south and Ma’rib have instituted curfews and issued guidance as part of efforts to promote positive behaviour changes to help control the spread of the virus.
The conflict in Ma’rib escalated once again in February, this time mostly affecting internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sirwah district to the west of Ma’rib city. Since the offensive was launched, fighting has continued on a near daily basis, displacing 2,625 households (18,375 individuals). IOM estimates that, in total, close to 21,000 households have been displaced in Ma’rib city, Ma’rib Al Wadi and Sirwah since January 2020, between January 2020 and March 2021. Local authorities and humanitarian partners, who were already grappling with limited resources while responding to the needs of some 1 million IDPs across the governorate, are further struggling to meet both the existing and growing needs.
Security incidents such as these have continued to impact humanitarian access, however, the main constraints in Yemen continue to be related to bureaucratic impediments and interference in humanitarian activities. Restrictions on the movement of humanitarian organizations, personnel and goods within and into Yemen is still the most widely reported issue since 2019 – for IOM alone, only one approval to transport aid supplies from Sana’a to locations in need was received this quarter.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-quarterly-update-quarter-1-january-march-2021
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Dschibuti: Flüchtlinge jenseits von Europa nicht vergessen
Hier im Audio: Der Bischof von Dschibuti Giorgio Bertin zur Situation der Migranten und Flüchtlinge
„Das ist ein Phänomen, das trotz der schwierigen und sehr chaotischen Situation im Jemen anhält. In den 1990er Jahren bis 2011 gab es viele Migranten, Flüchtlinge, die vor allem aus Äthiopien, aber auch aus Somalia durch den Jemen kamen. Das Phänomen setzte sich fort, als der Bürgerkrieg im Jemen begann, was ein wenig überraschend ist. Ich denke, das liegt vor allem auf der äthiopischen Seite daran, dass die reale Situation im Jemen nicht bekannt ist: Die Menschen ,träumen‘ davon, über den Jemen nach Saudi-Arabien zu gelangen, trotz aller Risiken dort: dem Risiko, misshandelt und verkauft zu werden und dem Risiko, das Meer zu überqueren, insbesondere bei Bab al-Mandab.“
So erklärt der Franziskaner Giorgio Bertin im Interview mit Radio Vatikan, warum immer noch so viele Menschen über diese Route fliehen. Bertin ist seit 2001 Bischof von Dschibuti und Apostolischer Administrator von Mogadischu sowie Präsident der Caritas Dschibuti und Somalia.
„Die Schlepper beladen die Boote über deren Fassungsvermögen hinaus, so dass es oft zu Schiffbrüchen kommt und die Menschen gezwungen sind, ins Wasser zu springen. Erst vor kurzem sind ja wieder mehr als 30 Menschen ertrunken.
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Humanitarian and displacement situation in Al-Jawf governorate, Yemen
According to UN-OCHA statistics, Al-Jawf is also home to some 125,5000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Hajjah, Hudaydah, Sa’ada and Marib governorates. Displacement movement from Marib to Al- Jawf is ongoing following the recent escalation in violence. Some 53 families displaced from Marib at the beginning of April 2021 have arrived in Al-Ghayl district – Yam Mountain, most of them arriving with no belongings, citing increase in hostilities and intense airstrikes as the main reason for their flight.
DISPLACED POPULATION AND NEEDS
Continued fighting at the borders of Al-Hazem with Marib governorate and Khab Wa Al-Sha’af district is aggravating the humanitarian needs of the displaced population. The needs are mounting while the humanitarian response remains insufficient. Most of the displaced families are residing in isolated and deserted rural locations, far away from local communities, with little or no access to healthcare, education, and water and sanitation facilities.
Majority among the local population in Al-Jawf are nomads thus prefer to stay in rural areas that match their traditional nomadic living style. They often live in very remote and desertic places that keep them away from public services and complicate their assistance by humanitarian partners.
Some 53 newly displaced families from Marib, in Al-Ghayl district – Yam Mountain reported that they walk long distances for hours to fetch water.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/humanitarian-and-displacement-situation-al-jawf-governorate-yemen
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Flash Update: Escalation and Response in Marib Governorate - Issue #8 | 28 April 2021
Intense fighting continues across frontline areas in Marib Governorate, with hostilities particularly rife in Sirwah District. Large wave of displacement within the governorate since the start of the escalation in early February 2021 has led to the displacement of more than 18,000 people.
Marib Governorate already hosts an estimated one million Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in 125 IDP sites.
Sirwah District hosts around 30,000 displaced people in at least 14 displacement sites. Those newly displaced from Sirwah District have moved closer to Marib City. An additional 692 families were reportedly displaced from Marib to Sana’a City, Sana’a, Al Bayda and Amran Governorates between March and April 2021.
The newly displaced are some of the most vulnerable; with an estimated 70 percent being women. Urgent needs as reported by partners include additional food assistance, non-food items, clothing and protection of civilians still trapped between frontlines.
With continued fighting, more civilians are expected to continue to flee towards the eastern outskirts of Sirwah and into Marib City, where IDP sites are already crowded and response capacities are overstretched. Should hostilities move towards the city and surrounding areas, 385,000 people could be displaced to the suburbs of Marib City and to areas in Hadramout Governorate.
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Yemen: Displaced families weary as battle for Marib threatens to uproot them again
Four million Yemenis are now homeless, but many won't move again unless the fighting reaches their camps
Since 2014, the war in Yemen has seen more than four million people displaced from their homes. Hundreds of thousands have been killed. The violence has pushed Yemen – already one of the world's poorest countries – to the brink, and left its people in constant fear.
Prior to the conflict, Marib had a population of 20,000, according to the World Bank, but it has since become one of Yemen’s most densely populated governorates – hosting a quarter of Yemen’s four million internally displaced people, according to the UNHCR.
Saleh al-Haddad, a human rights activist in Marib, said that the situation of the displaced families in the province was becoming especially dire following the recent escalation. He confirmed that shells had fallen on or near to the IDP camps and that many IDPs had moved to new, safer camps.
“We deal with the displaced families as if we are one family, as all of us are Yemenis, and the people of Marib allowed the displaced families to set up camps in their lands," he explained.
Since the beginning of the year, the escalation in hostilities has led to the displacement of over 13,600 people (2,272 families) in Marib.
“In March alone, there were 40 civilian casualties, including 13 in makeshift settlements for displaced families. This is the highest number in a month since 2018 in Marib,” said the UNHCR.
Salah stated that his family suffered from lack of food and water, as their homes were of poor quality, but safety was the ultimate priority.
Ahmed Muhsen, another displaced man from the same region in Sanaa, said he had been a farmer in his village and was now jobless, moving with his family from one camp to another.
“Early this month, shelling fell in Al-Meel camp and some tents were destroyed. Some displaced people were injured and we were lucky that we were safe," Muhsen told MEE, referring to another IDP camp.
“I took my family and fled to Marib city and I got support to live in a hotel, together with my five family members.”
Muhsen said that only a few families had fled the camp, while the majority were still there, lacking any other options.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-marib-displaced-families-battle
(B H)
IOM Yemen | Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) - Reporting Period: 18 April To 24 April 2021
Since the beginning of 2021, DTM also identified 460 previously displaced households who left the displaced location and moved to either their place of origin or some other displaced location.
Between 18 April 2021 and 24 April 2021, IOM Yemen DTM tracked 101 households (606 individuals) displaced at least once. The highest number of displacements were seen in:
(* B H)
Yemen: UNHCR Operational Update, 16 - 22 April 2021
UNHCR remains deeply concerned about the safety of civilians as the conflict intensifies in Marib governorate. Since the beginning of this year, an escalation of hostilities in Marib has displaced more than 13,600 people (2,272 families), which now hosts one-quarter of Yemen’s four million internally displaced persons. Active fighting is impacting areas in and around Marib city, where large numbers of people already displaced by the ongoing conflict are sheltering.
In the first quarter of the year, at least 70 incidents of armed violence—including shelling, crossfire, and air strikes— resulted in numerous civilian injuries and deaths, according to UNHCR’s protection partners. Recent displacement is putting a heavy strain on public services and humanitarian partners during a period of increasingly restrictive funding. Most families are seeking refuge in underserved, overcrowded hosting sites in Marib city and surrounding areas, which lack basic services including electricity and access to water.
More than 1,100 refugees, asylum-seekers and Yemeni nationals were assisted through UNHCR-supported clinics in Aden governorate during the reporting period.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-operational-update-16-22-april-2021
(B H)
Displacement camps in Yemen's #Marib could be hit by floods this year, too. They have been established in areas where floods occur every year. Last year, scores of IDPs were killed and injured and their properties damaged and destroyed by floods from heavy rains in the province.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1387139318658043906
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(B K P)
Film: The Houthis are subjecting children to intense combat courses and jihadist ideology in specialized centers. They push children to extremism in the name of hostility to the American and Israeli people. watched Child recruited permit
https://twitter.com/abduhothifi/status/1388254392411959303
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Houthis Block 35 Humanitarian Initiatives, Arrest Dozens of Volunteers in Yemen
The Houthis in Yemen are repressing dozens of Ramadan-inspired charity campaigns while completely disregarding poverty and famine levels hitting unprecedented highs in areas run by the Iran-backed militias.
Youth and volunteer campaigns taking place in government-controlled parts of Yemen, the war-torn country’s poor.
Since the start of Ramadan in mid-April, Houthis have suspended 35 volunteer humanitarian initiatives that planned to help out thousands of poverty-stricken Yemenis living in areas run by the militias, Sanaa-based human rights sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
About two weeks ago, the Houthis deployed scouts in Sanaa neighborhoods and other cities they control to monitor youth initiatives that provide aid to some of the poorest families there, they said.
Militias arrested dozens of young men and women who were delivering aid to the destitute in Sanaa and its countryside and in the cities of Ibb, Dhamar, Hajjah, Taiz, Mahwit and Amran, sources added, noting that those apprehended were held in militia detention centers.
“Last Monday, Houthi gunmen prevented activists from distributing food to more than 100 needy families in separate neighborhoods in Sanaa,” a local volunteer, who was threatened by the militias, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the volunteer voiced his anger at Houthi efforts to block charities that are trying to “put a smile on the faces of the poor and needy and relieve some of their pain and deprivation.”
Moreover, the militias appropriated cash, food, blankets, clothes, sewing machines and rainproof tents that were bound for some of the country’s neediest families.
Sources reported that the seizure of the different forms of aid took place in large quantities, pointing out that the Houthis reroute the assistance to reach members involved in its war effort.
My remark: By a Saudi news site.
(A P)
Houthis ban Taraweeh Prayers, Yemeni gov't criticizes
The Yemeni ministry of religious guidance in the UN-recognized government has deplored the Houthis for banning Taraweeh (Night) Prayers at mosques in Sana'a City and other provinces under the group's control.
The move harms principles of religion and coexistence, the ministry said in a statement, calling on the Azhar Mosque, Islamic Organization and human rights groups to condemn Houthi practices against mosques.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24819.html
My remark: A prayer by Sunni Muslims, prayed in Ramadan after the Night Prayer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarawih .
and
(A P)
Film: The Quranic march of its owner, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, expels people from mosques and prevents them from praying Taraweeh, considering it heresy.
https://twitter.com/KamelAlkhodani/status/1387799099643252746
(A P)
Film: Save the children of Yemen. Dhamar: The Houthi media announced Thursday April29,2021 the killing of7children while participating fighting in Marib
https://twitter.com/abduhothifi/status/1387946282464026627
(A P)
Houthis loot citizens’ money under execute of “Khums levy”
The Houthi militias have been extorting traders and businessmen in areas under their control through imposing illegal levies and royalties.
Traders and businessmen in Houthi-controlled areas always complain that they are subjected to blackmail and looting by the Houthi-appointed “observers”.
Merchants in Sana’a complain that Houthi observers are illegally looting their money under the excuse of “military efforts” and “khums levy” (literally meaning the payment of “one-fifth”, or 20 percent to the Houthis).
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46546
(A P)
Houthis reject prosecutor's order to release Hammadi
The Iran-backed Houthis dismissed a prosecutor who ordered the release of the abducted Yemeni model Entesar Al-Hammadi as they intimidated her lawyer to quit the case.
Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal said the Houthi judicial authorities on Wednesday replaced Riyadh Al-Aryani, a prosecutor who questioned the model and found out she was not guilty of a crime and ordered her release, and threatened to put her on trial.
“They want to tell him that he should say she committed a crime instead of ordering her release,” Al-Kamal said, adding that an unidentified man stopped him in the street and threatened to punish him if he continued to defend the model.
“I alerted my colleagues at Yemen Lawyers Union about the death threat. My client is not a criminal and was arrested on the street,” he said.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32830
and also https://www.arabnews.jp/en/middle-east/article_45021/
(A P)
Houthis call Islah to consider developments correct past errors
The Houthi group on Wednesday called on the Islah Party to correct past mistakes and to look at new developments realistically.
"To brethren in the Islah Party: retire with yourselves, remove the cover you're putting on your eyes even for a moment, and look around realistically. Then, you'll discover the sin of making your existence restricted to annihilating us at any cost," member of Houthi politburo tweeted.
"It's not only the Emirates and Saudi Arabia who change their alliances in order to get out of their crises, but Turkey too" does so, Mohamed al-Bokhaiti added.
The Tuesday remarks by the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohamed Bin Salman (MBS), did not surprise the Houthis, since "we've always been certain that the future bears many changes and developments.
"The Islah Party still has the chance to correct its position. But if they don't seize it, its leaders will regret, as the general amnesty decision is still valid for its [Islah] members to return," the Houthi official warned.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24788.html
(A P)
Houthis storm into mosque in Sana’a, prevent worshipers from performing prayers
Local sources said that that the Houthis occupied the mosque and turned it into a place for practicing their own rituals.
The sources mentioned that the Houthis chanted their slogans inside the mosque and insulted the worshippers.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46533
(B K P)
The Storage of Weapons in Residential Areas is a Violation of Legal Norms and Holds the Perpetrators Criminal Responsibility: SAM
SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties said that the storage of weapons and ammunition by the Houthi militia in populated areas is extremely dangerous to the lives of civilians in the event that such munitions explode, stressing that the perpetrators of such violations bear international criminal responsibility for the danger and threat that may occur to civilians and residential buildings.
The organization’s statement followed up on the news of the massive explosion in Sana’a, the capital city, at dawn Monday, amidst reports and statements that the explosion was caused by the Arab coalition’s targeting of a Houthi weapons warehouse, or an attempt to launch a ballistic missile, causing it to explode during its launch.
The organization emphasizes that the norms of international law, in particular the Geneva and Hague Rules, emphasize the importance of protecting civilians from the threat of weapons and the need to store them in areas far from civilian communities and population buildings, and referring to the consequences of the explosion and the damage caused by it required international and international actors to investigate the consequences of the explosion and bring those responsible to a fair trial for material and moral harm to civilians.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/27840
(A E P)
Yemen: Houthi authorities seize Yemen Digital Media offices and deny journalists access
Houthi forces, the de facto government in Sana, sealed the offices of Yemen Digital Media, a private media services provider on 25 April, preventing journalists and staff from entering.
According to YJS, Houthi forces sealed the offices of the company on Sunday 25 April and appointed a legal guardian to manage the relations with its customers. It also appointed new security guards after preventing employees from entering the offices. Yemen Digital Media is one of the biggest media services companies in Yemen. It employs 35 staff including 15 journalists and it provides media services to major international networks including BBC Arabic, Aljazeera, Russia Today, Al Hurra and many others from its offices covering the country.
The closure came a day after a court is Sana charged Taha Almamary, a Yemeni journalist and the executive director of the company, of crimes against state security and espionage. The YJS said that the charges brought against Almamary are baseless and the court proceedings are a mockery of the law, since it all happened in secret without informing him, the company or any relevant party.
Almamary, who has been living outside Yemen since 2015, said the charges against him do not make any sense and that those behind this operation are only interested in confiscating the company to run it or shut it down so they become the only media service providers in Sana through the companies they own and control.
(A P)
Yemeni Speaker of Parliament calls for international solidarity with Palestine
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Fury protestors intercept Yemeni PM convoy in Hadhramout
A number of young men stopped PM Maeen Abdulmalek and Hadhramout governor, Faraj al-Bohsoni, while travelling along with their cavalcade in Mukalla, local sources and eyewitnesses said.
The protestors threw stones at the two officials' car and beat its windows to express anger at deteriorated services in the governorate, the sources added.
Local official blamed the Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) for the "pushing its elements to commit this assault."
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24821.html
(* B P)
Ex-detainee recalls cruel violations at Emirati secret jails in Yemen
Brutal practices and human rights abuses are committed at secret prisons run by Emirati troops in Yemen, says former detainee who spent 20 months inside one of these jails.
Salem al-Robaizi told Al-Jazeera.net that he was cruelly tortured at query sessions to fabricate a story convicting him in charges of reporting to foreign countries.
"I was arrested on 10 June 2019," he added. "I was first jailed in the Balhaf facility-based prisoner in Shabwa, before being moved to Ryan airport-based jail in Hadhramout and then to the Dhaba oil port-based jail in the same governorate.
"I was subjected to different types of torture, including electrical shocks, and beaten with bats and electric wires until I passed out many times."
In Balhaf jail, he was tortured by "Emirati soldiers led by an officer called Abu Saif al-Emirati. Torture continued throughout 3 months of detention and probe inside the facility."
A resident of Shabwa and a member of the Southern Revolutionary Movement Council's politburo, Robaizi said eight detainees were with him in the same cell, but sometimes he was moved to solitary compartment.
Among other torture methods, a prisoner is "unclothed, tied up, hanged from his arms or legs for hours, insulted, beaten on face, sunk in a basin, and deprived from sleeping and going to WC."
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24820.html
(A K P)
Three killed and a dozen injured in clashes in Yemen's oil-rich Shabwa province
Clashes erupt after pro government troops guarding an oil company kill a tribesman
Two soldiers and a civilian were killed in clashes between armed tribesmen and pro-government forces in south-eastern Shabwa province, local dignitaries told The National on Thursday.
Fighting broke out when a guard from an oil production company shot and killed one of dozens of local Balharith tribe members who were protesting to demand their unpaid wages, said Mohammed Al Bereiki, a retired army colonel.
"The tribesmen then attacked outposts controlled by pro-government troops loyal to the Al Islah party [Muslim brotherhood in Yemen] who guard the Jannah Hunt oil company operating in Wadi Jannah in Asilan district of north-west Shabwa,” Mr Al Bereiki said.
The tribesmen killed two pro-government armed men late on Wednesday and injured a dozen. They also took control of posts near the company headquarters, he said.
Islah-linked pro-government forces called for reinforcements on Thursday from the neighbouring province of Marib to restore their control over the company.
The fighting was underpinned by tensions between pro-government forces, which took control of the province after expelling the government Elite Forces in August 2019, and the tribes in the oil-rich province.
(A P)
Al-Jaadi: Aden, liberated areas subjected to immoral war
The living conditions in the capital city of Aden and the liberated governorates are no longer bearable, the member of the presidency of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), Fadl Al-Jaadi said.
Al-Jaadi explained in a tweet that "People can not live without access to basic services and without getting paid."
The "deep state" is waging an immoral war on the South, Al-Jaadi indicated in his tweet, calling the Arab Coalition Forces' Command to play its role in ending this war and contribute to the improvement of the situation in order to avoid a confrontation with the people.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32826
(A P)
Yemen to resume flights through Riyan Airport in Mukalla
The internationally recognised government of Yemen said on Wednesday flights from and to Riyan International Airport in Mukalla, the capital city of Hadhramout province, will resume as of 7th May.
The first flight will be to Jeddah Airport in Saudi Arabia
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24770.html
My remark: This already should have happened several weeks ago.
(A H)
Floods hit the interim capital #Aden on Wednesday as monsoon rains have started in #Yemen. Locals said on social media the city is sinking. Last year, scores of people were killed, including IDPs in Marib province, and many properties destroyed in floods across the country.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1387342127961608192
and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/04/29/heavy-rains-cause-parts-of-aden-to-flood/
(A P)
Demonstrators deplore deterioration of essential services in Aden
Scores of Yemenis took into streets in the southern port city of Aden on Tuesday to protest the deterioration of essential services in Aden.
Local sources said that demonstrators raised banners, slamming the deterioration of living conditions and rising prices.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-46513
(* A K P)
After UAE and Israel, Saudis are also looking to build illegal bases on Socotra
Saudi Arabia has conducted studies to establish a military base on the Yemeni island of Socotra.
This was reported by Yemen Press Agency, based on local sources.
According to local sources, the Saudi military delegation, which visited Socotra a few days ago with foreign experts, worked to identify a number of sites to build a Saudi military base similar to the UAE and Israeli military bases that have already been deployed in the Socotra archipelago.
The Saudi delegation, which left the island on Monday, completed the necessary studies to begin building the base that Riyadh is seeking, in order to build on Yemen’s most important islands, the sources said, adding that British experts have adopted the establishment of the military base.
(A P)
STC says rejects leaked presidential decision firing Commander of Special Forces
The Spokesperson for the Council Ali Al-Kathiri accused the Presidency of the Republic of leaking the decision, affirming the decision has been unilaterally made and is rejected altogether.
Unilateral decisions are blowing up the spirit and content of the Riyadh agreement and are evidence that the Yemeni Legitimate Government hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood is targeting the southern cause and people, he said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24748.html
(A E P)
Giant oil carrier docks in Saudi-occupied Hadhramaut
A giant oil carrier named APOLYTARES has docked on Saturday at the oil port of Daba in Hadhramaut, pro-coalition media reported, citing sources.
The sources confirmed that the reason for its anchoring is to fill more than 2 million barrels of Hadhramauti oil, indicating its capacity and the size of its cargo.
The shipment is reported to be worth $124,800,000, the sources said.
In a related context, activists on social media from Hadhramaut sparked a debate about where crude oil revenues go.
The hundreds of millions of dollars earned by Hadi’s exiled government stand in shrill contrast to the rampant food insecurity, collapse of the currency due to the high exchange rate and the total interruption of services in most of the occupied southern cities.
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/04/27/giant-oil-carrier-docks-in-saudi-occupied-hadhramaut/
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(A P)
Saudi calls for negotiation depend on practical measures, Houthis
The Houthi group said on Thursday the call by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for it to sit at the negotiation table depends on practical measures, including lifting the Saudi-led blockade on Yemen and prioritising humanitarian needs of its people.
Such measures will be welcome and prove real intentions of peace in Yemen, the group's spokesperson and chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-24795.html
(A P)
US envoy meets Saudi crown prince in fresh Yemen peace push
US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking met Saudi Arabia’s crown prince as he pushes efforts to end Yemen’s civil war.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the diplomat discussed the latest Yemeni developments and reviewed the joint efforts exerted by both countries to reach a comprehensive political solution for the Yemeni crisis.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1851331/middle-east
https://twitter.com/KSAmofaEN/status/1388118569129586688
(A P)
Gespräche in Oman: Zarif fordert Aufhebung der Jemen-Blockade
Der iranische Außenminister Mohammad Javad Zarif ist am Mittwoch in der omanischen Hauptstadt Maskat mit dem Sprecher der jemenitischen Ansarullah-Bewegung und dem Verhändler der nationalen Einheitsregierung Mohammed Abdul Salam zusammengetroffen.
Zarif drückte bei diesem Treffen sein Bedauern über die Lage im Jemen wegen des sechsjährigen Krieges in diesem Land aus und forderte das Ende des Krieges sowie die Aufhebung der Blockade gegen das Land.
Der iranische Außenminister sprach sich erneut für eine politische Lösung der Jemen-Krise als einzig vernünftigee Lösung aus und betonte die Unterstützung Irans für den Waffenstillstand in diesem Land sowie für die Aufnahme von Gesprächen zwischen den jemenitischen Gruppen.
Abdul Salam dankte Iran wegen seiner Unterstützung für die Jemeniten und informierte Zarif über die jüngsten Entwicklungen im Land.
(A P)
Iran's Zarif backs Yemen ceasefire in talks with rebel leader
Iran's foreign minister met the Yemeni rebel spokesman in Oman on Wednesday, reiterating Tehran's support for a ceasefire and a return to talks to end the country's long conflict.
Mohammad Javad Zarif's comments came a day after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose country leads a military coalition supporting the Yemeni government, called on the Huthis to stop fighting and enter peace negotiations.
At the talks with Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam, Zarif "once again stressed our country's view regarding the political solution being the only solution to the crisis of Yemen", the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The foreign minister "emphasised our country's support for a ceasefire and Yemeni-Yemeni talks", it added.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210428-iran-s-zarif-backs-yemen-ceasefire-in-talks-with-rebel-leader = https://www.rfi.fr/en/middle-east/20210428-iran-s-zarif-backs-yemen-ceasefire-in-talks-with-rebel-leader
and
(A P)
Iran’s Zarif calls for end of Yemen siege in meeting with chief Ansarullah negotiator
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has expressed regret over the conditions facing Yemen as a result of the six-year war imposed on the country, calling for an end to the Saudi-led military aggression and the lifting of the siege on the impoverished nation.
Zarif made the remarks in a meeting with Chief negotiator for Yemen's popular Ansarullah movement Mohammed Abdul-Salam in the Omani capital of Muscat on Wednesday.
He reaffirmed Iran’s support for a political solution as the only way out of the ongoing conflict in Yemen, a ceasefire and intra-Yemeni talks.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/04/28/651519/Iran-calls-for-ceasefire-end-of-Yemen-siege-
(* B P)
Watchdogs of Pause: The Challenges of Ceasefire Monitoring in Yemen
In her new article in International Peacekeeping, Senior Researcher Júlia Palik addresses the challenges of ceasefire monitoring in Yemen. "Watchdogs of Pause: The Challenges of Ceasefire Monitoring in Yemen" highlights key factors that made it difficult for the United Nations Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) to live up to its mandate. The findings from this Yemeni case study are relevant for other monitoring missions that are deployed in contexts of ongoing violence.
In 2018, the Government of Yemen and the Houthis concluded the UN-mediated Stockholm Agreement, in which they agreed on a ceasefire in Hodeidah to be overseen by a UN monitoring mission. However, as of 2020, the implementation of the ceasefire is stalled, and the humanitarian situation has not improved. In the article, Palik identifies four factors that have hampered the monitors' ability to carry out their mandate: the quality of the Stockholm Agreement, the relationship between UNMHA and the UN Special Envoy, changes in the operational environment, and the conflict parties' commitment to the ceasefire.
The article is based on a review of all UN documents related to Yemen between December 2018 and September 2020 and interviews conducted with members of UNMHA and local Yemenis. Palik found that the Stockholm Agreement resulted from external pressure, was rushed, and had a weak design, which made it subject to competing interpretations by the conflicting parties. Secondly, UNMHA and the UN Special Envoy were accused of being biased, which weakened their credibility and led to the deterioration of trust between the two conflicting parties. Thirdly, UNMHA was stationed exclusively in Houthi-controlled areas but military and political developments elsewhere in the country challenged the ceasefire implementation. Lastly, the parties' commitment to implement the ceasefire was weak, if not entirely absent. In sum, these factors made it virtually impossible for the UNMHA to fulfil its mandate.
https://www.prio.org/News/Item/?x=2701
Article in full: https://mideast.prio.org/Publications/Publication/?x=85
(A P)
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen concludes his visit to Egypt
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, concluded yesterday, 26 April, a two-day visit to Egypt, during which he met with the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukry, the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmad Abu Al Gheit, as well as a number of representatives of Yemeni political parties, tribal sheikhs, women, civil society and journalists. Mr. Griffiths also virtually met with Yemeni Speaker of Parliament Sultan Barakani
In his meeting with [pro-Hadi gov.] Yemeni Speaker of Parliament, Sultan Barakani, Mr. Griffiths updated him on his recent engagements and stressed the urgency for the parties to agree on a ceasefire and confidence-building measures.
In a series of meetings with representatives of Yemeni civil society, women, political parties and journalists, Mr. Griffiths expressed the need for the attack on Ma’rib to stop. He warned of the dire humanitarian consequences of the continued attack, and the risks to the prospects of the peace process. They also exchanged ideas and discussed initiatives related to the meaningful participation of different Yemeni constituencies in efforts to achieve a sustainable peace in Yemen that meets the aspirations of the Yemeni people.
“The parties must prioritise the needs of the Yemeni people, stop fighting and engage seriously with the UN’s efforts," Mr. Griffiths said. “I will continue to pursue my good offices with the support of regional and international stakeholders to stop military hostilities, alleviate humanitarian suffering and find a peaceful and sustainable settlement to end the conflict in Yemen.
https://osesgy.unmissions.org/un-special-envoy-yemen-concludes-his-visit-egypt-0
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp8 – cp19
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-738b-yemen-war-mosaic-738b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-737-yemen-war-mosaic-737
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-737 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-737:
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:
