Yemen: Saudi-led coalition promises to ease blockade
November 22, 2017
The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen has pledged to reopen the country's main airport, as well as two main ports. The blockade was imposed earlier this month in response to a missile fired at Riyadh.
Image: Reuters/N. Rahma
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Yemen's largest airport in the capital of Sanaa will reopen to UN aircraft, while the Red Sea port of Hodeida will be able to once again receive urgent humanitarian aid, the Saudi-led coalition said on Wednesday.
In a statement, coalition officials said that it would reopen the ports and airport to receive "urgent humanitarian and relief materials" starting midday on Thursday (0900 UTC).
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman at the United Nations, also indicated that the blockade on Yemen's other major port, Salef, would also be lifted.
UN officials welcomed the move, albeit cautiously, as it was not clear whether humanitarian missions into Yemen would be allowed to return to pre-blockade levels. The reintroduction of commercial traffic to Yemen's ports was also uncertain.
"We're monitoring these developments," Haq told reporters in New York. "If that were to happen that would be a very welcome and critically important development. We made clear the tremendous amount of needs on the ground."
Blockade on Yemen could lead to 'largest famine in decades'
The UN warned that millions of people in Yemen were at immediate risk by the blockade on food aid and fuel. Some 7 million people are estimated to rely on food aid and 4 million on fuel needed for pumping clean water.
"Humanitarian relief only provides a small portion of the essential goods needed in Yemen — commercial supplies are critical to feed the population and keep basic services running," it said.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
Yemen has struggled to cope with crises prompted by its atrocious civil war, including catastrophic hunger and devastating cholera outbreaks. DW examines the conflict and how it affects the country's civilian population.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
War: The 'root cause' of Yemen's disasters
The UN has identified conflict as the "root cause" of Yemen's crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war erupted in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the capital, Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a deadly campaign against the rebels, one that has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its high civilian death toll.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Fighting keeps food from the famished
The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in more than two-thirds of the country's 28 million people being classified as "food insecure." Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or nursing women are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Displacement: Converging crises
More than 3 million people have been displaced by conflict, including marginalized communities such as the "Muhammasheen," a minority tribe that originally migrated from Africa. Despite the civil war, many flee conflict in Somalia and head to Yemen, marking the convergence of two major migration crises in the Middle East nation. Yemen hosts around 250,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Cholera: A deadly epidemic
The number of suspected cholera cases has exceeded more than 2 million and least 3,700 people have died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen since October 2019, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
Unsuspecting victims of the'war on terror'
In Yemen, violence goes beyond civil conflict: It is considered a strategic front in the war on terrorism. The country serves as the operational base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, dubbed the "most dangerous" terrorist group before the rise of the "Islamic State." The US routinely uses drones to target al-Qaida leadership. However, civilians have often been killed in the operations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Arhab
Children's fate: Future marred by tragedy
In a country paralyzed by conflict, children are one of the most at-risk groups in Yemen. More than 12 million children require humanitarian aid, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency. The country's education system is "on the brink of collapse," while children are dying of "preventable causes like malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections," according to the agency.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Peace: An elusive future
Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. A peace deal, however, remains elusive.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
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Widespread suffering
The Saudi-led coalition imposed the blockade on Yemen in response to a missile assault targeting the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The missile was shot down, but it was the farthest a projectile fired by Yemen's Shiite rebels, also known as the Houthis, had travelled into the kingdom.
In response, the coalition ordered all ships to leave the ports at Hodeida and Salef. The two ports have served as the only lifeline for northern Yemen, where most of the country's 27 million people live.
Saudi Arabia said the move was intended to stop the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran, although Iran has denied supplying weapons to the rebel forces.
The Saudi-led coalition has laid siege to Yemen since Houthi rebels seized parts of the country in 2015. The rebels' capture of the capital Sanaa forced Saudi-allied President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee.
Almost 9,000 people have since been killed, but millions face the risk of a deadly cholera epidemic and stand on the brink of famine.
