The Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located in the Middle East and is one of the poorest Arab countries. Today Yemen is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world with more than 24 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
Major Crisis
Conflicts and wars have taken a toll on the country, leaving its citizens in danger everyday. With the horrific bombings happening all over the country, many families are left without homes and go days without any sources of water or food. Problem after problem occur everyday and people of all ages suffer greatly. Children are just as involved as the adults are and continue to die in the midst of the conflict. It seems that there is no safe haven for these people to escape too. Bombings commonly occur at cities that are safe and out of danger, leaving all citizens fearful for the next attack.
Families find themselves in the middle of the war and unfortunately cannot do anything about it. Women and children are especially vulnerable to the incoming air raids. Guns, bombs, raids, missiles, and more are a few of the many weapons that these people see everyday. Although this war has been going on for a few years now, people are still scared of the sounds that these weapons make because they know all too well about the deadly aftermath that follows.
Supplies such as food, water, clothes are very scarce to find. Malnutrition is very common, mostly in children. These kids have not experienced a regular childhood and on the verge of dying because of the limited amount of food they have. You can see their bones and their rib cages sticking out of their tiny little bodies on the hospital bed. Children should not have to worry about where to get their next meal or finding shelter away from the conflict.
Especially during COVID-19, masks and gloves are rare to see and this virus has acted like another bomb, spreading around finding the next set of people to kill. Health services are very limited and most doctors working at the hospital do not receive any salaries. There are not enough medical supplies for everyone and administrators have to kick people out unless their injury is severe.
Families are always living in fear because they do not know what the dangers of tomorrow brings. They could lose their house to a fire or have a loved one die in their arms. They have lost too much already and do not deserve to live this kind of life.
How did the War start?
Conflicts in Yemen have been going on for about several decades but the real harm had started in 2012 when the failure of a political transition arose. This transition occurred during the Arab spring uprising when it forced its longtime president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to hand over power to his chair, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
President Hadi had struggled to maintain a variety of problems including attacks by different countries, a separatist movement, and dealing with security forces who remained loyal to Saleh. The country was also failing in its economy and unemployment rates rose higher during this time. Food insecurity was one of the major issues still occurring today with many children growing to their fullest potential and not receiving the right amount of nutrition everyday.
The Houthi movement had escalated when the Sauid-led coalition got involved after the rebel group overthrew the Hadi government in 2015, forcing the new president to flee abroad. These rebels were fiercely loyal to former president Saleh and the Saudi had backed up Hadi causing large amounts of tension between these two groups. Iran had later aligned with the Houthi becoming their main international backer. Saudi Arabia sees the Houthi as an Iranian proxy due to the past between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which is more of a reason to further advance conflict in Yemen. The U.S., Canada, and UK are official allies of Saudi Arabia and supply their military with weapons and supplies.
Biden’s Involvement
The U.S. has backed up its ally, Saudi Arabia, for about six years now, ever since the war had started. President Joe Biden, America’s newest president had been elected during the 2020 election and was inaugurated into office January 20, 2021. Since arriving at the White House, he has already signed off on rights and acts and has reinforced old rules. One of the acts Biden had signed off on was to end support for operations in Yemen.
This means that the U.S. will stop supporting its offensive operations, including the sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This marks a significant change from Trump’s administration, where his policies were quite the opposite and had increased the support of the Saudi-led coalition. Biden has pulled all U.S. forces out of the country in hopes of protecting the men and women serving out there.
This war between the Houthi and Saudi Arabia must end now. Yemen is facing a state of emergency with more than 80% of its population needing humanitarian assistance. If this war does not stop, the country of Yemen might erase from existence.
Works Cited
Stephanie Perez, Managing Editor-Outreach. “EXPLAINER: The Crisis in Yemen.” UHCL The Signal, 19 July 2020,
https://www.uhclthesignal.com/wordpress/2020/07/19/explainer-the-crisis-in-yemen/
“World Report 2020: Rights Trends in Yemen.” Human Rights Watch, 14 Jan. 2020, www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/yemen#.
“Yemen Crisis.” UNICEF, 1 Mar. 2021, https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/yemen-crisis
“Yemen War: Joe Biden Ends Support for Operations in Foreign Policy Reset.” BBC News, BBC, 5 Feb. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55941588.
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