Yemeni Civil War: Conflict Between Allies And The World’s ‘Worst Humanitarian Crisis’

Fighting between Separatists and Pro-Government forces underwent a cease-fire in the southern city of Aden when representatives from Yemen’s allies, Saudi-Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), met to diffuse the conflict. The Yemeni government in exile has been operating in Aden since the Houthis, a Shiite-linked militant group backed by Iran, seized the capital of Sana’a in 2015.  The separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), is composed of former militants of the Yemeni military who want to see the independent state of South Yemen restored, reverting back to the geographical borders prior to the unification of North and South in 1990. The STC is backed by the UAE in an effort to fight the Houthis and Islamic extremists. The UAE’s support for the re-separation may also be due to their economic interest in securing Aden as a lucrative allied port city. However, President Hadi’s internationally recognized government and Saudi-Arabia are determined to keep Yemen unified with the end of their three-year-long civil war. Many in the southern city were hoping that the presence of the government would bring some relief to the civilians in need there, but poor governmental management and  deadlock for humanitarian aid has caused civil unrest. According to The Washington Post, “more than three dozen people died in last week’s clashes, adding to the war’s death toll of more than 10,000, mostly civilians killed by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes.”

As one of the poorest countries in the world, Yemen is currently facing wide-spread famine, illness, and mortality. According to BBC News, The United Nations has dubbed the current conflict in Yemen as “the worst man-made humanitarian crisis of our time.” 22.4 million people, three-quarters of the population, are in need of assistance. From the forced labor of child soldiers to outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria, both sides have contributed to the dire condition of its civilians. Additionally, The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that over 16 million people do not have access to clean water and proper sanitation, and 60 percent of Yemenis are food insecure. WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the World Food Programme have jointly encouraged the maintenance of commercial import of fuel and food, as well as improved humanitarian access to port and in-land cities in an effort to ease the war-driven suffering.

The civil war in Yemen is one component of the Saudi-Iranian proxy war in the Middle East, also involving the countries of in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. In each country, Saudi-Arabia backs either the government or rebellion supported by Sunni Muslims, while Iran supports that of Shia Muslims. While the two religious sects have a long history of being capable of coexisting peacefully, the proxy wars are driven by the dehumanization of, and heightened disdain for, one another. Even so, rifts have been forming between the Pro-Government forces of Saudi-Arabia and the UAE, which could become a serious weakness in the already struggling Yemeni military campaign. For Yemenis, the civil war is a humanitarian crisis that has crushed the lives of innocent civilians and families in each corner of the country, and there is no clear end in sight. With powerful governments sending funds and weapons to each side of the fight, including with the United States’ baking of Saudi-Arabia, the cost of civilian lives continues to climb as humanitarian agencies struggle to infiltrate the crumbling cities through the coalition-led blockade.

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