Today, as Yemen lies on the brink of civil war, over 634 civilians have been killed, tens of thousands injured and over 100,000 displaced in just the past 3 weeks of fighting. In a nation where political strife and violence intensify daily, the civilians of Yemen are bearing the brunt of this conflict. The fractured nation has become a humanitarian disaster with egregious defiance of international laws of war on all sides of the conflicts and a death toll that rises daily.
The recent UN Security Council Resolution, imposing an arms embargo on Yemen’s Houthi rebels and calling for their withdraw from captured areas, fails to address the core issue at hand: the grave humanitarian impact of this conflict and the violence being committed by all sides involved in it. Although the resolution recognizes a need for action in Yemen, it is sadly more indicative of the regional and international power politics at play in the conflict and pays little attention to the need to protect noncombatants.
Although Yemen is no stranger to conflict, this most recent round began in September 2014 when the Houthi rebels captured Yemen’s capital, Sana’a. The Houthi rebels, a militant opposition group with speculated support from Iran, have for several years been a source of government concern, but confined to the North. However, upon the seizing of Sana’a, the rebels demonstrated their growing power and forced the incumbent government to relocate all institutions and offices to Aden, and for President Hadi to flee to Riyadh. In recent weeks, however, Houthi rebels, already in control of much the northwestern region, have made even greater territorial gains in their march towards Aden and are proving an insurmountable force. The advancements of the Houthi rebels on Aden are threatening to the government and have resulted in grave levels of violence along the way.
At the same time, government forces are battling against the rapid expansion of terrorist organizations, most prominently Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Southern Yemen. Compounding this threat is the presence of ISIL, who may seize the opportunity of a fractured state to gain a stronger foothold in the country.
The southern advancement of Houthi rebels towards Aden, and the rapid expansion of Al Qaeda, triggered the creation of an international task force, led by Saudi Arabia to support government troops. Thus far, the military coalition, which includes Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Jordan, Egypt and Sudan and with support from the US, UK, France, Turkey, Morocco and Belgium, has launched daily strikes on Houthi controlled territories.
The widespread violence in Yemen today, however cannot be attributed to a single side; all major parties involved are culpable and act in defiance of international laws of war, which make specific stipulations for the protection of civilians and the minimization of civilian casualties.
Most fighting is over territorial gains and areas of high population densities are often fiercely contested, and as a result of Houthi and government fighting on the ground and the coalition’s strikes from above, civilians have been caught in the crossfire. In Taizz and al-Turbba on March 23rd, Houthi rebels opened fire on protestors protesting the use of their towns as Houthi bases in the march southwards. According to the UN Human Rights office, three hospitals in the city of Al Dhale were attacked by both Houthi rebels and the government Army, resulting in great destruction and high casualties. Essentially, the lives of noncombatants in towns and villages in these territories have become insignificant and forgotten in the power vacuum.
The Saudi airstrikes have also resulted in an unnecessarily grave impact on civilians. On March 31st, air strikes on an armed convoy at al-Mazraq Refugee Camp left over 30 people dead and wounded 200. The Camp was established in 2009 to house families displaced in previous factional fighting. The following day, Saudi-led airstrikes hit a dairy factory in Hodaida, killing 23 civilians. These Saudi strikes are merely adding fuel to a fire that has already resulted in the deaths of hundreds. In a recent statement, UN Human Rights Chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, warned of full-scale collapse in Yemen and deplored the violence, stating, “The killing of so many innocent civilians is simply unacceptable”.
After the battle for Sana’a, its streets were left littered with bodies and its hospitals overflowing with casualties. This scene is being fast replicated across the country. In a nation where the number of hospital beds is already drastically low (0.7 per 1000, as compared to the global average of 3), hospitals are paralyzed in action and struggling to cope, raising concerns for high preventable fatality rates. The fighting has also limited movement in many cities, making access to medical facilities difficult.
Since the launch of the Saudi-led military intervention, UNICEF estimates that 44 children have been killed and 77 wounded. A leading cause for the deaths of these children is their employment as child soldiers. Indeed, in Yemen it is estimated that one-third of all soldiers on the ground are children. Although, the use of child soldiers is by no means a new concept in Yemen, the intensification of violence in recent weeks has raised concerns about even more children being forced into combat.
Massive protests have been held in many towns and cities throughout Yemen, some against Houthi rebels, others against Saudi strikes in Yemen, and many others calling for a cessation of violence on all sides. Bushra al-Maqtari, a prominent Yemeni activist places herself in a third group in Yemen along with other democratic activists. She claims “We reject external military intervention absolutely. We also reject the Houthis’ coup and their vengeful campaign against Yemenis in the north and the south. Our brief hope for a peaceful democratic transition, after Mr. Saleh officially ceded power more than three years ago, has given way to despair.”
Alongside voices calling for a peaceful democratic process, like al-Maqtari’s, are calls by Médecins Sans Frontières, the Red Cross and the United Nations for a humanitarian corridor. Yet these voices have largely gone unheeded. On April 9, aid supplies began arriving in Aden. Nonetheless, aid agencies have said much more will have to arrive to meet the needs of the humanitarian crisis, and the failure to recognize civilian consequences by all armed forces must change.
In Yemen today, there is a deplorable disregard for human life on all sides of the conflict. The flagrant violations of the laws of war and the gravely high toll of civilian casualties must end, and all sides must recognize the need to minimize civilian harm. The calls of Yemeni citizens must cease to be ignored by all sides.
As the United States, among others, reaffirms its support for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen and continues in its supply of weapons, many in al-Mazraq refugee camp are still recovering from the last Saudi strikes. All sides must reassess their involvement in this conflict. Such utter neglect for human lives is never acceptable, and all participants in this fraught civil conflict must be forced to adhere to international law and unwritten standards of morality. The ramping up of military force is having a devastating impact on Yemen’s population, and making a peaceful transition evermore illusory. The focus of both domestic and international actors in Yemen must instead shift towards means of reconciliation and peaceful political transition.