The war in Yemen

With the Syrian conflict grabbing world headlines, the Middle East’s other civil war has largely been ignored. Last year, after a severe conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels, Saudi Arabia undertook a direct military intervention in the conflict. Bombs have fallen on hospitals, hundreds have been killed but that has barely made news. Now, it seems that the US has decided to intervene. US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Saudi Arabia recently to discuss a way out of the Yemen crisis. The proposal from Saudi Arabia and Yemen is to declare a ceasefire and create a unity government. Apart from this, the US government is set to announce an aid package for Yemen. The problem with all three proposals is: who really is on board? Have the Houthis been consulted? Is the Yemen government on board? And if the US is going to send aid to Yemen, who is it going to be disbursed to? In a chaotic situation, it is unlikely that these proposals are going to be able to stop the war.

And on Monday, hopes of a quick resolution dissipated with a suicide bombing on a Yemeni military instalment, killing over five dozen people. Accompanied by a Houthi attack on Saudi territory which killed two girls, the US-Saudi proposal already seems like a non-starter. While the Saudi involvement in the peace proposal may be coming out of its recognition that more war is not going to be able to bring about a favourable outcome in the region, there might be a change of heart after the recent spate of attacks. The elected Yemeni government also remains in exile in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudis are not keen on letting their close allies go. The Houthis are not yet ready to sit on the discussion table, especially with the Saudis on board. But what all stakeholders must realise is that peace is necessary for the Yemeni people. They have suffered the most. The civilian losses have not been covered by media but it is estimated that at least 9,000 people have died in the ongoing war. Doctors without Borders has already warned that it is withdrawing its staff from Yemen due to continuous aerial bombings. More than 3.1 million Yemenis remain displaced since the civil war broke out, and over 70 percent of the country’s population need emergency food supplies. The US-Saudi attempt to broker peace in Yemen is a welcome one, but it is coming after a year and a half of conflict, which has led to much tragedy. The UN Human Rights Commission has asked for an international investigation into war crimes in the country. It is time for the world to step in to solve the Yemeni conflict, but this cannot be done by offering arbitrary solutions.