SANAA, March 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The war in Yemen has left thousands dead
and triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United
Nations.
The war between Huthi rebels and pro-government troops escalated in March
2015, when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the rebels.
– Civilians on front line –
Around 10,000 people — mostly civilians — have been killed and more than
60,000 wounded since the Saudi-led coalition joined the conflict, according
to the World Health Organization (WHO).
But the exact numbers are not known and aid groups warn the toll is likely
to be significantly higher, with Action Against Hunger putting it at more
than 57,000.
On March 18, 2019, the Norwegian Refugee Council said that civilian
casualties have risen in Yemen despite a three-month-old truce in the vital
aid port of Hodeida.
According to French aid group Action Contre la Faim, 3.3 million people
have been displaced within Yemen.
The country has also been ravaged by cholera, which has killed more than
2,500 people since April 2017. Around 1.2 million suspected cases have been
reported, according to the WHO.
– ‘Hell on earth’ for children –
The UN children’s fund (UNICEF) has regularly pointed to the devastating
effects of the conflict on children.
“It is a living hell for every boy and girl in Yemen,” it said in November
2018.
It said 1.8 million aged less than five are suffering from acute
malnutrition.
Save the Children said that between April 2015 and October 2018 some 85,000
children may have died of severe malnutrition or related diseases. Others
have been killed by combat.
– Lost generation –
According to the UN, two million of the country’s seven million children of
school age go without education in Yemen.
More than 2,500 schools are out of use, of which two thirds have been
damaged in attacks, 27 percent closed and seven percent used by the military
or as shelters for displaced people.
Largely due to their families’ poverty, two out of five girls are married
before the age of 15 and three quarters before 18, according to UNICEF.
Thousands of boys have been recruited as child soldiers.
– ‘Worst’ humanitarian crisis –
In March 2017, Stephen O’Brien, the UN’s under-secretary general for
humanitarian affairs, said Yemen was the scene of “the largest humanitarian
crisis in the world”.
The United Nations warned in February 2019 the situation was getting even
worse.
“An estimated 80 percent of the population — 24 million — require some
form of humanitarian or protection assistance, including 14.3 million who are
in acute need,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
said.
The number of people in acute need is “a staggering 27 percent higher than
last year”, it said, adding two-thirds of the country was “already pre-
famine”.
According to Action Contre la Faim 16 million people lack access to water
and sanitation and basic health care. Fifty percent of Yemen’s clinics are
closed and more than 70 percent do not have a regular supply of medicines.
– ‘War crimes’ –
In March 2018, rights group Amnesty International accused Western countries
of supplying arms to Riyadh and its allies, who could stand guilty of war
crimes in Yemen.
Last August a UN expert mission concluded that all warring parties had
potentially committed “war crimes”.