The great humanitarian crisis

As the world’s attention remains focused on the possible catastrophic humanitarian fallout from any Syrian army offensive on rebel-controlled Idlib province, Yemen is already facing worst kind of humanitarian disaster. After the collapse of United Nations-sponsored negotiation between the warring groups, last week, the situation in Yemen has turned catastrophic. The Saudi Arabia and UAE-led forces have resumed attacks on the Iran-supported Houthi-controlled areas. UN officials have stated that hundreds of thousands of lives hang in the balance in the city of Houthi-controlled Hodeidah. The resumption of aerial bombardment and shelling is creating fears that food mills in the city could be damaged or disrupted. Saudi-led forces are reported to have seized the main road leading to the city, weakening the Houthi control over the supply of humanitarian aid into the country. Hodeidah is the gateway to aid supplies to the country and the renewed war would hamper the entire aid activity. The UAE, which is part of the coalition, has affirmed its stand that the liberation of the port from Houthi’s control is essential for a political solution of the Yemen crisis. Yemen is already considered the world’s most urgent humanitarian crisis, with 22 million of its 28 million population considered to be dependent on aid. As the Saudi-led forces are just outside the door of the city and reports are that the forces may lay siege of the city to put pressure on the Houthi rebels, the aid supply route would be completely blocked. A recent UN report said that more than 11 million children in Yemen face food shortages, while almost 1.8 million of them are malnourished. The absence of serious peace efforts from the international community is adding to their misery. It looks like little will change in the short term. It is quite unfortunate that instead addressing the growing humanitarian crisis, United States and Russia are busy in army the warring factions.
According to the UN, at least 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-Emirati-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015. The death toll, however, has not been updated in years and is likely to be much higher. Yemen was considered as the poorest Arab country before the war. It was surviving on external economic aid mainly by Saudi Arabia. But the Iran-backed Houthi rebellion and Saudi ASrab’s retaliation have battered whatever little the country had. The latest reports warn, the cholera epidemic in the country, which had begun to recede, may re-emerge due to the collapsed sewerage system and rampant unsanitary conditions. Nobody can deny Saudi’s right to defend itself but punishing hapless and innocent people is no solution. It would not be wrong to say that the Yemeni war has turned into a stalemate, and the longer it grinds on, the worse the conditions for Yemen’s people will get. It is a well known fact that the Yemen imbroglio is a foreign-made. It is, in fact, Iran that instigated and supported (militarily and materially) to Houthi Shias rise against the country’s established government. Saudi Arabia completed the catastrophe by deciding to stop Iranian march. It is in the interests of humanity in general and people of Yemen in particular to stop the hostilities in the country. Both Saudi Arab and Iran should immediately withdraw from supporting rival forces, instead work as peace brokers. Considering the expansionist ambitions of Iran and Saudi Arabia, it would appear a distant dream at this point of time but both the countries can agree on ceasefire to allow humanitarian relief to reach to the starving people. United Nations should take a lead in this matter and prevail upon warring groups to cease fire, at least, temporarily to address the human crisis in the country.