Critical Analysis of Human Rights Violation in Yemen Crisis

Written by Aina Khan

Introduction

Since 2015, Yemen has been struggling on all fronts due to a destructive armed conflict between the authorities on its south and north ends. Owing to the military support to the warring parties from other countries, the situation has only added fuel to the fire, and the situation has been aggravated so much as to push 4.5 million people into displacement (3.1 million of whom have severe needs), leading 17.3 million into food insecurity, increasing health risks of 20.2 million, creating protection risks for 17.7 million, and depriving 15.3 million people of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). The research below explores the reasons for human rights violations in Yemen and asks what could potentially be done to rehabilitate a war-torn Yemen in which the interests of those who are intrigued compete for power and dominance.

The Inception of the Yemen Humanitarian Crisis and the Parties Involved

Yemen, located on the Arabian Peninsula, is a small Middle Eastern state encircled by Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and Oman. Yemen is known to be the poorest state among the other states in the region of the Middle East. Today, Yemen is undergoing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, where Yemenis are struggling with the scarcity of necessities of life like food, clean water, and even medical assistance or medicines. It all started when conflicts within the state between the Shiite minority and the Sunni majority arose, which led to protests and revolts against the government of Yemen, which led to instability in the state at the domestic level.

In 2014, the real fire to the conflict was lit when some non-governmental forces, the minority Shiite forces called the Houthis, took over the capital of Yemen, Sanna. The president of Yemen, at that point in time, was appointed by Saudi Arabia’s organization backed by the United States, and after an unstable political situation, he fled back to Saudi Arabia in order to gain security from the Houthi forces, leaving Yemen with no legitimate authority or government. Therefore, in 2016, to take back control from the nongovernmental forces, Saudi Arabia intervened by attacking the areas that were under the control of Houthis, using its military along with the support of some other states, the Saudi alliances.

Havingsaid that, as mentioned in the article by the Council on Foreign Relations, the other parties involved in the Saudi-led coalition included other Arab states with a Sunni majority, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan. The Saudi intervention and airstrikes greatly made the Yemenis suffer altogether, not just the Houthis, making the state go through the worst humanitarian crisis in the world since then. Accordingto Mercy Corps, the scarcity of food has led around 14 million Yemenis to starve by reducing the amount and quality of food and by limiting the portions of food to store for the future because they might not have any in the future. Yemen is surely in a famine-like condition, as mentioned by the Mercy Corps, since 17 percent of Yemenis, that is, around 5 million people, are starving to death because of the scarcity of food.

The Humanitarian Impact

Yemen is a Middle Eastern nation in need of development, and the crisis there is believed to be the worst in the decade that followed the coalition led by Saudi Arabia’s intervention. Additionally, many innocent individuals have been targeted in the battle between Saudi Arabia, its allies, and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as hospitals, in violation of international humanitarian law. Moreover, the pandemic of 2020 later exacerbated the situation when states that had been supplying Yemen with food and relief ceased doing so because of the difficulties the countries were facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The issue worsened as a result of Yemenis being unable to afford food at such high prices due to increased inflation. Furthermore, Yemenis experienced a shortage of clean water, which contributed to the cholera outbreak in the country. As per the Council on Foreign Relations document, up until 2020, there were two hundred thousand cases of cholera reported.

Catalyst in the Yemen crisis

The scarcity of water during the conflict led to many diseases, such as skin diseases, and the most prominent one was cholera. That is because even the water available was not clean enough since the rainfall in the region had decreased, which acted as a catalyst for increasing the rate of cholera patients. Other than that, the humanitarian crisis was exacerbated by continual shifts in temperature and ecology, which made it even more challenging for citizens to survive. Yemen’s economy is primarily based on agriculture; however, the ongoing conflict between the north of Yemen and the south of Yemen has brought the circumstances dangerously close to a water crisis, and decreased rainfall has caused extensive damage to crops including maize, wheat, coffee, and other items, resulting in the worst famine on record.

A state like the Arab nation of Yemen, with the highest population growth and under-famine-like circumstances where people are in desperate need of water, medical attention, and proper sanitation, appears to be headed for much worse in future generations with its increasing population. Due to the added stress of violence and starvation, Yemen is still starting to disintegrate. The fighting has caused over fifty percent of each nation’s medical institutions to be entirely demolished or severely ravaged. Administrators in Sanaa issued an evacuation order in May due to the extensive COVID-19 contagious nature throughout the municipality, excluding the transportation of commodities. The inhabitants of Sanaa continue to be at risk from this illness, despite the efforts underway to stop it from propagating. Eighty percent of the people of Yemen are dependent on emergency supplies; others have compromised immune systems and low faith in the medical establishment.

Role of Politics

Yemen has developed into a battleground for various adversaries. For instance, Saudi Arabia and Iran have long been rivals, and both countries are supporting opposite forces in the Yemeni crisis. Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim majority state, is supporting South Yemen, which was essentially run by Ali Abdullah Saleh, while Iran, a state with a plurality of Shiites, is supporting the Houthis in North Yemen. When several uprisings and movements caused Yemen to experience extreme political and economic instability in 2011, the Arab Spring further exacerbated the situation.

Speaking of which, the Centre for Geopolitics and Security in Realism Studies noted in a paper that the Arab Spring not only contributed to political instability but rather intensified the humanitarian crisis, as evidenced by the 100 percent increase in bread prices that Yemen’s capital, Sanna, experienced at the time. The situation was made worse by a 300 percent increase in the cost of water. Malnutrition and other illnesses caused by this inflation increased the instability of the Yemeni situation in question.

In addition, Saudi Arabia and Iran have economic interests in Yemen’s strategic location and territory, which support their participation in the country in addition to their ideological alignment with the North and South Sunni and Shiite populations, respectively. In this context, 5% of the world’s oil and natural gas exports pass through the Strait of Bab-El-Mandeb, making it strategically significant. Thus, the parties engaged in the intervention have a strong interest in the state of Yemen in addition to being motivated by political or ideological reasons.

What can be done?

The majority of conventions and agreements around the globe place a high priority on the safeguarding of dignity for all and to improve them as the main duty of both the government of the state and around the globe. Apart from the previously specified rules, numerous others are applicable with regard to the affairs in Yemen, necessitating action on the part of government officials as well as the rest of the world to address the worsening circumstances that are raging. The state affairs in Yemen explicitly demand that the 1949 international convention for the protection of those harmed by battle, which codified the basic obligation to safeguard civilians throughout times of conflict, be fully respected. However, even with this legal structure in place, there is regrettably a clear inconsistency between the legal language of the legislation and its actual application. It seems that there are disparate norms used while taking action when it comes to humanity in the real world.

As soon as it involves deciding whether it is appropriate to give voice to the suffering of innocent people, it seems as though there, in fact, are two different sets of rules under play. Deeply ingrained issues related to politics are the reason for these discrepancies, which run counter to the fundamental idea of inclusiveness that underpins the principles of humanitarian law worldwide. Though such worldwide rules are formally adhered to, they are not officially thought of as the source of legally enforceable commitments for every country. There is an ongoing argument over assuming that charitable organizations create an explicit duty for nations to get involved in instances of disasters. Present-day circumstances demonstrate that a realistic view of practice, in which the interests of nations serve as the only and true motivator for deliberation and implementation of policies, remains prevalent in the context of global politics.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the ones who stand to gain through the disputes are the ones who are silent throughout these disputes. In addition to discussing the various parties involved in the conflict, this paper provides a brief history of human rights violations and their beginnings in Yemen. Aside from the parties engaged, there is also a discussion about what can be done and what, if anything, caused the problem, including Saudi intervention and the local political landscape. In Yemen, on either end, there isn’t any sign of peace, and the idea of achieving it at this point seems far-fetched since Yemenis are facing a severe crisis across the board. To mitigate the situation, all the involved parties must come to a common ground if they aren’t willing to take a step back. Moreover, to restore Yemen to its feet, a proper plan should be formulated to seek investors internationally so that significant changes can be made in the land to revive livelihoods. Lastly, there isn’t any issue in the world that can’t be solved peacefully, be it Yemen or the genocide of Gaza; however, to avoid any such catastrophe, the interests of those perpetuating the war need to be tackled before anything else.