Yemen is the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula. There has long been a humanitarian crisis. The people have nothing to eat, and the fire of hatred and war continues to blaze around. It is a state surrounded by sea, desert, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Yemen has entered the list of the hottest spots on the planet Earth. And even more-he headed it. More than ten years there are military conflicts, then at the time of fading, then again breaking out with unprecedented force. The main opposing groups in this territory are Shiite Houthis and the Sunni government. Many of the world’s countries find the benefit from these clashes. But let’s take it in order.
The conflict in Yemen dates back to 2004 when the country experienced its first Houthi uprising. Who are they? Houthis are a military group of Shia Muslims. Representatives of this religious branch of Islam occupied the territory in the North of the country. They were a minority in the state. The ruling elite was occupied by Sunni Muslims. The confrontation between them is an established tradition of the Middle East. It would seem that both Shia and Sunni are Muslims. They have one god, one religion, and one language. But they hate each other more than Christians and perhaps even Jews.
So, in 2004, the Houthis, or as they originally called themselves-the group ” Ansar Allah” organized an uprising against the current government and demanded the autonomy of the region. The rebellion was led by Hussein al-Houthi. In the same year, he was killed, but it was in honor of its leader, the militants called themselves “Houthis”. Of course, the government did not give them any autonomy. And began to resist the rebels. Even then, some external players decided which side to support. Iran, where the ball is ruled by the Shiites, of course, sided with the Huthis. Saudi Arabia has traditionally supported government forces. The conflict continued until 2010 when the warring parties signed a peace agreement. But agreement and peace were short-lived. In 2011, the Middle East engulfed by the “Arab spring”. Events have not spared Yemen. In the country began mass demonstrations demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who held the chair of the ruler for more than thirty years-since 1978. The rebellion led to the aggressive resistance. The reasons were not religious. The country lived in deep poverty. About any development, technologies, training of youth wasn’t also speech. Before people, there was only one task – not to die of hunger. The humanitarian crisis served as the nuclear fuel for the military conflict. The Saleh not going to leave his post. But he made some concessions to the demonstrators. For example, he reduced the possible term of the presidency – now the seat of the ruler could be occupied not for life, but only for two terms. He promised not to hand over power to his son. He said that he is not going to run for the next election. It did not satisfy the protesters. The fighting continued. These confrontations have led to many deaths and crippled lives. It all ended with the fact that in 2012, Ali Abdullah Saleh handed over power to the Vice President of Yemen the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
But such a change of power was fictitious. And the protesters understood that. Therefore, the conflict did not end but moved into a serious phase – the civil war.
The reason for it was another point-the government raised the price of gasoline. The Houthis took control of this situation. They captured a number of state institutions in the capital of Yemen – Sana’a. And even got to the President, forcing him to flee the country.
At this stage of the internal conflict, external players also intervened. Saudi Arabia could not allow the Houthis to seize power in Yemen. The Riyadh has united around itself a coalition of countries, together with which they began to provide support to the crumbling government forces. The United States also joined this coalition in order to support its partner in the region – Saudi Arabia. In 2015, the invasion of Yemen began. These events were called “The Determination storm”. To suppress the Houthis, the aircraft, artillery, Navy was used. After that, the coalition launched operation ” The Renewal of Hope”. During this period, they planned to eliminate the consequences of the coup and restore government troops. Despite the peaceful name of the military operation, it was bloody. They bombed everything-schools, houses, villages and industrial plants. All attempts to resolve the conflict by the UN failed.
In a country mired in a swamp of war and destruction, there were appear the terrorists. Al-Qaeda, and later ISIS, took their positions in Yemen. All this only aggravates the situation and the condition of the civilian population.
In 2017, the former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed. There are several versions of his death, but they all boil down to one thing – he was killed by Houthis.
For all this time, in the country, nearly 7 thousand among the civilian population were lost, nearly 11 thousand people got wounds. But not only bullets and explosions destroy people. During the last three years of the war, in Yemen from acute malnutrition died 85 thousand children under the age of five years. Due to the low social level in the country, infectious diseases are constantly erupting. For example, cholera has affected more than a million people.
The UN called the situation in Yemen the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The human rights activists are sounding the alarm-if humanitarian aid is not increased in the near future, the country may start a mass famine, and a whole generation of children will die.
Today, Yemen rests only on its oil. But according to experts, its reserves may end in a few years. This will finally finish the country. The issue of providing fresh water is also in limbo. Its consumption is chaotic and uncontrolled. This may lead to the fact that soon the capital of Sana’a may be in a terrible situation.
In fact, Saudi Arabia and other countries surrounding Yemen are interested in an early end of the war and the restoration of normal life in the country. Sooner or later, they have to understand. After all, all these 28 million people, left without water and food, will seek salvation in neighboring countries. And it is unlikely that Riyadh is ready to accommodate all these refugees on its territory.