In 2011, the Yemeni Revolution of Dignity began against unemployment, economic conditions and corruption and ultimately escalated against President Ali Abdullah Saleh who at the time had been president for 33 years. The period between 2011 to 2015 saw a lot of transitionary events that led to the start of a war in Yemen by 2015. Five years later, the situation in Yemen has escalated greatly to the point that UNICEF considers Yemen the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.
UNICEF reports that around 80% of the population in Yemen, which stands at more than 24 million people of which more than 12 million are children, are in need of humanitarian assistance. The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened the situation in Yemen making it ‘an emergency within an emergency’.
The crisis in Yemen has greatly affected the rights to life and to security of the people. Additionally, it is reported that the involvement of international coalition forces in Yemen has contributed to the commitment of these human rights crimes. The United Nations found that in 2019 alone, coalition operations killed or injured 222 children in Yemen. But in five years, the devastating conflict in Yemen has reportedly killed more than 100,000 people. The UN secretary general's report on 9th June 2020, to the security council on children and armed conflict, said 4,042 grave violations against 2,159 children in Yemen were verified last year.
The United Nations first identified the Saudi-led coalition as party to human rights violations in Yemen and included it in the annual blacklist of parties violating children’s rights. However, this decision was reversed and in the following year, the coalition was placed in a sub-section of a report that had been created to avoid deaths of children affected by this crisis. Through 2018 and 2019, the coalition remained in there.
However, on 15th June 2020, the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres removed the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition from the United Nations blacklist. Despite the UN reporting 222 cases of injury and killing of children in 2019, Guterres said the coalition would “be delisted for the violation of killing and maiming, following a sustained significant decrease in killing and maiming due to airstrikes” and the implementation of measures aimed at protecting children. It should be noted that the programme would be monitored for 12 months and that "any failure in this regard would result in relisting for the same violation", as said by Guterres.
While those blacklisted are not subject to action, they are named and shamed in the hopes of pushing them to take steps to limit violations of children’s rights.
Though the UN reports a decrease in maiming and killing, its report still shows the bleak condition of Yemen where parties have also been responsible for the recruitment of children, detentions, abductions, sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals. Understandably the delisting of the coalition has been met by shock and backlash from human rights campaigners as well as from Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch criticized the move by saying that the UN ignored its own evidence of continued grave violations against children.
Following this, various organizations urged the UN to reconsider its move. About 24 NGOs and humanitarian organisations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and more wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressing disappointment. This happened a week after Guterres released the annual report on children affected in armed conflict.
In addition to this, the UN's humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, highlighted the added troubles of COVID-19 in Yemen in a brief to the UN Security Council on 24th June 2020. He said, "COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across Yemen. About 25 per cent of Yemenis confirmed to have the disease have died. That’s five times the global average.” He has described the situation as ‘beyond critical’.
As Yemen continues to struggle against various troubles, it is clear that the world as a whole needs to step up and come to aid. "There is a stark choice before the world today: support the humanitarian response in Yemen and help to create the space for a sustainable political solution. Or watch Yemen fall off the cliff."
Organizations such as UNICEF, Save The Children, Amnesty and more are trying to do their best to help those suffering in Yemen. As individuals, we can do our part by supporting in any way possible, or at the very least, stay informed of the current difficulties and situations.
If any information has been incorrectly reported, please bring it to the author's notice.
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