The worst humanitarian crisis : Yemen

 

Yemen the poorest Arab country is going through the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Let's understand the crisis that has made the life of an ordinary Yemeni help. 

Let's go back in history for a moment 

Yemen, as we know today wasn't just one country 30 years back. It was North and South Yemen. 
North Yemen used to be a part of the Ottoman empire while the South Yemen was a British colony. After the collapse of the ottoman empire in the year 1918 the North Yemen became independent while South continued to be a British colony until the year 1967. 

The British left Yemen in the wake of an intense terrorist campaign. The united Yemen, as we know today was formed in the year 1990. Though Yemen had been united, the divide still existed in the society. 

The North Yemen which was mostly dominated by the Houthi tribe wanted a nation for themselves while the Southerners also called for a separate nation. 

Coming back to the present times 

Abd Rabuh Mansur Hadi

The present crisis began in 2011 during the Arab spring and Houthi insurgency. The Islamists and seculars both began a fierce protest against the reign of sally which was dealt with by a violent crackdown. Facing the long resistance, Saleh resigned from his office in 2012. 

The new President Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi was elected on 24 February 2012, in a peaceful election. Hadi, a Southerner once elected, maintained distance from both the Houthis as well as the Southern movement activists.

Hadi made several serious attempts to bring back peace to Yemen. He had talks with the separatists made peace with the U.S.. However, the neighbors did not quite appreciate this. Saudi Arabia in the meanwhile deported 4,00,000 Yemeni migrant workers to their home country, which only added to the unemployed population. 

Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Meanwhile, the power of the Houthis was escalating. They overpowered the Yemen military to take over the Northern Yemen. And guess, who was the secret helping hand for the Houthi rebellion; It was the person they were fierce opponents with, so much so that they even attempted an assassination of him. 

It was the ex-president Saleh.

A compromise was reached now between the Yemeni government and the Houthis wherein they agreed to form a unity government. However the Houthis refused to be a part of this offer later. 

The Houthis turned on the offense and seized the control of Saleh. The cabinet was forced to resign the next day, on 20th January 2015. The Houthis took control over the parliament building, eventually. The Houthi takeover was rejected sharply by all, including the Arab league and the United Nations. 

The next fight broke over the control of the Aden airport, where the Hadi administration was able to defend it from Saleh's forces, on 19th of March 2015. 

Houthis protest against airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on Sana'a in September 2015.

The next day, in a suicide bomb attack claimed by the ISIL, 142 Houthis were killed in Sunnah Mosques which led to the breakout of the Civil War, which is still going on. The War was coupled with a severe cholera epidemic, which began in July 2017. There were no hospitals to tend to the sick, no medicines to the rescue, moreover, the humanitarian crisis are unimaginable. Over one-third of the locals have been uprooted within Yemen. 80 percent of the population requires human aid. 7.8 million children don't have access to water and sanitation. Children are forced to engage in warfare for monetary benefits. All that the locals of Yemen hope is for a new dawn that would bring peace and prosperity to their homeland