WHAT IS GOING ON IN YEMEN?
The contemporary situation is complex in itself, and the roots of the conflict would require an entire history class. The scope of this article cannot allow thorough explanations of all parameters involved in the Yemen conflict. In my best attempt at summarizing the situation, the conflict started in 2015. During this time, a civil war broke out on Yemen territory, led by Houthi armed groups, while a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia was launched against Yemen. These tensions mainly emerged from ethnic and resources issues on the one hand, and from religious and power problems on the other.
As a result, the Saudi-led coalition has put a naval and air blockade on the country. These blockades are now resulting in widespread famines and a lack of access to basic healthcare supplies for Yemeni civilians, and it allows Houthi armed groups to pursue internal abuses, such as arbitrary detentions and torture.
Although the conflict developments are complex, and understanding regional and international parameters can be difficult to grasp, one thing from this conflict has become crystal clear: the ultimate victims of armed groups, blockades and the likes are the Yemeni civilians. If only one element should be remembered, it is that all parties of the conflict are guilty of the suffering of the people of Yemen.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS; CIVILIAN “CASUALTIES” PILLING UP
In military terms, victims of this conflict are seen as mere war casualties. These “casualties” increased since mid-January after a Houthi airstrike on an Abu Dhabi oil facility resulted in 3 human deaths. This attack was answered by intensified airstrikes from the Saudi coalition, targeting the main Yemeni cities, causing widespread infrastructure destruction and dozens of civilian “casualties”.
An interesting feature of these airstrikes led by Saudi Arabia is that they primarily rely on laser-guided bombs. Those bombs use drone technologies that are being developed and manufactured in the United States of America. Although not being a direct actor in the conflict, it appears that the USA is nonetheless an active one in this conflict, yet another deadly participant against the civilian populations.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS THERE, EUROPEAN POWERS TO BE BLAMED HERE
The story does not end here. The USA is far from being the only country selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, knowing that these weapons will sustain what has been termed “one of the largest humanitarian crises” of today by UNICEF. European countries, too, are numerous in selling arms to Saudi forces. Although arm exports to Saudi Arabia existed before the Yemen conflict emerged, the weapon trade accelerated and intensified with the start of the conflict.
Morale aside, these weapon sales are duly prohibited in the eyes of the law. The European Union, having signed the Arms Trade Treaty in 2013, recognized exporting arms as prohibited when the weaponry contributes to war crimes. However, as recently as December 2021, the French authorities signed a $19 billion weapon deal with Saudi Arabia, consisting primarily of aerial weapons, the same kind that is then identified on Yemen’s destruction sites.
With the recent escalation of the conflict, followed by the rising “casualties”, European powers, as well as the USA, should answer for their responsibility in a conflict that they all condemn on paper, and which sustains Yemeni civilians’ living nightmare.
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