Yemen: The best form of help would be peace

By Francesca Merlo

No salaries, enforced disappearances, starvation, torture, detention… this is how the people in Yemen are living. And even after the ceasefire in 2022 “nothing has changed”.

Rising tensions

As tensions in the Red Sea rise with airstrikes on Houthi targets in retaliation for continuing attacks on UK and US cargo ships, Rania Awn, Media and Communication and Advocacy manager at Mwatana for Human Rights makes a very clear statement. “We don’t need another war”.

She is referring to the geopolitical escalation surrounding the war in Gaza, as its consequences begin to land in Yemen where over ten years of conflict and violence have led to one of the most disastrous humanitarian crises in the world.

“We have not received a salary for seven years. We are living in starvation. Our human rights are violated daily. There is no hope, and whenever we begin to see a glimmer of light, we are made to live in darkness again”.

The numbers say it all

The figures support Ms Awn’s desperate plea. More than 20 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance since a civil war broke out in 2014. 4.5 million people have been displaced and 154,000 killed in military action since the Saudi-led coalition began military operations in 2015.

And even since the ceasefire in 2022, Ms Awn reveals that actually, “nothing much has changed”. Yes, she says, the Saudi-led airstrikes have stopped, but “every other violation of human rights persists, and the people are living in misery”.

People displaced by conflict receive food aid at a camp in Khokha district, Yemen, January 2022

Settlements do not replace "home"

One of the persisting issues in the country is the presence of unexploded landmines. Of the millions of internally displaced people in Yemen, countless are living in makeshift homes, in makeshift settlements. “After the truce in 2022, some people tried to go back to their homes, but found landmines there which either killed or injured them”. The displaced persons lack every necessity to live a dignified life, including the fact that those living there have lost everything. “Some don’t even have any form of identification”, which means that even if they have children they are unable to register them. “They’ve lost access to water, to education, to health services”. They have nothing says Ms Awn.

But the reality, as stressed by Ms Awn, is that people are losing hope.

A lack of humanitarian support

Since the war in Gaza, and even the war in Ukraine, the world’s attention has shifted”, Yemenis are not receiving the aid they need from the international community.

But Yemenis cannot even rely on local organisations like Mwatana because of the harsh conditions in the country. So Mwatana does what little it can, despite the risks involved.

“We have a legal support unit which provides legal assistance to victims, for example we provide legal support to victims of arbitrary detention and torture”.

“But we suffer”, says Ms Awn. “We suffer from so many difficulties”.

Persecuted for the work they do

She recalls a trip she attempted to make just four months ago to Amman in Jordan. “I was prevented from traveling because of the work I do”. Likewise, she continued, “Our lawyers that work with victims, they often get detained, they disappear, they are told what to do and what not to do”, and it is for these same reasons that they cannot provide any humanitarian aid.

All we ask for is peace

But the Yemenis are facing another difficult, moral, crisis too. Whilst the Houthis control the country, they have shown signs of support for Gaza and this resonates with many of Yemen's citizens. “Just stop the war in Gaza” because “we do not need another war in Yemen”.

A new Houthi recruit stands in front of a large-scale Palestinian flag, Yemen, 7 February

Finally, Rania Awn asks for pressure from the international community. She asks that they stop supporting armed groups, that they stop the violence. “That is our only chance” says Rania Awn. “I think we all agree that we need to stop the war in any part of the world”, she concludes. “We need peace, that's all”.