The Yemen Crisis - Uncovered

Before going further I'd suggest all my readers that this not a blog about the numbers which you see about the Yemen crisis all over social media. This blog will be about how on earth did Yemen reach at a situation they are in today.

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Before going ahead, the major players are;

1. Arab Spring: Arab spring was a string of protests against regimes that were oppressive and lower standards of living amongst the Arab countries in the year 2010.

2. GCC: Gulf Cooperation Council, is an alliance between 6 Arab countries; Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of the most influential members of this council.

3. Saleh: The former president of Yemen, for 20 years.

4. Hadi: The former vice president of Yemen under Saleh.

5. Houthis: They are the Shia Muslims, a minority in northern Yemen.

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PART 1

Yemen was under the leadership of Saleh for over 33 years which wasn't prosperous. He had backed Iraq (Saddam Hussain) during the gulf war, which led to Saudi sending at least a million Yemeni workers back to Yemen. The economy of Yemen was severely hit. In early 2010, there was a string of protests in the Arab region called the Arab Spring, against the regimes that were oppressive and the declining standards of living. Yemenis protested against Saleh too, he stockpiled somewhere around 30 - 60 billion US dollars, he had assets in over 20 countries across the world while 40% of the Yemenis survived with less than $2/day. The unemployment was high, no one knew where the billions of dollars earned through oil went, these were the reasons why the Yemenis were against Saleh.

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PART 2

Everyone expected the affairs of Yemen to get better post the protest but nothing changed. This is when the GCC (Saudi) forced Saleh to step down and helped in establishing a new government. Under the new government, former VP Hadi was the new president. But the people of Yemen continued to suffer under Hadi too. While establishing a new government, the GCC (Saudi) ignored the Houthis completely. This did not go well with the Houthis. The Houthis along with Saleh and his trusted men in the army took over the capital Sanaa in 2014. President Hadi fled to Saudi. Post this Saudi along with a few other countries formed a coalition that declared war.

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The War

1. 19,000 attacks in the last 4 years

2. The US alone has carried out over 200 strikes.

3. 24 million people in need of assistance.

4. Over 1 Lakh people killed since 2015

5. Over 4 million people estimated to be displaced

The US carries out strikes in Yemen against the Al Qaeda terrorists back in Yemen and also supports Saudi because they are an important ally. 1000's of schools, hospitals and public places have been bombed as well. Proper aid cannot be provided as well, as the coalition (Saudi + Others) established a barrier on land, air, and water which makes it impossible to provide aid to Yemen.

The Houthis and Saleh broke their arrangement in 2017. Saleh then gave a press conference saying he wants to join the Saudi camp. Within days after he issued the statement, he was killed by the Houthis.

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Why is the Yemen Crisis called a Proxy War?

Watch the map closely! Saudi Arabia is a land where 75% to 85% of the citizens are Sunni Muslims. They share the northern border with Iraq, which is a land where 60% of the citizens are Shia Muslims. Saudi Arabia shares its southern border with Yemen where the Houthis have taken control of the capital, which is a land of Shia Muslims. Is Saudi Arabia involved in the Yemen war in order to protect its borders?

I'm sure you all are aware of Saudi Aramco (Invested in Jio). Their facilities were bombed early this year. The Houthis claimed they are behind it, but upon investigation, it has been identified that the weapons required for such an attack were Iran based.

The Houthis still control Yemen with help from Iran. The Yemen Crisis is a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran with each of them on the opposite side.