The West Is Complicit in Yemen's Misery

By Editorial Board, Guardian UK

13 November 18

The suffering grows and no end is in sight. This is turning out to be our crime too

he suffering of civilians in Yemen is not only the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. It is a crime. Nobel peace laureate Tawakkol Karman says her country is being “systematically destroyed”. Half of the country’s 22 million inhabitants are on the brink of starvation; 1.8 million children are severely malnourished. For many it is already too late. The United Nations predicts this could become the worst famine for a century. There were warnings of famine before the war broke out almost four years ago; even then, Yemen imported almost all of its food. Conditions have since deteriorated unimaginably.

The official death toll has been stuck at 10,000 for years; some estimate the true tally at over five times that number. The World Health Organization warned last month that reports of cholera were running at 10,000 cases a week. The country has become a “chaos state”: a nominal entity rather than a meaningful one. A conflict that began when the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition took on Houthi rebels who had overthrown the internationally recognised president has splintered and spiralled, fuelling extremism and a southern separatist movement. These factors – and the spread of a lucrative war economy – mean peace prospects are more dire than ever. Violence has intensified since the unexpected US call for a ceasefire last month. With fighting flaring in the critical port of Hodeidah this week, the UN envoy delayed planned talks until the end of the year.

The Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have blocked and siphoned off aid, used civilians for cover, and this week stationed fighters at a hospital (since withdrawn) leaving only one functioning medical facility in Hodeidah. But it is the coalition that is blockading the port, through which 80% of imports once came, and that is carrying out the massive air strikes. And it is the coalition that enjoys western support. Even the strike that killed 40 children on a school bus – using a US bomb – had little impact. It took the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul to push Washington into issuing the ceasefire call. Yet the Trump administration, transfixed by its enmity with Iran, wants an end to conflict only when it suits its Saudi and Emirati allies. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi say they want a settlement, but their push into Hodeidah suggests they hope to come to the table as victors. They have a history of wildly overestimating their prospects in Yemen. Many think they could take Hodeidah in weeks, and then push on to Sana’a. But even the latter’s capture would probably push the war into a new, perhaps equally devastating, phase.

The Houthis have unrealistic demands, but it isn’t surprising they want a halt to attacks on the port before they sit down. This weekend’s news that the US will cease refuelling Saudi planes looks more like an attempt to head off growing pressure. While unclassified overt support might end, secret covert US support, like that unearthed on Saturday, could increase. The administration is reportedly considering designating the Houthis a terrorist organisation. That would hardly encourage them to join talks; worse, it risks increasing civilian suffering by making it harder for groups to work in Houthi-controlled areas. And starting talks, though tough in itself, will be infinitely easier than bringing them to a successful conclusion.

Britain is at least inching towards a stronger stance, having finally ended its opposition to the UN security council tabling a resolution designed to put pressure on Saudi Arabia and the Houthis to end the fighting and allow aid through. The shift is welcome, and long overdue. But until we stop selling arms and sharing intelligence, we remain complicit. This is our crime too.