Yemen is a place not discussed enough in the national and world news, in my opinion; the situation for most people in Yemen is extremely dire, and is largely being ignored.
I'll work up to a longer piece, or maybe a couple pieces, to dig into Yemen and the civil and proxy wars being fought there, the massive humanitarian crisis as a result of these wars, and the role of the US specifically in Yemen, including drone strikes and support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen.
But for today, here's a couple openers:
Humanitarian crisis in Yemen remains the worst in the world, warns UN
Quote:
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) the “severity of needs is deepening”, with the number of people in acute need, a staggering 27 per cent higher than last year, when it was already the most acute crisis on the globe.
Thursday’s 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview for Yemen report, shows that 14.3 million people are classified as being in acute need, with around 3.2 million requiring treatment for acute malnutrition; that includes two million children under-five, and more than one million pregnant and lactating women.
Highlighting that more than 20 million people across the country are food insecure, half of them suffering extreme levels of hunger, the report focuses on some key humanitarian issues: basic survival needs, protection of civilians and livelihoods and essential basic services.
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From August of 2018:
US supplied bomb that killed 40 children on Yemen school bus
Quote:
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The 9 August attack killed 40 boys aged from six to 11 who were being taken on a school trip. Eleven adults also died. Local authorities said that 79 people were wounded, 56 of them children. CNN reported that the weapon used was a 227kg laser-guided bomb made by Lockheed Martin, one of many thousands sold to Saudi Arabia as part of billions of dollars of weapons exports.
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From today:
Yemen war: Trump vetoes bill to end US support for Saudi-led coalition
Quote:
Opposition in Congress to his policy on Yemen grew last year after Saudi agents killed the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The resolution passed the House of Representatives in April and the Senate in March, the first time both chambers had supported a War Powers resolution, which limits the president's ability to send troops into action.
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That last part is kind of a big deal.