On the morning of January 22nd, 2015, a political and military group known as the Houthis stormed the capitol building of Yemen just a few months after taking control of the capital city, Sana’a on September 21st, 2014. These attacks, however, weren’t put in place for no reason.
Yemen attributes 90% of its profits from exports to the country’s oil production, making it a very profitable business in the country; however, the government, run by President Abdrubbah Mansur Hadi, raised oil subsidies meaning the government would no longer fund the people’s purchasing of gas throughout the state. Prices almost doubled putting the people even farther into poverty. According to an article by the United Nations Human Development Index the average life expectancy of a Yemeni citizen is “63.7” years which is not only the lowest in all of the Arab states but one of the lowest in the entire world.
The Houthis pride themselves on fighting for the economic prosperity of their country although many others do not see it this way. Yemen has many allies as it is a part of the UN (United Nations) meaning foreign troops were to be sent into Yemen to fight for the government. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen to the north, and the United Arab Emirates, which lies just to the right of Saudi Arabia, have sent in troops while countries such as the USA and the UK have supplied weapons and other supplies needed on the front lines.
Currently the war in Yemen itself is at a bit of a standstill with few big conflicts having occurred in recent months. One more notable conflict, however, would be the bombing and hijacking of multiple commercial trade and oil transportation ships between November and December of the past year which has caused cargo ships to have to go all the way around Africa. Territory hasn’t changed much since the original conflict began. The Houthis still have control over the capital in the northwest of the country and the areas surrounding it while the majority of the rest of the land is held by the General People’s Congress. However, recent events in Israel and Gaza have enticed Houthi leaders to express their side in the war having fired as much as 14 missiles or airstrikes towards the Israeli Port of Eilat
The war has had countless long lasting effects upon the state and the citizens. According to the Campaign Against Arms Trade, it is estimated that about 377,000 people have perished with about 150,000 of those deaths being attributed to Saudi led bombing and airstrikes against the Houthis. The war has left over 4 million people displaced due to being pushed out of their homes. According to an article by the World Food Program USA, “21 million people need humanitarian assistance, and 17 million people in Yemen are extremely hungry” as they are now entirely dependent of foreign aid.
This conflict is just one of so many things happening and affecting our world today. For more stories like this make sure to check out the rest of the stories on the website as they are created by students that you may even know.
