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Yemen: ‘The World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis’- What Led Us Here?

Al Fusaic

By Abbi North

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The Covid-19 pandemic is predicted to yield 230,000 deaths in Yemen, exceeding the combined impact of famine, cholera and war in the last five years. But what are the deeper roots of this impending crisis, and who is responsible?

Read through this excellent photo slideshow about the historical dimensions of Yemen’s multitude of crises. Below are the Acronyms, Key figures, and the sources used throughout the presentation.

Acronyms:

  • UN: United Nations

  • YAR: Yemen Arab Republic 

  • PDRY: People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen

  • IDP: internally displaced peoples

  • IMF: International Monetary Fund

  • IS: Islamic State

  • GNC: General People’s Congress

  • UAE: United Arab Emirates

Key figures: 

  • Imam Yahya Mudammad Hamid ed-Din: Effective ruler over northern Yemen, 1904-1948.

  • Muhammad bin Yahya Hamid ad-Din: Imam of Yemen who led the resistance against the Ottoman occupation, 1890-1904. 

  • Gamal Abdel Nasser: Prime Minister of Egypt, 1954-1956; President of Egypt, 1956-1970.

  • Ali Abdullah Saleh: President of Yemen, 1990-2012. 

  • Ali Salem al Beidh: Yemeni politician who served as Vice President following unification in 1990, leaving in 1993. 

  • Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi: President of Yemen, 2012- 

  • Zaidism, Zaydis: Shia sect of Islam, compromising 50% of Muslims in Yemen. 

  • Houthis: Islamic political movement in northern Yemen, emerging from the Houthi tribe. 

Photo sources:

  • Khaled Abdullah

    • (December 2017), Reuters, Human Rights Watch

    • (May 2020), Reuters, Science Magazine

  • Paula Dear (January 2010), BBC News

  • Mohammed Huwais (April 2020), Getty Images, ABC News

  • Nabil Ismail (November 1987), AFP

  • Benedicte Jeannerod (June 2020), Human Rights Watch

  • Marcus Montgomery (December 2017), Arab Center Washington DC

  • Michael Quentin Morton (2013), Geo ExPro

  • Samuel Oakford (November 2017), The Intercept

  • Mohamed al-Sayaghi (August 2017), Reuters

  • Jay Tharappel (August 2019), The Oriental Despot

Written sources:

  • Barrishi, Alfie. (July 2020). ‘Underreporting on the crisis in Yemen, the complicity of the British government, and what we can do to help.’ Varsity.

    • https://www.varsity.co.uk/opinion/19596

  • Britannica. Gamal Abdel Nasser Profile. Britannica Encyclopedia.

    • https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gamal-Abdel-Nasser

  • Brown, AD. ‘Saleh’s opportunism renders US counterterrorism efforts ineffective.’ LSE Blogs

    • http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/81310/1/blogs.lse.ac.uk-Salehs%20opportunism%20renders%20US%20counterterrorism%20efforts%20ineffective.pdf

  • Engers, Klaus et al. (May 2002). ‘Yemen in the 1990s: from unification to economic reform.’ International Monetary Fund.

    • https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/op/208/

  • Hughes, Bill. (January 2018). ‘Repression and torture: the British Labour Party and the liberation struggle in South Yemen.’ Revolutionary Communist.

    • https://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/middle-east/yemen/5061-repression-and-torture-the-british-labour-party-and-the-liberation-struggle-in-south-yemen  

  • Jeannerod, Benedicte. (June 2020). ‘France should halt arms exports to Saudi Arabia, Egypt.’ Human Rights Watch.

    • https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/10/france-should-halt-arms-exports-saudi-arabia-egypt

  • Karasapan, Omer. (March 2020). ‘Yemen’s civilians: besieged on all sides.’ Brookings Institution.

    • https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/03/31/yemens-civilians-besieged-on-all-sides/

  • Lis, Alan. (October 2019). ‘Yemen is a battleground in Iran’s proxy war against the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.’ Global Security Review.

    • https://globalsecurityreview.com/yemen-iran-proxy-war/

  • Radman, Hussam. (April 2019). ‘Al-Qaeda’s strategic retreat in Yemen.’ Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies.

    • https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/4517

  • Schmitz, Charles. (February 2015). ‘The rise of Yemen’s Houthi rebels.’ BBC News.

    • https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31645145 

  • Talk to Al Jazeera. (May 2012). ‘Ali Salim el-Beidh: separating South Yemen.’ Al Jazeera.

    • https://www.aljazeera.com/program/talk-to-al-jazeera/2012/5/21/ali-salim-el-beidh-separating-south-yemen/

  • The Associated Press. (July 1994). Front Page. The New York Times.

    • https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/08/world/yemen-claims-victory-in-civil-war-after-seizing-rebel-city.html

  • Yemen Global Conflict Tracker. (November 2020). Council on Foreign Relations.

    • https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-yemen

  • Yemen Profile. (November 2019). BBC Timeline.

    • https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14704951

  • Yemen Profile. Britannic Encyclopedia.

    • https://www.britannica.com/place/Yemen/War-of-secession-and-political-unrest