"Yemen food aid to feed millions at risk of rotting:UN"
![Children stand near their hut at a makeshift camp for internally displaced people near Sanaa last month [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2019/1/29/40f90a20487a4042bdb0345310b5e4c6_18.jpg "Yemen food aid to feed millions at risk of rotting: UN") |
| Children stand near their hut at a makeshift camp for internally displaced people near Sanaa last month[Khaled Abdullah/Reuters] |
Food kept in the Red Sea Mills Silos in Yemen's western port city of city of Hodeidah is said to hold enough grain to feed 3.7 million people for a month. This food aid was brought in by the World Food Programme, and after sitting in the silos for said "months", it is now at risk of rotting and being rendered useless to the more than 10 million starving Yemenis.
The grain is inaccessible by aid organizations because Hodeidah has been under the control of the Houthis rebels since 2014, after they led armed attacks on large portions of Yemen. The movement of the Houthis caused Saudi Arabia, The United Arab emirates, and the allies to offer military aid to Yemen's government in order to resist the rebels. The situation in Yemen has sparked what the UN has identified as the "worlds greatest humanitarian crisis".
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| Soldiers backed by Yemen's military coalition standing guard over Red Sea Mills Company in Hodeidah |
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| Conflict including Houthis rebels kills more than 7,000 people |
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| UN office for the coordination of human affairs: Scale of Yemen's humanitarian crisis |
Reaction
The allowing of food aid that could save millions of lives of the Yemeni's people is proof that the crisis in Yemen is currently the most inhumane in the world. This food crisis is one of many happening daily in Yemen, and it serves to further display the turbulence in the country. I believe the UN should be careful about what global issues they involve themselves with; however, they have a right to interfere with other countries affairs when it involves the preventable deaths of millions. The war is indirectly killing millions through starvation and unsuitable living conditions, and since neither side is accomplishing anything through fighting the quickest way to end the suffering of the people would come from peace settlements.
Connection
This crisis is happening in the same area of the Middle East as what we are studying with the Israeli Palestinian crisis. Yemen has connections with the anti-Jewish resistance and has offered aid in stopping the Zionist State. The horrible conditions in Yemen, as well as the stalemate, share similarities with WWII, and the stalemate on the eastern front. In both situations, millions of soldiers and civilians were killed, and the quality of life for civilians decreased. Yemen is experiencing the food and supplies shortages caused by war on a exponential level.
Persecuting and shooting masses of people is one type of evil, but intentionally cutting huge populations of people off from supplies such as food and water is an atrocity beyond cruel. The blockade was established by the Houthi, an Islamic religious-armed movement located in northern Yemen, in 2015. Houthi groups conquered several ports where supplies were being delivered,one of them being Red Sea Mills Silos, cutting off aid to thousands of citizens in Yemen. Additionally, since the aid is being held hostage, the grain being stored has begun to rot away. Since the United States' involvement in October of 2016, there has been little improvement. Yemen citizens not only fear persecution, they are now burdened with the uncertainty of when their next meal will come. In a New York Times article, Robert F. Worth reports that over 14 million people are on the brink of starvation. (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/31/magazine/yemen-war-saudi-arabia.html) According to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, the most essential layer are the physiological needs. These entail, food, water, shelter, basically anything necessary for survival. Without this basic need being met, progressing through the other tiers will be more difficult.
ReplyDeleteI think this blockade is an intentional move to torture millions of people and it is so cruel. I understand that Yemen and Saudi Arabia have a history of disagreements but for the sake of their citizens I think that they should reach some sort of compromise.
I agree that humans physical need for food should be taken seriously, and the governments to work harder to end the suffering of their people. Yemen's and Saudi Arabia's failure to reach a compromise in their fighting proves that they are working with ulterior motives instead of with the wish to create safety and better lives for their people. The Houthis rebels methods of conquering Yemen make us question their motives, and show outsiders that they are not working solely to help their countrymen. The idea that they would not go after strategically important places that would help them gain more political importance, but outside food aid shows that they just want control over the people, and to impose their beliefs on others.
DeleteAs stated in your article, Yemen has been experiencing extreme food shortages for over five years now, and the effects are becoming increasingly more volatile. With little food or access to clean water, many Yemenis are on the verge of death, or have died due to malnutrition. Since Yemen is currently under the control of the Houthis, delivering food aid to all those in need has become an even bigger obstacle. The fact that the relief they need is right in the Red Sea Mills Silo, but cannot be accessed is absolutely tragic, as the only thing preventing many from receiving the much needed food is the Houthis. As there are many different factors going into the humanitarian crisis faced today by the Yemenis, it is difficult to even form a solution complex enough to solve all their obstacles they face. Firstly, I think that the crisis must be better publicized, with more organizations working just on the food crisis, instead of also trying to tackle the war and the Houthis. By doing this, I hope the attention will allow for better solutions and aid to be brought to Yemen and help eradicate the famine being experienced so that the people of Yemen will be able to experience fulfilling and healthy lives.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very tough situation for the UN to be in since they are up against an army of rebels which are heavily armed. They have very few options. They could either make an agreement with the Houthi’s or the could you use force and violence. The only problem with making and agreement is that people are starving and need urgent help. Likewise the problem with using force is that the UN’s goal is to keep peace and not to brutally enter and forcefully take food from rebels. Also this situation is making the UN look very bad, and could inspire other rebel groups to do the same as the Houthi’s.
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