Crisis in Yemen

Yemen has been at war since 2015, since the Houthi overthrew the former Yemeni president on Jan. 25, 2015. Ever since than, bombings are still occuring and the country has to deal with COVID-19 and cholera, so what exactly is going on with Yemen?

In late August, a terrorist attack that led to a bomb explosion left the population homeless, sick, and depraved. Along with the bomb, the people of Yemen had to worry about kidnapping and detention camps, criminal activity, and government actions. The terrorists pretend to be working for the government to make corrupt and unjust decisions. Also, the terrorist kidnapping has resulted in U.S and dual Yemeni citizens being detained, and people trying to flee the country. This crisis has led to more than 91,000 civilian casualties.

Additionally, on top of having the terrorist attack, the country is increasing in numbers for COVID-19 while still having a cholera outbreak. Seyyed Meysam Mousavi & Mina Anjomshoa, journalists for the International Journal for Equity and Health said, “The unsafe shelters, persistent migration, and displacement, lack of essential medicines, inadequate food and insufficient access to safe water for drinking, suppressed immunity among the malnourished population, and lacking the lower limit of hygiene standards would put Yemen at a high risk of emergence of severe outbreaks such as COVID-19.” Also, the Ministry of Public Health said "The virus in Yemen might expand and infect 90% of the population.”

The country currently has a little medical infrastructure; therefore, the community has a higher risk of getting COVID-19 or cholera. The terrorist attack has rippled a domino effect for the health officials. Seyyed Meysam Mousavi & Mina Anjomshoa say, “Awfully, the most recent update from the “WHO” mentioned that only 50% of health care facilities across the country are still able to work, while, the rest has been fully destroyed by the coalition airstrikes indiscriminately or deliberately in some occasions.” Also, the health care facilities that are still standing, are struggling to treat their patients with the current medical situation, while the terrorist warnings are going on as well.

It’s still unclear when the terrorist attacks will eventually stop for Yemen, but surrounding countries are assisting in any way; for example, creating charities and helping out the government on decisions for the country. As COVID-19 and cholera are still present throughout the country, charities are looking to help send medical supplies ASAP. At this time, everything in Yemen is not seeing an end to this war.

(Photo courtesy of Asia Cruz)