Maat issues a new report entitled “Yemen’s Tragic Plight Continues amid International reluctance to End the Ongoing Conflict”, in which it monitors the human rights situation in Yemen during the first half of 2021
Okeil: The Houthi militia continues to carry out criminal activities, and to deliberately and systematically target Yemenis
Ghaith: The conflict in Yemen has left the country on the brink of mass destruction and the international community has failed to resolve it
Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights issued a new report entitled"Yemen’s Tragic Plight Continues amid International reluctance to End the Ongoing Conflict ",in which it monitors the human rights situation during the first half of 2021. The report documented the deterioration of the humanitarian conditions in Yemen as a result of the continuation of armed conflicts for the seventh year, respectively. Besides, perpetrators of human rights crimes and violations, especially the Houthi group, continue to evade accountability, and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already deteriorating human rights situation in Yemen, including the economic and social rights that have been rapidly declining since the Houthis began the coup against the legitimate government in September 2014. The pandemic has exposed the structural deficiencies that public institutions and facilities in the war-torn country suffer from, especially in the health sector.
The report indicated that about 80% of its population estimated at 31 million people need humanitarian assistance, including 5 million on the brink of famine and more than 4 million internally displaced people, who are highly vulnerable. Civilians have borne the brunt of the conflict, which led to injuries and multiple displacements. Also, the continuation of mismanagement, weak rule of law, destructed economy, and deeply rooted discriminatory norms and practices have pushed millions further into poverty, which is the situation that was exacerbated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report revealed that the war in Yemen has left about a quarter of a million people have died in Yemen's war, including more than 112,000 persons who have been killed directly during the hostilities since March 2015; the actual death toll is believed to be much higher.
Ayman Okeil, president of Maat, said that the Houthi militia is still continuing its deliberate and systematic criminal activities in targeting civilians, civilian objects, and the displaced in the city of Ma'rib with ballistic missiles and remote-controlled aircrafts, as well as bombing and launching booby-trapped remote-controlled aircrafts and planting landmines targeting civilians in Al Hodeidah Governorate. Okeil added that these acts amount to war crimes and are imprescriptible. In addition, the Houthi militia has established summer centers in the areas under their control to recruit children in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and conventions on the rights of the child.
For her part, Abeer Ghaith, Deputy Director of the Research and Studies Unit at Maat, said that the continuation of the conflict in Yemen has led to the fall of dozens of victims on a daily basis, doubling the misery of civilians who have been exhausted by the bloody conflicts, as the conflict has contributed to putting the country on the edge of mass destruction. Over six years, schools, factories, hospitals, and companies have been destructed, children have been recruited to fight and hundreds of thousands have lost their livelihoods. One in four persons in Yemen is unable to find work, which limits his ability to provide food for his family. All this is in light of the complete failure of the international community to resolve the conflict, which is entering its seventh year.
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