When the richest gulf country bombs the poorest

A child living in Yemen or Syria and many other civilians who live in unstable countries should be living in a world that teaches them that the world is their oyster. However, lets focus on the situation that we seem to turn a blind eye to and it’s the country of Yemen and the humanitarian crisis that is happening.

Imagine being a helpless child who is now homeless, without the comfort of parents because your home has been plummeted with cluster bombs. It may appear as just another result of war however that is the problematic situation that is continuously occurring in Yemen whereby their closest neighbours Saudi Arabia seem display their power and strength over them with the distressing sounds of bombs.

Since 2015, the minority Shia Houthi forces captured the capital city of Sana’a they undermined the authority of the Sunni government headed by President Hadi who were friendly with their extravagant neighbours and this was the foundation of the basis of war when two forces clashed in the want for power. While this seems as a simple explanation this was the catalyst for the beginning of war which causes distress, death and displacement. In response Saudi Arabia who at the request by president Hadi began to lead a Saudi-led military coalition along with nine other countries whereby the country’s largest airport was attacked.

The human cost of war has been large. According to a January UN report between 26 March and 31 December, 2015 at 8,119 people, 2,795 of them killed and 5,324 wounded, noting that at least 62 civilians were reported killed by airstrikes attributed to coalition forces in December. The number seems to have increased dramatically also be in more than ‘twice’ of those in November.

The civilians are fleeing to poorer countries such as Djibouti and Somaliland, that’s the illustration of just how desperate and untenable the situation is now when an unrecognised yet thriving country seems to have opened its doors when the new American administration in January 2017 have banned travel from Yemen. Despite the fact that the US is one of the nine countries included in the Saudi-led coalition.

Common news headlines seem to either focus on a select few wars often the bloodiest and those that provide the most material however each single life had its own story and potential that has now been lost.