i recently wrote about yemen for my final in my global issues class, so here are a few facts about yemen’s humanitarian crisis & amer*ca’s role in its ongoing civil war, as well as the affects of the coronavirus on the yemeni population *with linked sources* #FREEMENA
yemen’s political transition from 2011-2014 was supposed to bring stability to the country, but it failed miserably. so yemen is now riddled with corruption, unemployment, poverty, attacks by separatist t*rr*r*st organizations, & the lack of food https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423
according to the united nations, over 24 million people (about 80% of yemen’s population) require some sort of humanitarian assistance (ex: shelter, food, healthcare, etc.) https://yemen.un.org/en/about/about-the-un
therefore, yemen is considered to be in more need of humanitarian assistance than any other country today. https://yemen.un.org/en/about/about-the-un
from april 2015-october 2018, about 85,000 children under the age of (5) may have died from severe accute malnutrition. their immune systems are so incredibly weak that they‘re much more susceptible to infections & diseases (including the coronavirus) https://www.savethechildren.org/us/about-us/media-and-news/2018-press-releases/yemen-85000-children-may-have-died-from-starvation
here’s a graphic of the cholera situation in yemen from october 2016-december 2019. there were over 2.2 million cholera cases & almost 3,900 deaths. (cfr = case fatality rate) *source: world health organization https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/EMCSR244E.pdf
since 2015, yemen’s national income has shrunk by 50%, 600k+ jobs have been lost, & 1.5 million+ families no longer receive support through public safety-nets. overall, 80% of yemenis live below the poverty line https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/20181023%20ERC%20Remarks%20to%20SC%20on%20Yemen.pdf
however, yemenis aren’t just dying from hunger & starvation. since march 2015, the sa*di arab*an government has led airstrikes throughout yemen. these people are living in an actual warzone https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423
the united states & sa*di arab*a have been CLOSE economic allies for 70+ years. so believe it or not, the obama administration actually supported & assisted in the sa*di-led war in yemen https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/11/19/obama-officials-incomplete-reckoning-failure-yemen
“we repeatedly provided this evidence to the obama administration, but they would insist that the support they were providing was reining in the saudis & helping improve their ability to comply with the laws of war” https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/11/19/obama-officials-incomplete-reckoning-failure-yemen
the united nations called for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow aid & covid-19 measures to be implemented in yemen. sa*di arab*a originally agreed to the ceasefire, but both rebel yemeni forces & sa*di forces later accused each other of launching attacks https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-middle-east-52224358
the country has 632 confirmed cases of covid-19, 28 recoveries, & 139 deaths. people have died because of airstrikes, starvation, & covid-19, so cemeteries in the yemeni city of aden are now overflowing. despite the pandemic, the coalition war continues
humanitarian groups fear that due to yemen’s limited covid-19 testing, the threats of a cholera outbreak & famine, as well as the country’s weak healthcare system, the number of coronavirus cases in yemen are much higher than those reported https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/22/yemen-displaced-heightened-covid-19-risk
displaced yemenis are much more vulnerable to covid-19 because they live in overcrowded camps where social-distancing & self-isolation is almost impossible. it’s also difficult for them to receive healthcare & other essential services if they’re infected https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/22/yemen-displaced-heightened-covid-19-risk
the longer that the UN & other international orgs take to end the war in yemen, the more people will die @ the hands of the sa*di forces that the u.s. continues to supply with weapons. nonetheless, cutting/restricting aid to yemen (especially during a pandemic) is selfish & cruel
there is no end in site to the war, the pandemic, or the humanitarian crisis, so the numbers of deaths in yemen will exponentially increase. i’ll update this thread whenever i find more recent info about the coalition war, u.s.-yemen relations, & the effects of covid-19 in yemen
*** i’m a college student who‘s trying to get degrees in both poli-sci & global studies, so i often conduct research about u.s.-mena relations & islamophobia in/for my classes. if there are flaws in my tweets, please let me know so i can be further educated about this issue
this link will direct you to even more resources to support/help yemenis, palestinians, & the blm movement https://linktr.ee/sandraaa 
european states such as germany, denmark, finland, & norway don’t sell arms to sa*di anymore, but france has continued their arms deal with sa*di. however, the u.s. prioritizes the jobs created by sa*di arms sales over the yemeni civilians killed by them https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/05/17/france-should-stop-fueling-saudi-war-crimes-yemen
also, i apologize for using the hashtag #/FREEMENA in the original tweet. i understand that i should have used #FREEYEMEN instead
all of this critical info about yemen has also been translated into spanish so it could reach a much larger audience! please share it! https://twitter.com/erodabroken/status/1273085000934621189?s=21 https://twitter.com/erodabroken/status/1273085000934621189
here’s a very important thread to read through about the uk’s role/involvement in yemen https://twitter.com/louis_allday/status/1273608333367402497?s=21 https://twitter.com/louis_allday/status/1273608333367402497
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