The UN received promises from all sides of the conflict in Yemen on an intention to participate in peaceful talks which must start in Kuwait on April 18th. A few days before their start, the ceasefire regime will be implemented in the country on April 10th. It was stated by the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. The sides are expected in Kuwait City to continue discussing the agenda endorsed during the previous meeting on Yemen in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, last December, first of all, on de-escalating the armed conflict and launching a full-fledged process of its political settlement.
Moscow is actively supporting such plans. “We have always advocated an early end to hostilities on Yemeni soil, which led to thousands of civilian victims and exacerbated the humanitarian situation in the country to the limit. As before, we are convinced that only negotiations based on relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the results of the conference on national dialogue will make it possible to ensure long-awaited peace in Yemen and restore its statehood. For its part, Russia will continue to actively facilitate this,” Maria Zakharova, the Spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated.
According to the latest reports from the International Organisation for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2.4 million people have been temporarily displaced as a result of the 12-month conflict in Yemen. Their humanitarian and socioeconomic living conditions are quickly getting worse, and the situation continues to deteriorate without a political settlement, as I just mentioned.
The IOM and the UNHCR have urged the belligerents to provide humanitarian access to areas most affected by hostilities. According to their reports, most temporarily displaced people are staying in precisely these areas. They believe that the provision of humanitarian access is feasible. The delivery of humanitarian relief aid last month to Taiz, one of the most war-torn Yemeni regions, is an example of this.
According to Zakharova, more temporarily displaced people are being registered in areas where clashes have resumed and intensified, including Taiz, Hajjah, Sana’a, Amran and Sa’dah, and they account for 68 percent of all temporarily displaced people in Yemen. Most displaced persons, over 555,000 people, are in Taiz, which has been besieged for several months. Taiz is followed by Hajjah (353,000), Sana’a (253,000), Amran (245,000) and Sa’dah (237,000). The latter was hit by air strikes recently, and the local population has decreased considerably. In fact, two-thirds (69 percent) of the local population have become temporarily displaced.
At the same time, a reverse trend is also being seen. About 420,000 people have returned to their homes, mostly in southern Yemen. The truth is that they were forced to relocate as a result of cyclones that hit the Arabian Peninsula, but unfortunately, not as a result of an armistice or ceasefire.
Serious shortages of resources and aid are being posted. Many temporarily displaced people are seeking shelter with relatives or friends. They are also staying in schools and abandoned buildings; they are building slums or living out in the open. As the humanitarian organisation notes, about $2 billion is needed for a Yemeni humanitarian relief effort. This money would be for basic aid to 14 million needy people. To date, only 2 percent of the current necessities have been financed.
The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that the humanitarian crisis in that country could escalate out of control, unless a political settlement is achieved and the hostilities continue to escalate.
