Saudi
Arabia’s war in Yemen and its continuing blockade of Yemeni ports
has virtually collapsed the country and basic necessities are in
dangerously short supply. Now, Yemen finds itself unable to treat a
rapidly growing cholera outbreak that claims the life of one civilian
every hour.
by
Whitney Webb
In March,
the world looked on as the Saudi-led coalition – which has been
fighting a deadly war in Yemen since 2015 – moved to expand its
naval blockade of Al Hudaydah, Yemen’s largest port. The move drew
the consternation of the United Nations, as well as the Russian
Foreign Ministry, with the latter warning that the operation “would
not only inevitably lead to a mass exodus of the [local] population
but would also de facto cut the [Yemeni] capital of Sanaa from…
food and humanitarian aid supplies.”
Those
warnings have now come to fruition, as a massive cholera outbreak has
already begun to spiral out of control after two weeks. Since it
began, 942 cholera-related deaths have been confirmed – and in the
past week, the number of newly-diagnosed cases has jumped to 5,470 a
day, according to international NGO Save the Children. More than
300,000 cases are anticipated in the coming months and the daily
death toll from the disease is similarly expected to grow. Currently,
around 30 people die every day from cholera in Yemen.
While
cholera is normally treated both easily and inexpensively, the
Saudis’ ongoing blockade and repeated bombings of civilian
infrastructure – particularly hospitals – have crippled Yemen’s
health system, making it unable to respond to the cholera crisis.
Since Saudi Arabia first invaded, more than 270 health facilities
have been damaged or destroyed. Most of Yemen’s estimated 3,500
health facilities are closed or barely functioning.
The spread
and severity of the outbreak has also been affected by a compromised
immune system response caused by the widespread famine – another
result of the blockage and ongoing war. More than half of all Yemenis
lack adequate access to food. According to UN estimates, more than
370,000 children under the age of five are suffering from severe
malnutrition and are now being disproportionately affected by the
outbreak.
The
increasing rate of cholera infection is also believed to be linked to
the Yemenis’ lack of access to clean water, a basic necessity that
more than 60 percent of residents have been forced to go without.
Cholera is largely spread by contaminated food and water.
But the
Saudis are unlikely to face much international backlash for their
role in creating the cholera crisis, despite the fact that they are
using the blockade of humanitarian aid as a weapon against the Yemeni
people. Thanks to the Saudis’ controversial placement on the UN
human rights council, they are unlikely to face retaliatory measures
for their war crimes, especially since Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to
the UN in Geneva serves as the chair of a key panel of “independent”
experts on the UN Human Rights Council.
And while
the Saudis are the main culprit behind the unprecedented catastrophe
now unfolding in Yemen, their most prominent ally – the United
States – has not only aided the Saudis, but has moved to take a
more direct role in the destruction of Yemen. In late April,
Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced that the U.S. would
assist the Saudis’ bombing campaign and would similarly seek to
increase military assistance to Saudi Arabia.
In late May,
President Donald Trump oversaw the sale of $110 billion in arms to
the Saudis, an arms deal that the U.S. Senate failed to block despite
bipartisan support and growing opposition to the U.S.-Saudi alliance.
As Yemen
faces total collapse and an unprecedented loss of its population to
preventable causes, the U.S.-supported and Saudi-led war is a
testament to a scorched-earth foreign policy that threatens to
destroy the entire region.
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