Yearbook 2017
 Yemen. At the beginning of the year, the UN Children's
Fund UNICEF reported that nearly 1,400 children had been
killed in the Yemen conflict between the Saudi-led military
alliance and the Huthir bells. The UN calls the country's
conflict the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world: 7,000
people have died since 2015, 3 million are on the run and 20
million are suffering from famine or are in need of
humanitarian aid. According to UNICEF, in November, 11
million children in Yemen were in dire need of humanitarian
aid. Of these, 2 million were severely malnourished. Add to
that the cholera epidemic that hit the country in the
spring. By the end of the summer, more than 500,000 had
fallen ill and nearly 2,000 had died in the suites of
intestinal disease. In August, the World Health Organization
(WHO) reported on 5,000 new cases each day.
Recurring reports of boat refugees along the Yemeni coast
tell of great tragedy: in March, more than 40 Somali
refugees were killed when their boat was subjected to a
helicopter attack, and in August some 60 migrants died after
being pushed out of the boats.
According to
Countryaah.com, Yemen was also hit by US President Donald Trump's entry
ban when the country and six other Muslim states were
stopped in January for entry into the United States.
Saudi Arabia closed the border with Yemen in early
November after the Yemeni rebels fired a missile at the
Saudi capital Riyadh; however, the missile could be shot
down. The reason for the closure was said to be the desire
to stop Iranian weapons supplies to the Huthirbels. After
two weeks, the border was reopened so that relief could
reach the starving civilian population.
On December 4, Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah
Saleh was killed in the capital Sana in connection with an
escape attempt. He was very likely on his way to Saudi
Arabia Yemen to open up talks with the Saudi-led coalition
when he was killed by his former allies, the Huhira rebels.
With his death there is a very high risk of escalation of
the conflict. And quite rightly: just a few hours later,
ex-President Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi urged his compatriots
to stand up to the huhirebells.
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