LONDON – All Hussain Al-Kholani has never known before is war and scarcity, at 4 months old. He weighs only 4 1/2 pounds, less than a third of the average American baby at that age.
“Hussain has suffered from malnutrition since birth,” Ali Hussein Al-Kholani, the boy’s father, told ABC News. ‘They tell me to take him to the malnutrition clinic [Yemen’s capital of] Sanaa, but I have no way of getting him there. ‘
Ali Hussein is unable to work and is forced to feed his family – his son, daughter, wife and four brothers – by relying on food handouts from aid agencies. They live in a small hut on the edge of Al-Dahi, a sprawling refugee camp for internally displaced people in the northern province of Hajah. He can not afford to buy his latest baby wipes, let alone travel through the poor country to get treatment for him.
The story of the Al-Kholani family is not unique: according to the World Food Program, about 2 million children need treatment for severe malnutrition, with at least 360,000 people dying. For nearly six years of conflict, aid workers have been desperately struggling to provide supplies and medical support to the now 24.3 million Yemenis – a staggering 80% of the total population – who need humanitarian aid.
A new risk of rapid deterioration is now added to the protracted crisis: one of President Donald Trump’s latest actions in office – which designates the Houthi militant group Ansar Allah as a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ – could prevent aid organizations from in large part the country, and, in the words of one U.S. senator, constitute a ‘death sentence for millions’.
‘Catastrophe’
The situation in Yemen has already been classified by the World Health Organization as the ‘worst humanitarian crisis in the world’. The origins of the conflict are complex, as evidenced by the instability of the Arab Spring, but the war has raged since 2015, and both sides are suspected of committing war crimes. The Saudis in particular received international criticism, while the US and the UK continued to export weapons to the Kingdom, despite accusations that the weapons were repeatedly used to target hospitals and civilian sites.
Fighting between the Iran-backed Houthi militia and the Saudi-backed government has reached a broad deadlock. The Houthi militia now controls large parts of the country, while the Saudi-backed government is based in Aden and is recognized by the international community.
In the most recent case of violence, 25 people were killed and 110 wounded during a missile attack on an airport in Aden, a city in the south, which the internationally recognized government of Yemen accused the Houthis – a reminder that both parties are far from nothing seems like a diplomatic settlement. The Houthis deny responsibility for the blast, reports The Guardian.
The country is at a breaking point. According to the WFP, which needs at least $ 1.9 billion to provide a minimum level of food aid, it is expected that in the first six months of 2021, about 16.2 million people, half of the total population, will be in faced. prevent famine. The UN group now says conditions are likely to be worse than in 2018, the last time Yemen is experiencing famine-prone conditions.
“How are they going to get food?” David Beasley, the group’s executive director, asked the United Nations Security Council last week. “How are they going to get fuel? How are they going to get medicine? It’s going to be a disaster … we’re going to get a disaster in their hands.”
Last month, UNICEF warned that Yemen “is on the verge of collapse” and “is perhaps the most dangerous place on earth to be a child.”
“One child dies every 10 minutes from a preventable disease,” said Henrietta Fore, executive director. “Two million are not in school. And thousands have been killed, maimed or recruited since 2015.”
For Hussain and 12 million other children, daily life is a “waking nightmare” – with conflict taking place across 49 different front lines, the group said. According to the WFP, 1 million pregnant or breastfeeding women need treatment from last year.
In a malnutrition clinic at Bani Hassan Hospital in Hajjah Province, Dr. Ali Hajer told ABC News that the food supply in the center was “zero” as resources were disrupted in recent months.
“The war in Yemen has destroyed everything, such as the economy, health and living conditions in Yemen,” he told ABC News. “This aid is very important. If this humanitarian aid stops for the Yemeni people and the Yemeni children, there will be a great disaster.”
COVID-19 makes the situation even more difficult for health workers and humanitarian agencies. On 19 January, there were 2119 confirmed cases and 615 deaths, but the WHO has a second wave at a stage where only half of the health institutions in the country are functioning in full or in part. In recent years, Yemen has experienced what the WHO called the worst cholera outbreak of modern times, as well as further outbreaks of diphtheria, dengue fever, measles and malaria.
‘Outrage’
The situation is in danger of deteriorating further. On January 12, the United States officially designated Ansar Allah as a FTO in response to its alleged “terrorist actions, including cross-border attacks that threaten civilian populations, infrastructure and commercial shipping,” former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. said a statement. before the designation, adding that the move “was intended to advance efforts to bring about a peaceful, sovereign and united Yemen free from Iranian interference and at peace with its neighbors.”
But the FTO designation now means that it is illegal for individuals or groups to provide ‘materials or resources’ to Ansar Allah, which means that without official exemptions no foreign agencies can provide assistance to large parts of the country under their rule.
Aid organizations said the ruling could in fact make it impossible to carry out their work, with supply lines and access already at constant risk of continued disruption. In addition, they said the FTO designation could not suppress terrorism.
Amanda Cantanzano, senior director for international program policy and advocacy at the International Rescue Committee, told ABC News that the IRC was ‘furious about the decision’.
“We see it as something that will create barriers, so that it will be almost impossible for us to provide aid to those in need efficiently and effectively. And it will be a crisis everywhere. But in Yemen it is a disaster,” she said. said ABC News.
Kirsten Fontenrose, a former senior director of golf affairs at the NSC, told ABC News that the appointment was considered in the early years of the Trump administration, but was not pursued due to a number of factors. The UN advised that the designation would ‘make it impossible’ to pursue a political settlement in Yemen, but ultimately the government found that Ansar Allah both ‘used the space to function to run additional terrorist organizations’ and’ the vulnerability in the auxiliary community, “members whose name would be opposed.
“Ansar Allah will make this designation help the aid work harder,” Fontenrose told ABC News. “They want to strengthen the voices against the nomination, and therefore they need to make the impact look as awful as they can.”
However, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said political sabotage is a more likely motive.
Members of the UN Security Council warned that there could be “no military solution to the conflict”. Martin Griffiths, the UN’s special envoy for Yemen, said the designation of the FTO could have a ‘cold effect’ in bringing the parties together for dialogue.
“What is difficult is that the language of the FTO legislation is not intended for a quasi-governmental organization,” Jon Alternam, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ABC News . ‘So it’s very good about how you can have nothing to do with these kinds of people … The Houthi’s control more than half of the Yemeni population. It’s not like dealing with Al Qaeda. ‘
“That’s not to say that the Houthis are not doing outrageous things, it is not to say that the Houthis are not endangering civilians all the time – ‘well,’ ‘he said. “But how do you come to a settlement if you punish ordinary contact with them?”
Antony Blinken, Biden’s nominee as foreign minister, said the new government would review the title immediately. But it can involve a rather complicated legal process, and it can take a while to sort out, according to Alternam. Murphy told ABC News that this period could be crucial because Yemenis are still suffering.
“This is a death sentence for millions of Yemenis because they will no longer get food and die of starvation over the next few weeks,” Murphy said. “It’s that simple. And the fact that the Trump administration has continued with this designation, knowing that it would be the result, is absolutely devastating. It’s heartbreaking. It’s amazing.”
For people like Hussain and his family, there is no end in sight – and everyday decisions are becoming increasingly difficult.
“[We have] only one food basket from the World Food Program, “said Hussain’s father. We sell it either to treat the boy. Or take it home so we can eat. ‘
ABC News, Ahmed Baider and Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.