COI QUERY

Country of Origin

Question(s) 1. Background information on control of state institutions and movement in Yemen 2. Information on Sana’a International Airport 3. Issuance of passports in the areas controlled by the Houthis

Date of completion 29 October 2019 Query Code Q26-2019 Contributing EU+ COI --- units (if applicable)

Disclaimer

This response to a COI query has been elaborated according to the Common EU Guidelines for Processing COI and EASO COI Report Methodology.

The information provided in this response has been researched, evaluated and processed with utmost care within a limited time frame. All sources used are referenced. A quality review has been performed in line with the above mentioned methodology. This document does not claim to be exhaustive neither conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to international protection. If a certain event, person or organisation is not mentioned in the report, this does not mean that the event has not taken place or that the person or organisation does not exist. Terminology used should not be regarded as indicative of a particular legal position.

The information in the response does not necessarily reflect the opinion of EASO and makes no political statement whatsoever.

The target audience is caseworkers, COI researchers, policy makers, and decision making authorities. The answer was finalised on the 29 October 2019. Any event taking place after this date is not included in this answer.

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COI QUERY RESPONSE

1. Background information on control of state institutions and movement in Yemen

Freedom House notes that Yemen ‘has no functioning central government, and any state institutions that continue to operate are controlled by unelected officials and armed groups’1. Chatham House states that ’the September 2014 takeover of the capital by the Houthis, in partnership with former president Saleh, left the group in effective control of major state security institutions, including the defence and interior ministries as well as elite military units and their stockpiles of weaponry; in other words, the Houthi rebels came to control much of the bureaucracy and the state-linked de facto authorities.’2

Ansar Allah, or the Houthis, have been described as exercising ‘government like functions and control [of] a territory’ in parts of Yemen in 20193 while the internationally recognised government backed by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates based itself in a temporary capital of . The group has expanded their control over governmental and institutions across the northern areas held by their forces, including the ministry of interior in Sana’a, where administrative and security services continued to operate under the Houthis.4

In August 2019, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces supported by the United Arab Emirates, originally in the Saudi Arabia-led coalition against the Houthis, seized the interim capital of Aden from the internationally recognized government.5

The ability of Yemenis to travel inside and outside the country has been limited by the parties in the conflict.6 The number of new conflict-related displacements in Yemen almost doubled compared with the same period in 2018 to more than 282,000 new IDPs in the first half of 2019, with , Hodeidah and Al-Dhale governorates being the mostly affected.7

According to Mwatana for Human Rights, an independent Yemeni human rights organisation, the restrictions of movement within the country can be ‘based on regional backgrounds, political affiliations, and […] surnames of civilians.’8 The existence of multiple checkpoints throughout the

1 Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2019 - Yemen, 4 February 2019, url 2 Chatham House, Between Order and Chaos; A New Approach to Stalled State Transformations in Iraq and Yemen, September 2019, url, p. 22 3 For maps on the evolution of the Yemen conflict, please see: ECFR, Mapping the Yemen Conflict, n.d., url 4 UN Security Council, Letter dated 22 January 2016 from the Panel of Experts on Yemen established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2140 (2014) addressed to the President of the Security Council’, 26 January 2016, url, p. 12; Chatham House, Between Order and Chaos; A New Approach to Stalled State Transformations in Iraq and Yemen, September 2019, url, pp. 22-23; Mwatana for Human Rights, Withering Life: The Human Rights Situation in Yemen 2018, July 2019, url, p. 104; ECFR, Mapping the Yemen Conflict, n.d., url 5 Al Jazeera, Yemeni government, separatist STC close to deal on Aden, 8 October 2019, url; ICG, After Aden: Navigating Yemen’s New Political Landscape, 30 August 2019, url 6 Mwatana for Human Rights, Withering Life: The Human Rights Situation in Yemen 2018, July 2019, url, p. 108; USDOS, Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2018 - Yemen, 13 March 2019, url 7 IDMC, Mid-Year Figures, Internal Displacement from January to June 2019, 12 September 2019, url; IDMC, Yemen, n.d., url 8 Mwatana for Human Rights, Withering Life: The Human Rights Situation in Yemen 2018, July 2019, url, p. 108

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country also limit the possibilities to travel inside Yemen9, with financial exploitation and bribes restricting movement of civilians.10

Additionally, Freedom House notes that in-country travelling is hindered by combat and damages to existing infrastructures.11

Although women need a permission from their husband or father to be able to receive a passport and travel abroad (even in times of peace)12, the US Department of State (USDOS) notes that there were no reports of authorities enforcing this requirement in 2018. The source notes that there were ‘attempts […] by Houthis to impose similar restrictions on women’s international travel’.13

Since the beginning of the conflict in 2015, the Houthis have imposed travel bans, as illustrated by cases reported from the governorates of Sa’dah, Sana’a, Lahj and Ad Dali’.14

2. Information on Sana’a International Airport

The Civil Aviation & Meteorology Authority of Yemen (CAMA) lists the following airports in the country: Sana‘a, Aden, Mukala, Hodeidah, , Sayun, al-Ghaidah and .15 The source does not specifically mention whether all the listed airports currently operate.

The Sana’a airport, also known as El Rahaba Airport, was hit by the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on 28 April 2015, leaving it closed until 20 May 2015.16 Since 15 August 2016, the airport has been closed for commercial flights, staying open only for ‘United Nations and other international humanitarian organisations’ flights.’17

In April 2019, according to the IHS Markit, the Sana’a airport stayed open to ‘humanitarian and military flights’ and for ‘those with specific authorization.’18 In December 2018, it was reportedly agreed to reopen the Sana’a Airport, with Saudi Arabia later refusing to implement the agreement in practice.19 In March 2019, CAMA organised a protest at the Sana’a airport against its closure for civil, commercial, and humanitarian flights.20 Another protest against the closure of the airport was reported in August 2019.21

9 BTI 2018, Yemen, 2018, url, p. 8; Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2019 - Yemen, 4 February 2019, url 10 Mwatana for Human Rights, Withering Life: The Human Rights Situation in Yemen 2018, July 2019, url, p. 108 11 Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2019 - Yemen, 4 February 2019, url 12 Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2019 - Yemen, 4 February 2019, url 13 USDOS, Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2018 - Yemen, 13 March 2019, url 14 Equal Rights Trust, Sifting the Grain, 6,000 Testimonies of Discrimination and Inequality from Yemen, December 2018, url 15 CAMA, [website], n.d., url 16 UN Security Council, Letter dated 22 January 2016 from the Panel of Experts on Yemen established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2140 (2014) addressed to the President of the Security Council’, 26 January 2016, url, pp. 185-186 17 Guardian (The), Yemen's health ministry says airport closure has cost nearly 10,000 lives, 9 August 2019, url; NRC, Airport closure amounts to death sentence for thousands of sick Yemenis, 5 August 2019, url, UK Home Office, Foreign Travel Advice, Yemen, 4 September 2019, url 18 GardaWorld, Yemen Country Report, 5 April 2019, url 19 Al Jazeera, airport could be reopened soon: UN envoy to Yemen, 28 September 2018, url; Irish Times, Yemen’s warring parties agree to reopen Sana’a airport, 12 December 2018, url 20 CAMA, Sana'a International Airport Protest Denounces Continuation of Aggression and Airport's Closure, n.d., url 21 Press TV, Yemenis protest blockade on Sana'a airport as more civilians suffer, 10 August 2019, url

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On 5 August 2019, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) stated that the closure of the airport in Sana’a for commercial flights ‘is preventing thousands of sick Yemeni civilians from seeking urgent medical treatment outside the country’.22

Although Airways, the Yemeni national carrier, offers internal and international flights on their website, no actual flights were displayed from Sana’a International Airport at time of preparing this response.23

The UK government travel advice of 4 September 2019 indicates that ‘Yemenia Airways flights from Sana’a airport are suspended until further notice. Yemenia Airways regularly operate flights from Aden airport which reopened in May 2016, however Yemenia’s schedule is subject to last minute alterations or cancellation.’24

Sources indicate that only Aden International Airport and Seiyun International Airport, both located in the areas under the control of the internationally recognized government, can be used for international travel.25

Yemenis from northern and western Yemen, including Sana’a, wishing to travel from the Seiyun airport, have to pass Al Falaj checkpoint on the way. Different forms of abuses and discrimination at the checkpoint make many civilians think that traveling abroad is ‘impossible’, according to the Mwatana for Human Rights.26

Regarding the Aden International Airport, Mwatana for Human Rights noted that those who do not have identification documents from the southern governorates are allowed to enter Aden ‘only when they have a passport and a plane ticket from Aden International Airport.’27 Equal Rights Trust reported on cases when the legitimate authorities in Al Mahrah and Aden refused to issue a passport to individuals coming from other governorates.28

3. Issuance of passports in the areas controlled by the Houthis

As illustrated below, sources indicate that the Houthis have continued to issue passports in the areas under their control.

According to a Yemeni official, quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat in September 2016, the Houthis have issued ‘100,000 fake identification cards’ for their members in Hoadeidah since they took control of the province in 2014, including its civil and passports institutions.29

22 NRC, Airport closure amounts to death sentence for thousands of sick Yemenis, 5 August 2019, url 23 Yemenia, Holidays, n.d., url 24 UK Home Office, Foreign Travel Advice, Yemen, 4 September 2019, url 25 ACAPS, ACAPS Briefing Note: Aden; Collapse of ceasefire, Yemen (16 August 2019), 16 August 2019, url; Mwatana for Human Rights, Withering Life: The Human Rights Situation in Yemen 2018, July 2019, url, p. 112; NRC, Airport closure amounts to death sentence for thousands of sick Yemenis, 5 August 2019, url 26 Mwatana for Human Rights, Withering Life: The Human Rights Situation in Yemen 2018, July 2019, url, p. 112 27 Mwatana for Human Rights, Background, n.d., url 28 Equal Rights Trust, Sifting the Grain, 6,000 Testimonies of Discrimination and Inequality from Yemen , December 2018, url 29 Asharq Al-Awsat, Exclusive - Houthis Issue 100,000 Fake IDs for their Members in Yemen's Hodeidah, 17 September 2018, url

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On 18 May 2017, the New Arab quoted Yemeni Minister of Awqaf and Guidance, Dr. Ahmed Attia, saying that ‘Passports issued by the provinces that are under the control of the Houthi militia and [former President Ali Abdullah] Saleh from the start of 2016 to this date, have not been approved for the next pilgrimage season’, noting that ‘Passports issued before this date [2016] are acceptable, as they are stored and linked directly to the passport authority, and all passports issued by the liberated areas under the jurisdiction of the legitimate state [are acceptable as well].’30

According to a tweet by Nadwa Dawsari, Yemen Country Director in the Center for Civilians in Conflict, posted on 5 July 2018:

‘Yemen government bans passports issued by Houthis in Sanaa starting from today. All Yemenis who hold passports issued in Sanaa since 2016 will not be fly out of Yemen through Sayoon or Aden airpots [sic], the only two airports functioning in the country.’31

In April 2019, it was reported that the Yemen's internationally recognised government has cancelled the services provided by the Immigration and Passports Department in Sana’a and that all ‘all travel documents issued by the rebel militia from entry visas for foreigners, through residence permits, refuge cards, naturalization certificates and marriage consents to passports’ are invalid.32

Saba News Agency noted that this was ‘confirmed again’, indicating a previous similar announcement.33 No corroborating information could be found among the sources consulted within the time constraints of this response.

Al Sahwa reported in September 2019 that UAE-backed militias issued passports to Houthi leaders by correspondence and delivered them to Sana’a.34

Sources reported that those Yemenis whose passports were issued in the areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis were not allowed to participate in the Hajj in 2019.35 In 2018, some 25,000 Yemeni pilgrims were able to make the Hajj, including some 7,000 from the Houthis controlled areas, according to the USDOS.36

30 New Arab (The), Hajj ban for Yemenis with Houthi-issued passports, 18 May 2017, url 31 Nadwa Dawsari, [Twitter], posted on: 5 July 2018, url 32 Debriefer, Yemen's "legitimate" gov.t cancels services of Immigration and Passports Department in Sana'a, 15 April 2019, url; Saba News Agency, 'Passports issued by Houthis invalid', Passports and Immigration Dept. confirms, 14 April 2019, url 33 Saba News Agency, 'Passports issued by Houthis invalid', Passports and Immigration Dept. confirms, 14 April 2019, url 34 Al Sahwa, UAE militants block govt-held Taiz from passports, issue them to Houthis in absentia, 14 October 2019, url 35 Yemen Watch, Hajj Ban for Yemenis with Houthi-Issued Passports, n.d., url, accessed 14 October 2019; Press TV, Yemen slams Saudi Arabia for politicizing Hajj pilgrimage, 7 August 2019, url 36 USDOS, 2018 Report on International Religious Freedom: Yemen, 21 June 2019, url

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SOURCES USED

ACAPS (Assessment Capacities Project), ACAPS Briefing Note: Aden; Collapse of ceasefire, Yemen (16 August 2019), 16 August 2019, https://www.acaps.org/sites/acaps/files/products/files/20190816_acaps_yah_anticipatory_briefing _note_collapse_of_ceasefire_in_aden_0.pdf, accessed 29 October 2019

Al Jazeera, Yemeni government, separatist STC close to deal on Aden, 8 October 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/yemeni-government-separatist-stc-close-deal-aden- 191008055436477.html, accessed 24 October 2019

Al Jazeera, Sanaa airport could be reopened soon: UN envoy to Yemen, 28 September 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/sanaa-airport-reopened-envoy-yemen- 180928091351418.html, accessed 16 October 2019

Al Sahwa, UAE militants block govt-held Taiz from passports, issue them to Houthis in absentia, 14 October 2019, http://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-33703, accessed 15 October 2019

Asharq Al-Awsat, Exclusive - Houthis Issue 100,000 Fake IDs for their Members in Yemen's Hodeidah, 17 September 2018, https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1398216/exclusive-houthis-issue- 100000-fake-ids-their-members-yemens-hodeidah, accessed 15 October 2019

Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) 2018, Yemen, 2018, https://www.bti- project.org/fileadmin/files/BTI/Downloads/Reports/2018/pdf/BTI_2018_Yemen.pdf, accessed 25 October 2019

CAMA (Civil Aviation & Meteorology Authority of Yemen), [website], n.d., http://www.cama.gov.ye/en/, accessed 14 October 2019

CAMA (Civil Aviation & Meteorology Authority of Yemen), Sana'a International Airport Protest Denounces Continuation of Aggression and Airport's Closure, n.d., http://www.cama.gov.ye/en/index.php/cama-head-office/news/138-sana-a-international-airport- protest-denounces-continuation-of-aggression-and-airport-s-closure, accessed 14 October 2019

Chatham House, Between Order and Chaos; A New Approach to Stalled State Transformations in Iraq and Yemen, September 2019, https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/2019-09-05- StateTransformationsIraqYemen.pdf, pp. 22-23;

Dawsari, Nadwa, [Twitter], posted on: 5 July 2018, https://twitter.com/ndawsari/status/1014837258430701568?lang=en, accessed 15 October 2019

Debriefer, Yemen's "legitimate" gov.t cancels services of Immigration and Passports Department in Sana'a, 15 April 2019, https://debriefer.net/en/news-7914.html, accessed 14 October 2019;

ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations), Mapping the Yemen Conflict, n.d., https://www.ecfr.eu/mena/yemen#, accessed 24 October 2019

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Equal Rights Trust, Sifting the Grain, 6,000 Testimonies of Discrimination and Inequality from Yemen, December 2018, https://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/Sifting%20the%20Grain%20report%20Eng.pdf, accessed 14 October 2019

Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2019 - Yemen, 4 February 2019, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2019/yemen, accessed 14 October 2019

GardaWorld, Yemen Country Report, 5 April 2019, https://www.garda.com/crisis24/country- reports/yemen, accessed 15 October 2019

Guardian (The), Yemen's health ministry says airport closure has cost nearly 10,000 lives, 9 August 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/09/yemen-health-ministry- airport-closure-nearly-10000-deaths, accessed 16 October 2019,

ICG (International Crisis Group), After Aden: Navigating Yemen’s New Political Landscape, 30 August 2019, https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian- peninsula/yemen/071-after-aden-navigating-yemens-new-political-landscape, accessed 24 October 2019

IDMC (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre), Yemen, n.d., http://www.internal- displacement.org/countries/yemen, accessed 24 October 2019

IDMC (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre), Mid-Year Figures, Internal Displacement from January to June 2019, 12 September 2019, http://www.internal- displacement.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/2019-mid-year- figures_for%20website%20upload.pdf, accessed 24 October 2019

Irish Times, Yemen’s warring parties agree to reopen Sana’a airport, 12 December 2018, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/yemen-s-warring-parties-agree-to-reopen-sana-a-airport- 1.3729351, accessed 14 October 2019

Mwatana for Human Rights, Background, n.d., https://mwatana.org/en/the-woes-of-arabia- felix/background/, accessed 29 October 2019

Mwatana for Human Rights, Withering Life: The Human Rights Situation in Yemen 2018, July 2019, http://mwatana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Withering-Life-2.pdf, accessed 14 October 2019, pp. 104, 122

New Arab (The), Hajj ban for Yemenis with Houthi-issued passports, 18 May 2017, https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/5/18/hajj-ban-for-yemenis-with-houthi-issued- passports, accessed 15 October 2019

NRC (Norwegian Refugee Council), Airport closure amounts to death sentence for thousands of sick Yemenis, 5 August 2019, https://www.nrc.no/news/2019/august2/airport-closure-amounts-to- death-sentence-for-thousands-of-sick-yemenis/, accessed 14 October 2019

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Press TV, Yemenis protest blockade on Sana'a airport as more civilians suffer, 10 August 2019, https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/08/10/603121/Yemenis-protest-blockade-on-Sanaa-airport- and-impact-on-civilians, accessed 14 October 2019

Press TV, Yemen slams Saudi Arabia for politicizing Hajj pilgrimage, 7 August 2019, https://www.presstv.com/DetailFr/2019/08/07/602943/Yemen-Saudi-politicizing-Hajj, accessed 14 October 2019

Saba News Agency, 'Passports issued by Houthis invalid', Passports and Immigration Dept. confirms, 14 April 2019, https://www.sabanew.net/viewstory/48287, accessed 14 October 2019

United Kingdom, Home Office, Foreign Travel Advice, Yemen, 4 September 2019, https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/yemen, accessed 14 October 2019

United Nations, Security Council, Letter dated 22 January 2016 from the Panel of Experts on Yemen established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2140 (2014) addressed to the President of the Security Council’, 26 January 2016, http://digitallibrary.un.org/record/819771/files/ , pp. 12, 185-186

United States, Department of State (USDOS), 2018 Report on International Religious Freedom: Yemen, 21 June 2019, https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-report-on-international-religious- freedom/yemen/, accessed 14 October 2019

United States, Department of State (USDOS), Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2018 - Yemen, 13 March 2019, https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2004222.html, accessed 15 October 2019

Yemen Watch, Hajj Ban for Yemenis with Houthi-Issued Passports, n.d., http://www.yemenwatch.net/essay.php?id=8865&cid=126&english=1, accessed 14 October 2019 Yemenia, [website], Holidays, n.d., https://yemenia.com/holidays#, accessed 14 October 2019

SOURCES CONSULTED

Al Jazeera, Yemen's war: Four years on, what Houthi rule looks like, 26 March 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/yemen-war-years-houthi-rule-190323080134193.html, accessed 15 October 2019

BF (Berghof Foundation), Local Governance in Yemen: Theory, Practice, and Future Options, 2019, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/BF_Local_Governance_in_Yemen__2019.pd f, accessed 15 October 2019

CAMA (Civil Aviation & Meteorology Authority of Yemen), The Minister of Transport confirms the readiness of Sana'a International Airport to receive all civil flights, n.d., http://www.cama.gov.ye/en/index.php/cama-head-office/news/5-the-minister-of-transport- confirms-the-readiness-of-sana-a-international-airport-to-receive-all-civil-flights, accessed 14 October 2019

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Gulf News, Al Houthis changing demography of Yemeni capital, 3 October 2019, https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/yemen/al-houthis-changing-demography-of-yemeni-capital- 1.66873381, accessed 14 October 2019

HRW (Human Rights Watch), World Report 2019 - Yemen, 17 January 2019, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/yemen, accessed 16 October 2019

IRB (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada), Yemen: Entry and exit controls at international airports, including security screening and documents required for citizens to leave the country; whether a person wanted by the authorities can leave the country (2016 - October 2018) [YEM106179.E], 12 October 2018, https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country- information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=457614&pls=1, accessed 14 October 2019

MintPress News, Yemeni Party Leader Dies as Saudi Airport Blockade Prevents His Travel Abroad for Treatment, 12 June 2019, https://www.mintpressnews.com/yemen-party-leader-dies-saudi- blockade/259169/, accessed 14 October 2019

Mwatana for Human Rights, A Worsening Tragedy, 25 September 2018, https://mwatana.org/en/worsening-tragedy/, accessed 16 October 2019

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