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COI QUERY Disclaimer COI QUERY Country of Origin Yemen 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. 1 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 Aden. 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 Hajjah, 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 2 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, Taiz, Sayun, al-Ghaidah and Socotra.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, Sanaa 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 3 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 Yemenia 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,
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