Dhirubhai Ambani International Model United Nations 2019 Forum: Security Council Issue: The Question of the Yemeni Civil War Student Officer: Dhruva Sankhe Position: Deputy President Introduction Yemen, an Arab country bordered by Saudi Arabia in the North and Oman in the East, has been devastated by a cataclysmic internal conflict. Yemen is an Islamic country, with around 56% of its population being Sunni and 44% being Zaidi Shi’s. Sectarian and separatist tendencies among the various groups present in the country has always been prominent, but reached another level during the Arab Spring Revolts of 2011. In 2014, a Shi’a insurgent group from the north of Yemen, the so-called Houthis (officially Ansar Allah), gained territorial foothold by capturing the Yemeni capital of Sana’a. The Houthis had long since been a group actively fighting for more recognition of the rights of minorities in the Yemeni state – what enabled them to so effectively gain ground in 2014 is that they joined forces with former president Saleh, who remained politically important and still has many loyal friends in the army. The Houthis took the capital, put President Hadi, the political leader of Yemen at the time, under house arrest, and imprisoned many members of the government. In early 2015, Hadi, along with many other leading politicians resigned, whereupon the Houthis dissolved the government completely and announced plans for an “interim government”, supposed to rule for two years. Internationally, the Houthi’s claim is not recognised. Hadi, who fled to the coastal city of Aden and has since been calling for his reinstallation as the rightful president, remains the internationally recognised president of Yemen. On 23rd May 2015, direct neighbour-state Saudi Arabia, itself an overwhelmingly Sunni country, announced “Operation Decisive Storm” to combat Houthi advancements. This involved amassing its own troops along the shared border, and founding a military coalition comprised of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan. This coalition, under the lead of Saudi Arabia, has been carrying out bombing runs on Research Report | Page 1 of 15 Dhirubhai Ambani International Model United Nations 2019 large patches of land, perceived to be controlled by the Houthis. Neither a ceasefire nor an end to the hostilities is in sight, and the downward spiral in Yemen continues thus. The humanitarian situation in Yemen is critical at the moment due to the conflict. According to Amnesty International, around 4600 civilians have been killed and 8000 injured in the conflict mainly by bombings of the Saudi coalition. About 18.8 million people in Yemen rely on humanitarian aid.1 The conflict in Yemen has much broader international implications than apparent at first. Saudi Arabia and Iran have long since been interlocked in a power struggle in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia fear the possibility of a Shi’a government in Yemen, and tries its best to stop the Houthi advance. Iran on the other hand, a Shi’a country, are accused of supporting the Houthis financially and logistically. Though Iran vehemently denies this, these observations serve to incorporate the Yemeni civil war into a much bigger picture, into a much bigger conflict. Concerns on international side are manifold as well: Yemen controls the Bab al-Mandab strait, through which a large part of the world’s oil trade passes – a Houthi takeover could mean great economic uncertainty thus. Also, Yemen is home to the AQAP (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, officially Ansar al-Sharia), the biggest and most volatile branch of Al-Qaeda. Due to the biggest armed forces in the country tied in conflict, AQAP has steadily been gaining ground in Yemen, along with their ever – encroaching influence. Thus this conflict continues to threaten the political stability and internal security of Yemen as well as cause widespread destruction of life and resources. Definition of Key Terms AQAP2 The militant Islamist group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which was formed in January 2009 through a union of the Saudi and Yemeni branches of al-Qaeda. 1 “YEMEN WAR: NO END IN SIGHT.” Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/09/yemen-the- forgotten-war/. 2 “Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-qaeda-arabian-peninsula-aqap. Research Report | Page 2 of 15 Dhirubhai Ambani International Model United Nations 2019 Houthi3 The Houthis are key players in an alliance of rebels formally known as Ansar Allah — or "Partisans of God" — who follow Shiite Islam. Their name comes from Hussein Badr al- Din al-Houthi, who led an uprising in 2004 aimed at winning greater autonomy for provinces and protecting them from the perceived encroachment of Sunni Islam. Zaidi4 A member of an Islamic sect of Yemen that constitutes one of the three major branches of Shi'a, recognizes a continuing line of imams descended through Zaid who is the fifth imam, and is closest to sunna in its doctrine. President Hadi Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi is a Yemeni politician who has been the President of Yemen since 27 February 2012, and was Vice President from 1994 to 2012. He is a part of the General People’s Party. Sanaa The largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaʽa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governorate, but forms the separate administrative district of "Amanat Al-Asemah". Sectarian conflict Sectarian violence is conflict between and among groups with a specific ethnicity or religion, stemming from religious and ideological differences. Shi’a5 A member of one of the two main branches of Islam comprising sects believing in Ali and the Imams as the only rightful successors of Muhammad and in the concealment and messianic return of the last recognized Imam. 3 “WHo Are the Houthi Rebels Accused of Attacking Navy SHips near Yemen?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wHo-are-yemen-s-houthis-what-do-they-want-n665636 4 “Zaidi.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Zaidi. 5 “SHia.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/SHia. Research Report | Page 3 of 15 Dhirubhai Ambani International Model United Nations 2019 Sunni6 A member of one of the two major branches of Islam, the branch that consists of the majority of that religion’s adherents. Sunni Muslims regard their denomination as the mainstream and traditionalist branch of Islam, as distinguished from the minority denomination, the Shīʿites. Background Information Geopolitical Situation Yemen is located on the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, across from the Horn of Africa. With Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the east, Yemen’s land borders are largely isolated by the Empty Quarter, a vast, uninhabited desert that stretches through the region. Across the Red Sea, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia are linked to Yemen by trade, religion and culture. From its vantage point on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Yemen overlooks one of the world’s biggest trade routes. Yemen’s geographic challenges, then, are threefold. First, the country must ward off foreign encroachment on its exposed southern flank. Second, it must find a way to manage its increasingly scarce resources. And third, Sanaa must keep the influence of the AQAP under control. Yemeni Revolution The Yemeni revolution started in 2011 following the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. In January 27th, mass protests took place in Sana’a against corruption, high unemployment rates and the fear that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh would pass on the presidency to his son. These were followed by other major protests in other cities around the country. After promises from Saleh not to run for presidency again nor pass on power to his son failed to 12 calm down protesters, demands for Saleh’s ouster began to rise throughout the country, resulting in deadly clashes between protestors and government forces. This resulted in mass government resignations and defections from the military. On June 3, an explosion targeting top governmental officials resulted in Saleh’s injury. He then fled to Saudi Arabia to be treated and Vice President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi temporarily took over power. After several failed negotiation rounds with opposition leaders, Saleh finally agreed in November to transfer his power to Hadi in February 2012 in exchange for immunity for him and his family. On February 6 Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Sunni.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 3 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Sunni. Research Report | Page 4 of 15 Dhirubhai Ambani International Model United Nations 2019 21st, Hadi was elected president in a single-candidate election that would keep him in power until 2014. Houthi takeover of Sana’a The Houthis are a Shia tribe that reside in Yemen’s north. Since the start of the Yemeni revolution they have been a critical part of the opposition. Their insurgency originally started in 2004. In 2011, in the midst of the anti-government demonstrations, they have taken control of Dammaj, a city in the country’s north. They were not satisfied by Saleh’s power handover to his vice president Hadi and boycotted the presidential election in 2012. Triggered by a huge cut to oil subsidies in 2014 as a part of Hadi’s economic reform program they decided along with other Sunni tribes from the north to launch armed offensives against the government and successfully occupied parts of Sana’a in a few days. Unsatisfied by a proposal to split the country into six federal regions, they seized the presidential compound in January 2015 forcing Hadi’s government to resign and relocate to Aden.
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