Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)

The Yemeni crisis began with the 2011–2012 revolution against President Abdullah Saleh, who had led Yemen for 33 years. After Saleh left office in early 2012 as part of a mediated agreement between the Yemeni government and opposition groups, the government led by Saleh's former vice president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, faced challenges in governing Yemen’s divided political landscape and addressing armed opposition from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Houthi movement Houthi militants that had been waging a protracted insurgency in the north for years.

In September 2014, the conflict escalated into a civil war when Houthi forces entered the capital of Sana'a and forced Hadi to negotiate a "unity government" with other political factions. The Houthis continued their advance and influence over government operations until, after forces aligned with the Houthis reportedly attacked his presidential palace and private residence, Hadi resigned along with his ministers in January 2015.

The following month, the Houthis declared themselves in control of the Yemeni government, dissolving the Parliament, and installing an interim Revolutionary Committee led by Mohammed al-Houthi, a cousin of Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. Hadi escaped to Aden, where he declared that he remains Yemen's legitimate president, proclaimed the country's temporary capital, and called on loyal government officials and members of the military to rally to him.

On 27 March 2015, the BBC reported that Hadi had "fled rebel forces in the city of Aden" and subsequently "arrived in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh" as "Saudi authorities began air strikes in Yemen". Since 2017 the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has also fought against the government.

Background

The wave of protests known as the Arab Spring did not take long to arrive in Yemen after the Tunisian revolution (2011–2012). Yemen was one of the poorest countries in the region. Its government faced widespread allegations of corruption, with a large amount of weapons in private hands. By 2011, the country was already facing challenges from al Qaeda-linked militants and separatists in the south and Zaydī Shīʿa Muslim rebels in the north. Yemen had only been unified since 1990, and deep divisions persisted between the north and south.

Ecological crisis

Yemen's political instability has been compounded and partly caused by the severe ecological crisis in the country. As of 2023, the average Yemeni has access to only 86 m³ of renewable freshwater per year for all uses, (62 gallons per day) compared to a Middle Eastern regional average of approximately 631 m³, both of which are significantly below the internationally defined threshold for water stress of 1,700 m³ per capita per year. Yemen's groundwater is the main source of water in the country but the water tables have dropped severely, leaving the country without a viable source of water. For example, in Sanaa, the water table was 30 meters below surface in the 1970s but had dropped to 1200 meters below surface by 2012. The groundwater has not been regulated by Yemen's governments.

Even before the revolution, Yemen's water situation had been described as increasingly dire with some environmental analysts warning that Yemen could be among the first countries to face extreme water scarcity if current trends continue. Agriculture in Yemen takes up about 90% of water in Yemen even though it only generates 6% of GDP - however a large portion of Yemenis are dependent on small-scale subsistence agriculture. Half of agricultural water in Yemen is used to grow khat, a narcotic that most Yemenis chew. This means that in such a water-scarce country as Yemen, where half the population is food-insecure, 45% of the water withdrawn from the ever-depleting aquifers is used to grow a crop that feeds nobody.

This water insecurity has a direct impact on political stability. Outsiders hear most about the proxy war between factions supported by other countries, but according to the Yemeni newspaper Al-Thawra, 70% to 80% of conflicts in the country's rural regions are water-related. The country's Interior Ministry has estimated that across the country, water and land related disputes kill 4,000 people a year - more than terrorism. In Al-Jawf Governorate, a dispute over a well's placement has led to a blood feud that has continued for more than 30 years

In 2007, Yemen's minister of Water and Natural Resources suggested that Sana'a, the capital city, might have to be evacuated if it runs out of water. Although the government was unable to move the capital in an orderly and peaceful way, the war and political crisis have rendered Sana'a and most of Yemen into a battleground that people have been forced to flee.

Additional environmental catastrophes have battered Yemen as the war has progressed. In late 2015, two historic cyclones struck the country. The first of these, Cyclone Chapala, struck the island of Socotra before hitting the port of Mukalla on Yemen's south coast, where it caused catastrophic flash flooding. This storm, combined with the following Cyclone Megh, left enough moisture in the soil for locusts to breed. These locusts can fly 100 miles in a day and destroy any crop they encounter.

History

Revolution (2011–12)

Yemen's political crisis began in 2011, amid the Arab Spring and the ongoing Houthi insurgency, South Yemen insurgency, and the Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen.

Protests against Saleh

Popular protests broke out in early 2011, led by both secular and Islamist opposition groups. Longtime rebel groups like the Houthis and the Southern Movement also participated in the protests. Saleh responded with a violent crackdown, and the country nearly disintegrated into an all-out civil war as several army elements broke with the government and joined the protesters, beginning in March.

Saleh was almost killed when a bomb went off in a mosque where he and other top government officials were praying on 3 June, apparently in an assassination attempt. While his condition initially appeared grave, Saleh recovered and returned to work on 23 September after several months of medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. He left Vice President Hadi in charge during his absence. As acting president, Hadi met with the opposition and reportedly expressed openness to political reforms. However, he rejected the idea of forcing Saleh from power without the president's consent.

Deal brokered

The Gulf Co-operation Council applied no small amount of pressure on Saleh to negotiate an end to the uprising by stepping down. Weeks after returning from Saudi Arabia, Saleh finally agreed on 23 November to resign in exchange for immunity. As part of the deal, the opposition agreed to allow Hadi to stand unopposed for the presidency in 2012.

Siege of Dammaj

Meanwhile, the insurgent Houthis in northern Yemen laid siege to a Salafi town in Saada Governorate