THE tragedy of Yemen goes unreported in almost all mainstream media, their plight silenced in a very sophisticated and co-ordinated way, despite the outrageous figures and data about the daily suffering of an entire people for the last six years.

We must look at the dirty games that have long been played on the backs of the people of a country of more than 28 million, often portrayed as the poorest in the Arabian Peninsula, although it has one of the most enviable positions for international shipping and multinational monopolies.

The strategic Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, known since ancient times as the Gate of Tears, is located off the coast of Eritrea and Djibouti, where the US, French, Chinese and others have military bases. It connects the Red Sea and the Suez Canal with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.

In addition, Yemen’s proximity to the north of Saudi Arabia and to the east of Oman often places the country in the context of regional conflicts and intense competition.

The 2015 international agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, which gradually led to the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran, exacerbated competition, mainly from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which have benefited from years of international sanctions, to the detriment of their competitor, both in terms of oil exports and sales, as well as their geopolitical influence in the wider region, to the benefit of their monopoly interests.

The overthrow of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, in the context of the so-called Arab Spring, brought pro-Western president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to power, until in autumn 2014 when he was overthrown by Shi’ite opposition Houthis supported by Iran.

Hadi, who was supported by the reactionary Gulf monarchies, sought refuge in Saudi Arabia, which, under the pretext of “restoring the rule of law,” launched an imperialist intervention in March 2015 under the name Operation Decisive Storm which was later renamed Operation Restoration of Hope.

In those almost six years, the Saudis, with the co-operation of most of the Gulf countries (except Oman and later, due to regional rivalry, Qatar), but also US and European imperialists, destroyed almost all the of the country’s infrastructure in water and electricity, agricultural production and education.

An entire generation of Yemeni children has suffered the traumas of war, many of them orphaned, malnourished, or displaced. The UN reports a death toll of 100,000 people in the ongoing war, with an additional 131,000 people dying from hunger, disease and a lack of medical care.

More than 4 million people have been internally displaced and the worst cholera outbreak ever recorded has infected 2.26 million and cost nearly 4,000 lives. Attacks on hospitals and clinics have led to the closure of more than half of Yemen’s prewar facilities.

Yemen remains the “world’s worst humanitarian disaster” according to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Nearly 80 per cent of the population requires some form of humanitarian assistance and protection. 10 million people are a step away from famine and seven million are malnourished.

If we combine all the above with the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country is totally exposed without the slightest protection for its people in terms of treatment or administering any vaccine in the future.

Trump doubled down on Obama’s support for the Saudi’s war. The US used the pretext of Iran’s support to the Houthis and ignored, of course, the Saudi bombings of schools and hospitals. The Saudi war is very expensive for the kingdom (it costs $50 billion per year), devastating for Yemen — and a strategic plus for Iran.

British arms sales to Saudi Arabia increased by 11,000 per cent in the three months following the start of the bombing in March 2015, from £9 million to £1bn. Half of the Saudi royal air force is made up of military aircraft supplied by Britain. The Royal Saudi Air Force cannot operate without US and British support. The presence of British Special Forces in Yemen has not been officially acknowledged, but has become an open secret in defence circles.

All over the country there are “security belt mercenaries,” often collaborating with Salafists linked to al-Qaida and Isis who continue to operate in southern and central Yemen, giving — of course — the pretexts for the action of US, British and other European imperialists. Even the temporary decrease in weapons exports from Britain has been abandoned, the same happened with Germany’s exports and the US too, has recently increased its arms sales.

It is clear and obvious that the imperialists, despite their own internal competition, have a clear view when it comes to Yemen, like in Libya from 2011 and the imperialist intervention in Syria.

Their purpose and aim is to pursue violent regime change, imposing willing allies and puppets for their interests, to create the fruitful conditions for the control of energy resources, pipelines and roads. Their hypocrisy and cynicism is paramount.

All Nato states, even of the governments of the EU, are co-ordinating their efforts. Even my country is sending Greek-owned Patriot Missiles to Saudi Arabia, part of its strategic partnership with the US.

The appointment of Martin Griffiths as special envoy of the UN on Yemen some years ago shows the manner in which the UN is dealing with this crime committed against the people of Yemen.

A British diplomat who has served in similar positions also in the imperialist wars of Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, is being asked to serve peace in Yemen. A diplomat from a country which is fuelling the war machines, from which his country makes huge profits, is asked to apply international law.

The additional “qualities” of this UN envoy, the fact that he has worked with several millionaire NGOs who benefit from the imperialist aggression is just the other side of the same coin.

The recent attempt of the outgoing US secretary of state Mike Pompeo to label the Houthis a foreign terrorist group is taking place in the framework of the negotiations and games to divide Yemen maybe into north and south, where Saudi Arabia with its allies would be in control of the northern part and the UAE, with its allies in control of the South. This and other similar plans will, of course, not solve the problems and the suffering of the Yemeni people.

The entire region of the Middle East is the biggest “hotspot” in the world. Not by chance if we look at the oil and natural reserves but also the strategic location for the roads of transport, the pipelines etc — all major forces have their involvement in the wars and interventions their in one or another way.

One key issue remains, in this context – the Palestinian cause, the right of the people for their own independent viable state within pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. The suffering of the Yemeni people and of the Palestinian people have common root causes and the same is the case for the people of Syria, Libya, Iraq and so many other victims of imperialist aggression.

As the World Peace Council we demand the end of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the withdrawal of all foreign military forces from the region, the end of the dirty war against the people of Yemen and the closure of the foreign military bases so that the peoples of the region can decide freely upon their destiny.

Adapted from from a speech given to the January 2021 Liberation meeting on Yemen — www.liberationorg.co.uk.