For the past two years, our Arab brothers and sisters in Yemen have endured upheaval and violence because of Al Houthis grabbing power and overthrowing the legitimate government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Over that time, the actions of Al Houthis have led to civil war that has decimated that nation’s sanitation and water infrastructures, casting millions into a state of precariousness and creating conditions where diseases and widespread illnesses fester. Indeed, humanitarian aid organisations, with which the UAE works closely, estimate that close to a million cases of cholera have occurred in the broken land and likely to surpass even the number of cases seen in Haiti.
Throughout, the Saudi Arabia-led international coalition, in which the UAE is proud to play a significant role, has been acting with the authority of a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions to restore the legitimate government and end the threat posed by Al Houthis, who are aided and abetted in their rebellion by support from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the regime in Tehran.
Over these past two-and-a-half years, there have been a series of peace negotiations, either in Kuwait City or in Switzerland, with the intent of reaching an amicable and peaceful end to the crisis in Yemen — all with the intent of ensuring that our Arab brothers and sisters can live in peace and security while their broken nation is put on a proper and stable footing. This includes the rebuilding of infrastructure, ensuring health and education are provided to all, and making sure Yemen has secure, clean and reliable water and food supplies.
These peace negotiations have all failed in their goals, not because of a lack of will by the international community, but because Al Houthis are unwilling to be play any meaningful role in rebuilding their nation and government, and are loathe to give up their weapons and means of war. The government of Hadi must also consider that there can be no lasting peace unless there is an accommodation within the Yemeni tent for all its people and voices — so long as those people are committed to the cause of peace and rebuilding Yemen.
The conflict in Yemen will grind on but for how long depends on the willingness of the agents of aggression and whether they are prepared to embrace a reality that only together, working side by side, can all Yemenis have a better future.
