In Sana’a last month, a cry for help from a 13-year-old poor, orphan girl terrorised the Aser neighbourhood. A gang of seven young men kidnapped the poor girl and raped her to death. It was horrible, scary and shocking to see such crimes happen in Yemen. But what’s even worse is that the criminals are still walking free, even though they are known to the police and to the people of the neighbourhood. Why did the police not apprehend the culprits and put them in jail?

Simply because one of the youths happens to be the son of a powerful shaikh who is trying to protect him, thinking that he is still living in Ali Abdullah Saleh’s era. In the days of the former regime, shaikhs used to easily take their relatives out of a spot of bother.

In this case, the victim’s father was scared to press charges against the criminals and denied what happened to his daughter, fearing for the rest of his family because he did not believe the law would protect him and his family. But many activists did not sit back in silence. They protested in front of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s house and sent him letters of complaint. Hadi ordered the public prosecutor to investigate the case. Isn’t it bizarre that the president’s involvement is required for a case like this to be investigated? There are so many incidents taking place lately in Yemen that affect ordinary citizens; the president cannot step in every time.

In another incident, two brothers, accompanied by their wives, returning from their honeymoon in Hodeidah to Sana’a, were killed in an armed car hijacking. The attackers ordered the two brothers to leave their belongings, their car — and their wives. The brothers refused and tried to negotiate with the hijackers to take only their personal belongings and the car and to let go their wives. But they could not convince the gang. One of the brothers managed to speak with his father on the phone to bid adieu. They died with honour.

The deteriorating security situation in Yemen demands immediate attention from the ministry of interior. Apart from the lack of security, the army is still divided and many units are loyal to different groups and still operate outside government control. Also there are many armed groups that constitute a threat to public security in the capital and other major cities. The military restructuring committee failed in driving out the armed groups from the cities and the ministry of interior was not able to convince many citizens to give up their weapons.

It seems there will not be any solution without an immediate restructuring of the army. This is necessary and cannot be delayed any longer. The army should not be divided. The only solution is the removal of generals loyal to Saleh — including all family members of the former president holding key positions in the army, especially his nephew Yahya Saleh, the commander of Central Security Force and the deposed president’s son Ahmad — the commander of the Republican Guard.

At the local and international level, many were waiting for the meeting of the Friends of Yemen group, in the hope that it would provide support to Yemen for security and socio-economic development. The meeting was held in Riyadh and more than 27 countries participated, including the GCC members, US, European Union and international organisations concerned with humanitarian affairs. Participants were briefed about the challenges faced by Yemen and donors at the meeting allocated $4 billion (Dh14.71 billion), with a bulk of that amount coming from Saudi Arabia ($3.25 billion). It was a great gesture on the part of the kingdom, but it was disappointing to see the limited contributions of the other countries. It means that the international community still underestimates the risks and humanitarian disaster in Yemen. What has been allocated is not enough to meet Yemen’s urgent needs and more financial support is required to rescue the poorest country in the Arab world.

Development and investment plans need to be put in place and the government must be supported in its efforts. Support is also required to push ahead with national dialogue, economic reforms and poverty alleviation. Most importantly, Yemen needs to help in its fight against extremism and terrorism in order to have sustainable security and stability.