Leah Snyder
Analysis post 7
The Yemen government said it has agreed to a large-scale prisoner swap with the Houthi rebels, as part of a “confidence-building measure”. After eight to nine months of being locked in negotiations with Houthis, Yemen foreign minister, Khaled al-Yamani, stated that the Yemen government has come to an agreement. “we will discuss the operational issues of this agreement, how it can be implemented, how to exchange the detainees, prisoners, abductees and the forcibly disappeared.” He believes this is the first step towards resolving Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. They have carried out more than 18,000 air raids, one-third striking non-military sites. Main targets have been weddings, funerals, schools and hospitals. There are so many issues, and so much information about these issues, so there will be very many meetings set to discuss these issues. There is also the major hunger crisis going on. It was said that the number of people that need food aid will increase by 4 million. Yemen is believed to be the country with the most problems heading into 2019. The food assistance provided to Yemen, by the UN, is expected to hit 12 million people in 2019.
Wounded Houthi rebels were flown out of the Yemeni capital Sanaa for medical treatment to Oman. This flight carried 50 rebels, their escorts, and a team of doctors.This marks a major step forward starting negotiations as world powers press for an end to the devastating four-year war that has pushed Yemen into the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. There are many planned meetings with Yemenise and Houthis, to meet in Sweden. Expected to take place on December 5 or 6, there have been hints that they have made improvements and breakthroughs concerning ending the war. This has negatively affected Yemen’s humanitarian crisis or “choking civilians”. Around 22 million Yemenise people need humanitarian assistance, 11 million need urgent help in order to survive.