Yemen, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been devastated by a civil war for three years now. This ongoing conflict is between two factions: the then-incumbent Yemen government, led by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the Houthi militia, with their supporters and allies at their aid. Both sides claim they are in control or should be in control of the Yemen government. However recently an article was published stating that the Yemen rivals have agreed to swap 16,000 prisoners. The deal is going to cover 8,576 people detained by the Houthis, which includes teachers, women, children, and tribal figures. And on the other side 7,487 Houthi fighters will be released. The Houthi rebels are also planning to release many high ranking commanders and officials as part of a “confidence building” measure to ensure better ties with their rivals. The two warring sides have been meeting in a Swedish town named Rimbo, since Thursday, trying to discuss ways to end the war which has caused an estimated 60,000 people. It is very good that the two sides are swapping prisoners, although it’s not a major breakthrough, on the other hand it’s still progress because this is opening up discussion for more compromise. However, many issues still need to be resolved. In fact, Hodeidah city and its port is a major one. The port is a lifeline for supplies entering Yemen, but the Saudi-UAE coalition have put restrictions on commercial goods, so about 22 million people are in need of assistance. The port is also the main entry point for weapons for the Houthis, which the other side isn’t very happy about considering Iran has been supplying them through that port. The Houthis, however, did say that they are ready to hand over the port to the UN, which would resolve much of this issue, because neither side would control the port. At this point it is just a matter of getting together and discussing the matter for further progress to take place.
