Last year, 2023, ended, while thousands of Yemenis carried with them cautious hopefulness into the current new year of 2024, which coincided with the announcement by the concerned parties to reach a road map to end the war in Yemen. The road map includes a number of procedures and measures for a ceasefire and a package of actions to improve living conditions.
The UN-sponsored roadmap includes, among other elements, a commitment by the parties to implement a nationwide ceasefire, pay the salaries of all employees, resume oil exports, and open closed roads in Taiz and other parts of Yemen.
However, what February brought - the increasing tensions, congestions, and unrest coming from the Red Sea and other Yemeni governorates, and the resumption of heavy bombing of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, after a period of calm, in addition to the living and economic crises, and the political and diplomatic complications - has dashed the optimism of Yemenis and made many of them believe that the optimistic feeling that obsessed them was nothing more than unattainable dreams.
The exchange rate turns into a talk of the city
In general, this year February did not bring remarkable events as the country had previously been accustomed to, but there were what could be considered influential and important incidents and developments on several levels. Many Yemenis have felt its consequences in the context of their daily struggle to provide a living, after they were stranded due to war and conflict in the country, and a large percentage of them lost their obtainable sources of income.
In fact, as the month of February began, specifically on the fifth day of it, witnessed a government change that took place at the head of the internationally recognized government, as Ahmed Awadh bin Mubarak was appointed as a Prime Minister to succeed Maeen Abdul Malik. This coincided with the deterioration of the exchange rate of the Yemeni riyal recording a high record for the first time, as it reached to 1,600 riyals against one dollar in areas under the control of the legitimate government.
While the exchange rate exceeded the 1600 barrier, reaching 1620 riyals, there was no effect to control this deterioration by the second batch of the Saudi deposit that was granted to the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden, affiliated with the internationally recognized government. The credit estimated at about 250 million riyals, which was deposited in the 11th of last February.
Tensed Condition
On February 15, Yemen appeared again in the Security Council, where it returned to take up a relative amount of international attention, immersed in the crisis of the ongoing devastating and disastrous Israeli war on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, this coincided with the emergence of Yemen as a major event in the forefront of global attention, in light of the escalations taking place in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, where the “Houthis” continue to target commercial ships that they believe are Israeli or cooperating with the Israeli entity, in addition to American and British ships.
February 22 represented a very outstanding date for many Yemenis, given the hopeful and optimistic signs it brought about a breakthrough in the most complicated crisis dossiers in Yemen; the issue of blocked roads by the parties to the conflict. On the other hand, causes of concern are escalating along several fronts during the month of February, which started gradually since the commencement of the current year 2024.
In this regard, Khuyut monitors that the forces affiliated with the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) targeted about 10 vessels during the month of February, including the targeting of the British cargo ship “Robimar” on February 19, where several reports confirmed that the ship was severely damaged, causing it to stop, amid reports indicating that a dangerous environmental leak had occurred from this vessel, which was carrying a huge shipment of dangerous fertilizers.
This comes amid widespread turmoil in global commercial shipping, as commercial shipping costs escalated, according to commercial data and cargo companies working in shipping and import, during the month of February, by more than 50%.
At the Security Council session, the UN special envoy to Yemen, the Swedish Hans Grundberg, touched on several significant pillars, according to which he formed a blurry picture of the situation in Yemen. He indicated that the mediation scene reached a difficult stage during February 2024, in which it has now become more complex since the announcement of the “road map” on December 23 of last year 2023, given that the efforts made to reach an agreement are plagued by different priorities and interests.
Moreover, regional tensions in connection with the war in Gaza escalated, especially the military intensification in the Red Sea, which increased at a high rate during the month of February. These operations would lead to a slowdown in the pace of peace efforts in Yemen, as reality proves that mediation efforts in Yemen cannot be distanced from what is happening at the regional level affects Yemen, and what happens in Yemen can affect the region.
In this context, the United States and the United Kingdom, under the pretext of responding to the repeated attacks launched by the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) on commercial ships in the Red Sea, launched dozens of air strikes targeting the capital, Sana’a, and other Yemeni governorates: Hodeidah, Hajjah, Saada, and Taiz, where Khuyut counts about 30 raids during the month of February in addition to the announcement of the entry into force of the US State Department’s classification of the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) on February 16 as a terrorist group.
Experts and observers express great concern about these developments that escalated during the month of February, given the current difficult circumstances that Yemen is going through, and the deterioration of the living conditions of Yemenis before the advent of the month of Ramadan and emphasizing the Emphasizing the necessity of alleviating people's deteriorating living conditions, in addition to protecting the political space, and keeping communication channels open to reach an agreement between all parties.
During the month of February, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), disclosed in a report monitored by Khuyut issued at the beginning of the month, that there are 18.2 million people in Yemen who will need humanitarian assistance and protection services during the current year 2024, while 17.6 million people face food and nutrition insecurity.
Further, Yemen also faces an alarmingly high malnutrition rate, with nearly half of children under five suffering from moderate to severe stunting. There are still 4.5 million people displaced, many of whom have been subjected to multiple displacements over several years.
Optimism and attentiveness due to concerning events
February 22 represented a very outstanding date for many Yemenis, given the hopeful and optimistic signs it brought about a breakthrough in the most complicated crisis dossiers in Yemen; the issue of blocked roads by the parties to the conflict. On this day, the governor of Ma’rib Governorate in the internationally recognized government announced the opening of the road linking Ma’rib to Sana’a via the Nihm road, from one side, while many hope that the other party, represented by the Sana’a authority, will take a similar step to facilitate the movement of citizens.
On the other hand, “Khuyut” monitors an increase in causes of concern along several fronts during the month of February, gradually since the beginning of the current year 2024, as international reports indicate the occurrence of clashes, mobilizations, and human losses, including the regions of Shabwa, Al-Jawf, Ma’rib, Saada, and Taiz, in light of the enormous economic challenges that are plaguing all parts of the country. Such challenges include salaries of civil servants have not been paid in full, especially in areas under the control of Ansar Allah (Houthis), and the suffering of the people in government-controlled areas who face long periods of power outages and growing prices as a result of the devaluation of the national currency.
