The war and conflict in Yemen continue to have impactful and tragic consequences on Yemenis, with the deterioration of economic and living conditions and the inability of many to face the increasing burdens of daily life and the expansion of poverty, hunger and unemployment rates.
For more than seven years, homelessness is no longer confined to the mentally disordered and marginalized group as it used to be in the past in Yemen, especially in some major cities such as the capital Sana’a, as “Khuyut” previously monitored. Hundreds of poor and displaced people were forced to take the sidewalks as their refuge to escape from the hell of war and the harshness of life.
It is a group that has been expanding with the continuation of the conflict in Yemen in view of the betrayal and negligence of society which acerbated their misery, and the war which robbed them of everything and made them live in the open, roaming the streets looking for a shelter to spend the night.
Thus, those poor people live without a roof over their heads and may die without anyone knowing about them, facing life as they are able to; Thousands of tragic stories about this group whose issue was neglected by all the ruling authorities in the country with the aggravation and increase in the numbers of this group and the psychological and social repercussions it bears that pose a threat to future generations and the state in general.
Mohammad Kamel, "57 years old" (a pseudonym), one of the homeless under a bridge down town in Sana'a, talks to "Khuyut" about the harsh life of down-and-out he has been through after his living conditions deteriorated and his family disintegrated after his separation from his wife, only to find himself in the street without a family or shelter.
Life on the sidewalk
Along the walls of the old University of Sana’a, on tunnels and under bridges in various streets in the capital Sana’a, and the Yemeni governorates, you see hundreds of poor and displaced families who have taken up sidewalks and bridges as their residence. You find them sleeping on old cardboards in the open without any cover that protects them from the cold, or the heat of the sun in a painful scene that illustrates the extent of the suffering that many Yemenis have gone through.
"Khuyut" has monitored many stories, including the story of a displaced person from Hodeidah, northwest of Yemen to the capital, Sana'a, who, due to his inability to pay for the rent of home for himself and his family, was forced to take shelter on the sidewalk adjacent to the wall of the old Sanaa University, along with a group of displaced persons who occupy this place.
Ahmed Saleh (43 years old), lives with his family of five in a small shanty hut made of a tarpaulin and metal cover, which he set up near the wall of the old university (in the center of Sana’a). He told “Khuyut” that he fled, having to escape the imminent death that surrounded him and his family in his home town of Hodeidah Governorate, which witnessed intense battles in mid-2019.
Housing is a vital and biological necessity, and a basic human right, in order to feel reassured and belonging as a human factor and a primary driver in various sectors of development, and one of the most important factors that contribute to achieving stability and societal cohesion through which the citizen can perform his duties towards his community and his family to the fullest.
Most of the displaced, especially those coming from areas that witnessed military battles between the two conflicting parties of the war; the internationally recognized government and Ansar Allah (Houthis), are working on collecting plastic cans and sell them to scrap centers and workshops that collect it as raw materials.
The average value of the scrap they collect, according to what “Khuyut” has seen, is about 2500 riyals per day (about 4 US dollars), according to the exchange rate in Sana’a of 565 riyals to one dollar, which is a tiny amount that is not enough to provide more than one meal per day.
The social expert, Fawaz Mansour, assures "Khuyut" that the tragedy of the war is embodied in such groups who have lost everything; they were snatched from their private lives, homes, work and jobs to find themselves in the world of wandering, oblivion and homelessness.
Mansour added that there are several dynamics for the expansion of this phenomenon, in addition to war, which are poverty, deprivation, loss of job opportunities, high cost of the housing rents, the cost of living, and the inability of many to bear the pressures of life.
Suffering in the tunnels
There are many causes of displacement and homelessness which include; the continuation of the war, the interruption of salaries, the deterioration of the currency, the low level of income, the lack of housing, the rise in rents, and the difficulty of obtaining the most basic needs.
Under a bridge for crossing cars in the Al-Hasaba area, Ammar Ahmed (a pseudonym) lives on the asphalt with his small family, fleeing the hell of war after the raids of the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE caused severe damage to his home in Dahyan District of Saada Governorate (Northern Yemen).
Ammar has a wheelbarrow in the central Dhahban market (northwest of Sanaa) on which he carries vegetables and fruits for customers and shoppers to load their grocery from inside the market to its main gate for a fee of up to 200 riyals per load.
This poor citizen told "Khuyut", that he is dreaming of getting a house for him and his family, as he feels very sad, according to what he said, about the bad treatment he suffers by some passers-by and sellers in the market in which he works, about his forced place of residence in which he lives with his family.
Moreover, a report issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights indicates that nearly 30,000 Yemenis have fled their homes since the beginning of this year 2022, a number that is added to the 4.3 million people who have been displaced due to the ongoing war in Yemen, which has entered its eighth year.
For its part, the World Food Program expects, in a report seen by "Khuyut", that the number of people - who suffer from food insecurity in Yemen, will reach about 19 million people (two thirds of the population) this year due to the high food prices at the Global level as well as the low value of the local currency.
Violated rights
In the absence of the role of the public authorities concerned with social welfare and civil organizations, many of the homeless find themselves in the open to face the harsh life of homelessness, which some of them are accustomed to, lacking a private home to shelter them. Such official negligence comes at the forefront of the reasons for the escalation in the number of homeless, as it is considered one of the most important factors of stability and social cohesion.
Nonetheless, many of local and international conventions and constitutions have guaranteed the right to housing, and among these charters is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, which stipulates the right of the individual and the citizen to obtain a home, as stipulated in the document of the International Covenant on Civil, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ratified by Yemen.
Jurists and activists believe that the successive authorities and governments in Yemen, over the past decades, have not paid any attention to the issue of housing, which has exacerbated this problem during the past few years.
The human rights activist, Ahmed Al-Dhahabani, confirms in this regard that the state and successive governments in Yemen did not care about such issues or study the reasons behind homelessness, including the issue of housing by regulating the relationship between the tenants. Consequently, neglecting the housing issue caused the growth and upsurge of such societal problems that some of them turned into intractable phenomena with the passage of time.
Thus, the issue of the homeless remains on hold due to negligence, leading to a noticeable increase in their number of homeless people scattered on main and side streets and under bridges designated for crossing or pedestrians either in the capital, Sanaa, or in other Yemeni cities. Tragic stories of many Yemeni families who were confronted with the bitter reality that was imposed on them due to the harsh conditions caused by the war and the current conflict as well as the deterioration of the economic and living conditions. These factors have severely doubled the suffering of millions and forced many of them to live on the sidewalks of the streets or under the bridges and tunnels.
