The office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen announced a two-month truce. For the Yemeni people, nothing deserves to be celebrated like this good news. Actually the noose narrowed and the conditions worsened, to the extent that living became a kind of nightmare. Yesterday, the people of Yarim of Ibb governorate, found a young man hanged on a pole, and a piece of paper beside him contained a one-word message, if in this world has is mercy: I am exhausted!
Indeed, the Yemeni people have become so exhausted, and have tasted what the nations of the earth have never experience, as trying to live within this geography has become torment; from waiting in queue for days for a gallon of non-existed fuel to running behind a hidden gas cylinder. All the parties to the conflict and their supporters have lied to us, All the claims of their eagerness on the public, are nothing but an elaborate ambush to insult the the people, and rob them of their sources of livelihood. And here they are, as political and factional minorities, enjoying a comfortable life, at the expense of a great nation, which has been humiliated and insulted without any logic justification.
Moreover, running wars by starving people can take no pride or honor, blocking off the public road in front of citizens because they decided to live their lives away from your tyranny, or depriving them of their financial rights guaranteed by the constitution... such as closing airports in front of their pain, and making gas cylinders a tool to suppress them and control their decision! How dare you to come after all that and have the audacity to speak on their behalf, and pretend to care for them, what a merciless heart, and what dead conscience you have?!
The recent humanitarian Ramadan declaration, if the parties do not obstruct its implementation, is the only step that has been taken for the people since seven years, and it is a good measure to alleviate their some of their suffering. And it is, as it was spread of optimism and hope, is not a gift, but rather an entitlement, and it should have been announced from an early time. Come on, whom do you punish when you prevent a citizen from using the road of his city? Or close an airport in the face of a sick person who yearns for a sooner opportunity to recover?
The humanitarian situation is an indivisible whole, and the parties should not accrue any selfish political gain on it, because the short view of this file as an opportunity to maneuver would prolong the suffering of the majority and place on the shoulders of the obstructionists a greater legal responsibility than that they are dangerous criminals who do not believe in the right of peoples to a dignified life, rather, these people and their sort should not even utter either the name of Yemen nor its people on their tongues.
There is also a package of necessary measures to test the seriousness and good intentions of the conflicting parties, which will positively affect the lives of millions, and can take place in parallel, on the way to lasting peace, including:
Opening Sana’a Airport to commercial flights, opening roads between Taiz, Aden, and Marib, ending restrictions on imports through seaports and land ports, ending restrictions and obstacles on humanitarian operations, financing the humanitarian response plan for 2022, paying the salaries of government employees, and immediately allowing the examination and maintenance of the oil tanker “Safer”, the execution of a full exchange of detainees, and the release of the forcibly disappeared, including those of the coalition countries.
This response should not exclude any restrictions and customary laws, including preventing violations of women's rights and public freedoms, ending restrictions on civil society and the media, and stopping all forms of regional support for armed groups in the country.
Responsibility for these numerous violations is shared by the Arab coalition, the Houthi group, the internationally recognized government and the Transitional Council forces, each according to the authority and influence that arranges behind these restrictions imposed on people's movements and interests. The international community and the UN envoy are also accountable to exert extra efforts, in order to achieve permanent and comprehensive peace and to end this irrational conflict that has crushed the country and its people.
