Special Political and Decolonization Committee Study Guide Primary Issue: The Issue of the Yemeni Civil War 1
Chair Foreward Ang Jun Sheng Jordan - Head Chairperson: Jordan is a first year Humanities student at Victoria Junior College, Singapore. His first taste of the Model UN conference culture was in 2013, when he participated in the Victoria-Cedar Alliance Model UN at VJC. Since then, he has went on to participate in many other conferences in Singapore. He has also participated as a delegate and a chairperson for Victoria School s internal Model UN Conference, and served as its Secretary-General in its third installation in 2016. Like many of the delegates here in UNASMUN, this is Jordan s first time chairing for an external major conference. He hopes that in this conference, delegates will have an enjoyable time engaging in intellectual and rigorous discourse, and leave with a favourable impression of Model UN. Most importantly, he hopes that through this experience delegates will grow to be more mature and critical in their thinking, and see them lead constructive and thoughtful discussions in the future. When he isn t involved in the MUN scene, Jordan is usually too bogged down by the shackles of Junior College schoolwork to bother having a legitimate social life, while at the same time taking up B-Boy and Hiphop dance. He can be contacted via email at: ang.jun.sheng.jordan.2017@vjc.sg. Melanie Ngo Mei Zhen - Chairperson: Melanie Ngo is a Secondary 4 student who is graduating from Singapore Chinese Girls School this year. She often finds herself hunting for new books to read (more often than not, she gets judged by many as the books she finds are books which no one has ever heard of) and listening to various genres of music. Thus, she would thoroughly appreciate it if you could recommend any good books or music to her. With the upcoming O levels approaching quickly, it would be an understatement to say that she has more on her plate than she could probably handle. However, she has decided to participate in UNASMUN this year as MUN never fails to be an extremely valuable experience to her. She strongly believes that MUN serves as a platform that allows all to gain self-confidence as well as better insights into a variety of issues whilst forging lifelong friendships. Though this upcoming UNASMUN would be her 5th time attending a MUN conference, it would be her first time chairing an external MUN. As such, she hopes to learn a lot from this experience and is looking forward to chairing SPECPOL this year. She sincerely hopes to be able to give all delegates a fun-filled and enriching experience over the 4 days of council. She can be contacted at: melanie.nmz@gmail.com 2
I. Background information The Yemeni Civil War is a longstanding Middle Eastern conflict that is currently in its 2nd year running. The war, initially sparked by 2 conflicting factions that laid claims to constituting the Yemeni government, has now developed into a proxy war for a cold geopolitical conflict in the region. 6 Saudi-supported government forces have been pitted against Iran-supported Houthi rebels, and the crisis has exacerbated the already disastrous state of the Yemeni standard of living. With terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) taking advantage of the chaos to plan attacks within the country 7, the situation has only been worsening. All this, together with the Saudi airstrikes and naval blockade of the country has led to various pressing issues such as food security, mass displacement and water scarcity. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has previously stated that Yemen is on the brink of facing a famine, estimating that roughly 2 million children in Yemen are suffering from acute malnourishment. 5 Despite previous attempts by the United Nations Secretary-General s Special Envoy to Yemen, Mr. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, as well as the Security Council, to mediate negotiations between the clashing parties, little progress has been made towards salvaging the dire situation thus far due to disagreements from both sides regarding the terms of settlement. 13 Fig. 1.0: A map of Yemen indicating which regions are under whose control as of March 2017 7 As of January 2017, the United Nations has reported that a low estimate of at least 10,000 lives have been taken due to the Yemeni civil war. 2 The war has devastated the Arab world s poorest country, leaving an estimated 20 million people in desperate need for humanitarian aid and over 3 million displaced. 2 Concerned over the possibility of a famine, the United Nations Security Council has called upon various involved parties to comply with the Special Envoy s proposal to increase the imports of crucial 3
necessities which would aid the humanitarian situation in Yemen. 15 All member states of the Security Council have also been called upon to implement an arms embargo on the waging parties 15 and an immediate mobilization 15 of the estimated USD 1.1 billion in funds 14 that various international parties had donated to help the people of Yemen earlier this year has also been called upon. The blame for majority of the civilian casualties has been directed towards the Saudi-led coalition which has come under severe international scrutiny recently. 3 Various accusations regarding human rights violations have also been directed against the Houthis. 3 This has in turn also brought many people s attention to the role of the major powers involved such as the United States of America which has continued to support the Saudi-led coalition with billions of dollars worth of arms, logistical support such as air refuelling and providing intelligence. 3 The Saudi-led coalition consists of various Arab states such as Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan and Senegal which are all fighting the war on the side of Yemen s internationally recognised government. The coalition has the military support of majority of the Arab League in alignment with the joint defense agreement that had been signed by parties many years ago. 16 On the other hand, the Houthi rebels are suspected to have the military support of Iran, who has denied most of these accusations thus far despite the US military having intercepted shipments of arms from Iran to Yemen on several occasions. 6 The backing that the 2 factions have, has led many to believe that the Yemeni civil war is part of Saudi-Arabia s cold war with Iran. This is due to the fact that the main factor that triggered Saudi-Arabia s involvement in the war was its fear of Iranian expansionism through its support of Shia based factions. 6 Despite the clash in religious beliefs being the main factor that prompted the involvement of Iran and the Saudi-led coalition, religious grievances have in fact, played an extremely small part in the war thus far as the Houthi rebels have made mainly economic or political related demands. 6 However, they have gained a lot of criticism as of late due to various human rights violations such as utilising banned antipersonnel landmines, ill-treating detainees, as well as launching indiscriminate rockets into densely-populated regions, resulting in hundreds of deaths. 6 4
II. Definitions Houthis A predominantly Shia-led (officially religious-political known as movement that emerged Ansar Allah from Sa'dah, northern (Partisans Yemen in the 1990s 12 of God) III. Scope of Debate During debate, delegates should take note of the political aspect of the war, how the differences in political beliefs has spurred on the war, as well as the humanitarian crisis that is facing the country of Yemen as a result of the war. They are also highly encouraged to bring up both short and long-term solutions to these problems to the floor during council. Delegates should consider the impacts that the war has on Yemen, as well as countries that have ties with or are surrounding the country, and in turn think of solutions that will be beneficial to these countries. Unrest and civil disorder Unrest and civil disorder between the two parties involved due to clashing ideologies is the main problem in the crisis. As such, this issue should be addressed during council. Delegates may want to consider solutions that include getting external help or involve direct negotiations. Do keep in mind how negotiated terms will be carried out and by whom they will be carried out by, be it a neutral third party or the parties directly involved in the conflict. Role of external powers External powers involved such as the United States of America, Iran and Saudi-Arabia have affected the war in various ways which have impacted the scale of the war greatly. Delegates may want to consider what can be done by or to these powers in order to help the situation in Yemen. Additionally, delegates should take note of how their proposed solutions will be supported. For example, if their solution were to include the providing of economic or humanitarian aid, in what quantities and from where will the monetary support and supplies come from? Solutions crafted should also address the issue of the rapidly increasing number of civilian casualties that are a result of external aid. Said solutions should as much as possible, try to reduce civilian deaths and avoid any further conflicts. Living conditions Ever since the war broke out in late 2014, food and water shortage, mass displacement, low hygiene levels, as well as the growing threat of terrorism Yemen is facing due to its increasing vulnerability has proven to be major problems for the country and its people. Solutions pertaining to how to provide the displaced with a potable water supply, connection to proper sewage and waste disposal systems, and basic necessities 5
in general are encouraged. Remember to ensure that suggested solutions can be applied in a real-world context and promoting international participation in efforts to help the situation in Yemen is highly encouraged. IV. Potential Solutions A two-region Federal State As the cause of the war was due to conflicting ideologies and identities within Yemen, calling for a two-region federal state could be a possible solution to the issue. A two-region Federal State means that the country will be split into two separate regions which will each remain independent in their internal affairs despite sharing a central government to deal with external issues. The central government will constitute of government officials from each state to ensure appropriate representation when dealing with external issues. This method would allow both parties to govern their respective states however they wish, and will thus resolve the problem of conflicting ideologies and identities between both sides. The shared central government will facilitate power-sharing to ensure that each side has a say in external matters and would also allow both sides to come together to counter pressing external issues such as the threat of terrorism. However, taking into consideration the past failures of the federal regions introduced in Yemen in 2014, delegates should aim to bring up any possible improvements to the federal region system in order to ensure an efficient administration by the centralised government after a political settlement has been achieved. Examples of said improvements would include the construction of a detailed economic road map for the country so as to stabilise the country s situation and prevent over-reliance on external parties. Overall, delegates should focus on ensuring economic and social development to counter the humanitarian crisis faced by the people, not neglecting the prevention of another military led civil war. Pressure from external parties As the United States of America is a major world power who is involved in the Yemeni civil war, it would be possible for the USA to mediate negotiations between the 2 conflicting parties should they take the initiative to. Since the Saudi-led coalition relies heavily on the USA for their military arms as well as networking intelligence, there is a high chance that they would comply with negotiations should the USA step up to cut down on the arms being supplied to the coalition. If the Saudi-led coalition is willing to partake in negotiations then the internationally recognised Yemeni government would probably be more willing to comply as well. As the USA has previously successfully persuaded the 2 parties into calling for a ceasefire to conduct 6
negotiation, 11 it would be possible to do so again. However, the possibility of the 2 parties coming to an agreement successfully is quite low. As such, the USA should take the initiative to lead negotiations more actively and be the mediator such that the 2 parties would be able to come to a compromise that they would not be able to reach if left to deal with negotiations alone as seen from previous attempts. Delegates should however keep in mind that relying solely on a single country to facilitate negotiations could result in the external party influencing the negotiations in a direction that s favourable for the said country and possibly would not fully address the domestic problems facing Yemen. V. Further Questions What can be done to reduce the rapidly growing number of civilian casualties? Seeing as the number of civilian casualties have increased significantly since aid from external parties became more evident, is the receiving of aid from other countries truly helping the situation or making it worst? Would a ceasefire be effective in aiding the situation in Yemen? Various efforts have been put into arranging a ceasefire before but most were unsuccessful. What went wrong and what could be done to improve on these attempts? How should the threat of terrorism be addressed seeing as the country is in no state to properly counter this issue? Delegates are highly encouraged to consider these questions before attending council. The dias hopes for these questions as well as those posed under the scope of debate to be brought up and discussed thoroughly during council. 7
VI. Conclusion The Yemeni civil war is a conflict that has not been receiving as much international recognition as other conflicts in Iran and Syria. As such, many have started dubbing the war as The Forgotten War. 10 However, the war has resulted in Yemen facing almost a full-blown humanitarian crisis and has devastated the poorest country in the Arab world. With medical support being hindered by Houthi sieges in various regions and terror groups taking advantage of the chaos to strike, this issue has definitely become an extremely pressing one. As such, the dias hopes that delegates will take this issue seriously and will be able to gain many takeaways from the 4 days of council through listening to the opinions of your fellow delegates and thus come up with viable solutions to this issue. VII. Bibliography 01. Kheel, Rebecca. "Trump signals deeper US involvement in Yemen." TheHill. April 01, 2017. Accessed September 05, 2017. http://thehill.com/policy/defense/326767-trump-men 02. Shahesignals-deeper-us-involvement-in-yemen, Kareem. "Yemen death toll has reached 10,000, UN says." The Guardian. January 16, 2017. Accessed September 03, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/16/yemen-war-death-toll-has-reached-10000- un-says 03. Stewart, Phil. "U.S. weighs bigger role in Yemen's war, boosting aid to allies." Reuters. March 27, 2017. Accessed September 04, 2017. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-yemen-military/u-s-weighs-bigger-role-in-yemenswar-boosting-aid-to-allies-iduskbn16y2nw 04. "Yemen profile - Timeline." BBC News. July 06, 2017. Accessed September 02 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14704951 05. "Famine And Disease: The Consequences Of The Yemeni Civil War." The Organization for World Peace. August 26, 2017. Accessed September 05, 2017. https://theowp.org/famine-and-disease-the-consequences-of-the-yemeni-civil-war/ 06. "Key facts about the war in Yemen." News from Al Jazeera. Accessed September 03, 2017 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/key-facts-war-yemen-160607112342462.html 07. "Yemen crisis: Who is fighting whom?" BBC News. March 28, 2017. Accessed September 02, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423 8
08. "Yemen." Human Rights Watch. January 12, 2017. Accessed September 06, 2017. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/yemen 09. "Yemen Situation Report." Critical Threats. Accessed September 05, 2017. https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/yemen-situation-report/2017-yemen-crisis-situation-re port-august-11 10. "End Yemen's Brutal War in 2017." Freedom House. Accessed September 06, 2017. https://freedomhouse.org/blog/end-yemens-brutal-war-2017 11. Reuters. "U.S., Britain call for immediate ceasefire in Yemen." Haaretz.com. October 16, 2016. Accessed September 06, 2017. http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.747750 12. "Houthis." Wikipedia. September 15, 2017. Accessed September 03, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/houthis 13. "Yemen Department of Political Affairs." United Nations. Accessed September 24, 2017. http://www.un.org/undpa/en/middleeast-westasia/yemen 14. "High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen: Donors pledge $1.1 Billion to Help People in Urgent Need in Yemen." United Nations. Accessed September 27, 2017. http://ye.one.un.org/content/unct/yemen/en/home/news-centre/news/high-level-pledging-ev ent-humanitarian-crisis-yemen-donors-pledge-11-billion-help.html 15. "Yemen: As humanitarian crisis deepens, Security Council urges all parties to engage in peace talks." UN News Center. June 15, 2017. Accessed September 27, 2017. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?newsid=56989#.wcxtv2hl_iv 16. "Arab League promises victory in Yemen; announces formation of joint force." Al Jazeera America. Accessed September 28, 2017. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/29/arab-league-promises-victory-in-yemen.htm l 9