The conflict in Yemen escalates and continues. It has begun on March 2015 and superpowers are having a proxy war— Pro-Western Saudi Arabia and their allies on one hand, and Iran on the other. Saudi Arabia, has been trying to bring peace to Yemen by bombing it. Around 4500 people have been killed and more than a million displaced. 

For the residents of the city of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, there is no peace. The people are living in constant fear of the sky, listening for the sounds of fighter jets ready to drop bombs on their homes at a moment’s notice. Saudi Arabia and its supporters claim that the bombings are to expel the Houthi rebels, which are supported by Iran, who took the city last year. However, many of the structures being destroyed and that have been destroyed are civilian targets such as homes, hospitals and places of work. The apparently daily bombings on the city are “conservative” when compared to the north where Yemen borders Saudi Arabia. Near the border of the two countries, Saudi Arabia is bombing almost everything.

Blockade

In 2013, Yemen has been ranked 154 out of 187 nations on the human development index and since the war began, it has dropped even more. Canada’s ally, Saudi Arabia, is not helping at all, especially with a blockade around Yemen. Several other Arab governments participate in the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen. The blockade has stopped the flow of all resources into the country. Before the war, 80% of food and fuel was imported but now nothing is. This has caused 84% of the country’s population, approximately 21 million people, to lose rudimentary life necessities. These people are in desperate need of humanitarian aid, not bombings.