As reported by UN News, the warring parties of the Yemeni civil conflict are still far away from reaching a political agreement to terminate the fighting which has been wracking the country for seven years. Against this dismaying and disheartening backdrop, humanitarian needs of the civilian population soar, since millions of people are deprived of the access to the fundamental goods and services on a daily basis. Amongst these needs, in most cases civilians suffer from the lack of adequate housing. Indeed, UN News continues to warn against the increasing shelter crisis in the Marib Governorate, emphasizing how this appalling situation endangers the four million internally displaced people currently living in the region.
According to the data gathered by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), roughly 24.000 people have lost their houses since the beginning of 2021 as an aftermath of the relentless armed clashes occurring in the Marib Governorate. As a consequence of such an exponential increase of cases of displacement, the settlements situated in the region are beyond capacity, leading to a dire dearth of clean and drinkable water, hygiene and many other fundamental objects to survival. In addition, since the large majority of these settlements is built on private lands, the civilians living in these camps are under the constant threat of eviction, being plunged in even more intense uncertainty and desperation.
This worsening scenario is further exacerbating the dire humanitarian crisis plaguing the country, dooming millions of innocent people to an unsustainable life and, eventually, to a miserable death. In order to pull a plug on this, it is pivotal for the international community to contrive plans to ensure decent housing to all displaced civilians, in addition to keep working in order to urge the belligerents to reach a truce.
Sources:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1098302;
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1098272;
https://www.rescue.org/country/yemen
Author: Gianpaolo Mascaro; Editor: Jasmina Saric
