Helping pull Yemen back from the brink

I was prompted to write this by an editorial in last week’s Al-Quds al-Arabi suggesting that the West has only taken notice of Yemen in the context of the threat from al-Qaeda and that Britain and the US intend to forcibly “stick their noses” into Yemeni affairs in a scenario comparable to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Let me make it very clear that all of us have learnt a lot from the experiences of the past. It is clearly far more desirable and straightforward to help bring a country back from the cusp of disaster that it is to pick up the pieces again after a state has collapsed, with far less catastrophic consequences for ordinary people.

This is why we are fully committed to helping Yemen address the multiple challenges it faces right now and we aim to facilitate a coordinated international response in a manner that accords with the interests of Yemenis themselves.

Terrorism may be the most tangible issue to the person on the street in the West reading newspaper reports about the Yemen situation, however we do not regard terrorism as necessarily the greatest or only threat facing Yemen today.

The root cause of many of the challenges is economic; there are many in Yemen who feel marginalised and disenchanted and are struggling to provide for their families from the dwindling natural resources. Civil unrest over economic and social issues is growing, especially in the South. That said, most of the grievances are shared nationally, including the lack of jobs, corruption, poor and uneven delivery of government services and the rule of law, lack of effective social support mechanisms for the genuinely needy.

This growing sense of marginalisation and disenchantment is also reflected in the resumption of the conflict in Sa’adah, where a long-term settlement can only be achieved politically. 

We remain focussed on providing, through the UN and others, urgent humanitarian assistance to those displaced by this conflict whilst continuing to work closely with the Government of Yemen to support efforts towards a peaceful settlement. We did not suddenly become aware of Yemen in the wake of reports on the Detroit attempted plane bombing, but we have been stepping up our assistance to Yemen for some years.

In August 2007 we signed a 10-year Development Partnership Arrangement with the Government of Yemen to underline our support and agree objectives on poverty reduction and reform. We agreed an indicative amount of £105m from 2008/09 to 2010/11, dependent on the Government of Yemen’s adherence to its commitments and ability to absorb aid.  Over the last 18 months, the UK has grown increasingly concerned about Yemen and our strategy has evolved accordingly. UK objectives focus on supporting the Government of Yemen in delivering services and jobs to its citizens as well as developing a strong, democratic state which is capable of addressing the causes of conflict and instability. 

 Yes, we regard al-Qaeda in Yemen as potentially a huge threat to the Middle East and the world, but there is nothing al-Qaeda benefits from more than instability. An increasing al-Qaeda stranglehold on the country would be a disaster for Yemen considering the trail of blood and destruction they have left in their wake in other countries where they have had a substantial presence. Al-Qaeda is also clearly having a damaging effect of Yemen’s ability to benefit from tourism, which is a tragedy for a country so well-endowed with a rich historical legacy and areas of outstanding natural beauty. Therefore we are committed to working with all the players in the region to empower the Yemeni authorities to provide effective and just governance to ensure that al-Qaeda cannot gain a foothold.

In contradiction to the allegations of al-Quds’ editorial, the responses to Yemen’s difficulties must not be primarily military.  President Obama has also stressed that he has no intention of sending troops to Yemen. Yemen urgently needs a peaceful resolution to the Sa’adah conflict.

The meeting on Yemen planned for later this month is part of the process to focus international awareness on Yemen’s many difficulties and channel international support to secure a coordinated response. There is no guarantee of success here, as the situation in Yemen is clearly very difficult. However, an ambitious effort now to strengthen Yemen’s resilience to these threats will be infinitely more straightforward to achieve, than a mission to put all the bits back together, in the event that we leave the nation of Yemen to fall apart.

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