By Richard Medhurst, Workers Today
This week marks 7 years since the Saudi-led coalition began its bombing campaign against Yemen, in March 2015. As a result…
- Despite announcing a ceasefire on March 30th, Saudi Arabia has not lifted its siege on Yemen
- A new report exposes the shocking extent of the embargo, which was imposed in 2015, and intensified in 2021
- The Saudi-led coalition is preventing fuel ships from reaching Hodeida, Yemen’s largest port and main lifeline to 80 percent of the population
- Ships are detained by the Coalition and held for almost a year on average, causing fuel prices to rise exponentially
- Fuel ships forced to reroute to other ports are faced with new obstacles: fuel trucks must travel greater distances, increasing transportation (and thereby fuel) costs
- Trucks must go through roadblocks where armed groups such as Al Qaeda impose taxes on them; money that goes toward funding terrorism and prolonging the conflict
- Because of the intensified siege, fewer fuel ships are coming to Hodeida. Only one ship for public consumption has come so far in 2022
- 80 percent of Yemenis, who live in one of the poorest countries in the world, had to pay a staggering $644.4 million in additional costs last year (for gasoline and diesel products alone), due to a massive increase in fuel prices caused by the Hodeida blockade
- According to the IMF, Yemen’s inflation rate increased by an unbelievable 40 percent in 2021
- Already underfunded and at reduced capacity, hospitals are now shutting down operations due to fuel shortages. Yemenis cannot afford cooking gas, electricity, and Yemen’s agriculture, industry and service sectors are in tatters
