Monthly Briefing / December – 2022

Political Scene

The United Nations reached a dead end in dealing with the political file in Yemen, after failing to renew the armistice, which foreshadows the return of war again. In addition, the statements of some western ambassadors toward the Houthis have increased, due to their stubborn positions and refusal to renew the armistice and return to dialogue. The most prominent of these statements were made by the French ambassador and the U.S. special envoy to Yemen.

• The Speaker of the Yemeni Parliament, Sultan Al-Barakani, stated that the U.S. aimed to prevent the Yemeni army’s progress and the popular resistance to liberate Sana’a in early 2016. (December 4)

• Iranian historian Arash Azizi said, in an interview with the Carnegie Middle East Center, that the Houthis received orders to kill former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander, Qassem Soleimani, in 2017. (December 4)

• A leader of the Houthis, Sherif Al-Ezzi, sent a message to the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, which contained information about a great popular resentment against the group, due to the large levies, describing the Houthi government as corrupt and impoverishing the people. (December 7)

• The French ambassador to Yemen, Jean Marie, accused the Houthis of destroying Yemeni society, holding it responsible for not renewing the armistice. (December 7)

• An agreement was signed between Yemen and the UAE in the field of military cooperation and the fight against terrorism. (December 8)

• The delegation of ambassadors from the European Union visited Taiz, in the first diplomatic visit to the city, which has been besieged for eight years. (December 12)

• The Houthis announced that an Omani delegation arrived in Sana’a on a visit aimed at delivering new proposals regarding the renewal of the truce, which has been stalled since the beginning of October. (December 21)

Military Scene:

The level of military confrontations between the army and the Houthis decreased during December 2022, despite the escalation of mutual threats between the two parties to return to military options, as the Houthis refused to renew the truce that ended in early October.

• Intense battles broke out between the National Army and the Houthis in Ma’rib, which resulted in several deaths and injuries on both sides. (December 1)

• The Houthis launched drone attacks on the army forces’ military sites in Taiz, on the western and northwestern fronts. (December 8)

Security Scene 

Lawlessness expanded during the month of December in the governorates under the control of the legitimate government and the areas controlled by the Houthis. The most prominent of these events was the targeting of a mosque in Hadhramaut. In addition to the increasing smuggling of miscellaneous weapons and antiquities, the latest of which was announced by the U.S., where two shipments were halted in international waters, which were on their way to the Houthis.

• The Central Command of the U.S. Naval Forces USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) announced that it had intercepted a fishing trawler smuggling more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses and propellants for rockets in the Gulf of Oman along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen. (December 3)

• Members and the head of the United Nations Mission in Hodeidah, Michael Berry, survived a minefield explosion while they were passing through the city. (December 6)

• The Yemeni Embassy in Washington announced that the U.S. authorities seized 75 Yemeni artifacts, during an attempt to smuggle them into the United States. (December 10)

Economic Scene:

The Yemeni riyal continues to collapse against foreign currencies, setting a record in December. Moreover, the government carried on with measures to implement its decision to classify the Houthis as a “terrorist” organization. As a result, the Houthi continued harassing the merchants and doubling levies, the latest of which was its threat against the Hayel Saeed Anam Group, the largest company in Yemen.

• The Central Bank of Yemen announced the freezing of assets and the ban on 12 companies, most of which work in the field of importing oil to areas controlled by the Houthi group. (December 6)

• The Yemeni riyal collapsed against foreign currencies, losing most of its recovered value during the past four months, to reach the exchange value of $1 to 1,200 YER, while the exchange of the Saudi riyal exceeded 320 YER. (December 21) 

Violations:

Although the war stopped on most fronts, the rate of violations increased inside cities among most Yemeni parties, most notably the Houthi group in the north of the country, within the areas under its control, and the Transitional Council in large parts of the southern governorates.

• The United Nations said that over the past 6 months, it documented 159 victims of landmines where women and children represented 50% of the victims. The UN did not disclose the party behind this violation. (December 9) 

• The Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a (affiliated with the Houthis) issued a death sentence against 16 abductees and imprisoned 13 others for years, all of them from Saada, on charges of “aiding aggression”, referring to the Saudi-Emirati alliance. (December 17)

Humanitarian Scene 

The flow of African refugees to Yemen continues as they search for life opportunities or to transit to the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia. In exchange, the United Nations returned dozens to their countries, after recording numbers of violations they were exposed to during smuggling at sea and on the borders with Saudi Arabia. 

• The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that it had monitored the death of 15 children and the infection of 1,400 others with measles, from the beginning of this year until the end of July. (December 10)  

• The International Organization for Migration announced the entry of 67,500 African immigrants into Yemen throughout 2022. (December 19)

• The International Organization for Migration of the United Nations announced the evacuation of 3,700 Ethiopian immigrants in Yemen to their country, since the beginning of 2022, while more than 67,000 African immigrants arrived during the same year. (December 26)

Statistics 

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) documented:

1. The death and injury of 11,000 children in Yemen, during the period pf 2015-2022.

2. The killing of 3,774 children (2,742 males, 983 females and 49 unidentified bodies).

3. The recruitment of 3,995 children (3,904 males and 91 females).

4. The kidnapping of 152 children (140 males, and 12 females).

5. Forty-seven children were subjected to sexual violence (29 males, 18 females). (December 12)