The situation in Yemen is “catastrophic”, according to the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia. Speaking on the World Day of the Poor last Sunday, Bishop Paul Hinder said “with the continuation of the conflict, the problem of poverty has worsened: there is hunger, there is a shortage of food, prices have risen due to the high rate of inflation.” He also reported that “cholera and lack of water afflict the population”.
The war in Yemen has caused more than 120,000 deaths, but the entire population across the Arabian Peninsula is suffering the economic impact. Bishop Hinder lamented that many Christians are leaving the country because they have lost their jobs and “this will inevitably be a severe blow to the whole community”. He said that in the capital Sana’a, the Missionary Sisters of Charity and other religious are supporting the sick and most vulnerable.
Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that began in 2014 when Iran-backed Houthi rebels overran much of the country including Sana’a. The conflict escalated in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains and restoring President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi's rule.
Houthi forces have used banned antipersonnel landmines, recruited children, and fired artillery indiscriminately into cities as well as launching indiscriminate ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia, while Human Rights Watch has documented at least 90 apparently unlawful Saudi-led coalition airstrikes. The fighting has triggered the world's worst humanitarian disaster, with millions facing disease and starvation.
Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia itself, a move to ease foreign workers’ contractual restrictions has been welcomed by Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga, vice chairman of the Philippines Bishops’ Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. Around 800,000 Filipinos work in the kingdom. The bishop said he hoped that Filipino domestic workers will be among those covered in Saudi Arabia’s easing of its “kafala” scheme which gives employers control over the lives of some 10 million migrant workers, leaving them open to maltreatment. “It will be a welcome relief and valuable protection for our domestic workers,” Bishop Santos said.
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