By Guido Lanfranchi.
On March 20th, 2019, the Yemeni Embassy in the Netherlands briefed the Dutch press on the situation on the ground in Yemen. The update focused on the state of implementation of the Stockholm agreement, as well as on the erupting conflict in the Hajour district.
As the situation on the ground in Yemen is characterized by extreme complexity and continuous changes, the Yemeni Embassy in the Netherlands decided to offer a briefing in order to expose the position of the Government of Yemen. The briefing took place in the Embassy’s premises in Scheveningen, The Hague, and was attended by different media outlets, as well as by other guests, including members of international NGOs and students.
The attendees were briefed directly by the Yemeni Ambassador, H.E. Ms. Sahar Ghanem, with the help of the Embassy’s Counsellor, Mr. Wadhah Hadi. The speakers started by outlining the long and difficult negotiation process that, stretching from June 2015 to December 2018, eventually led to the signing of the Stockholm agreement between the Government of Yemen and the Houthis. The agreement, signed on December 18th, 2018, featured three main outcomes: an agreement on redeployment from the three ports of Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Isa; an agreement on the release of prisoners; and an agreement to hold further discussions on the sieged city of Taiz.
The speakers also provided an account of the events that unfolded in the wake of the agreement’s signature. They recalled the arrival of Dutch General Mr. Patrick Cammaert, leader of the UN mission tasked with supervising the Agreement’s implementation, and his successive replacement with Danish General Mr. Michael Lollesgaard.
This UN mission – the speaker underlined – could count of the full cooperation of the Government of Yemen, which repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to peace, including through the payment of salaries to workers in Houthi-controlled areas in Hodeidah – the Ambassador stressed.
At the same time, however, the Ambassador accused the Houthis of not being equally committed to a peaceful solution. She blamed the group for taking unilateral steps in the implementation of the agreement, as well as for continuous violations of the ceasefire established in Stockholm. According to a governmental report cited in the briefing, between December 18th and January 19th the Houthis committed at least 688 violations, leading to 48 deaths and a larger number of casualties – the Ambassador regretted, defining the Houthis as a militia, devoid of any commitment to political agreements.
As a result of the Houthis’ lack of commitment – the Ambassador noted with displeasure – more than three months after the signature of the Stockholm Agreement, the deal’s implementation does not seem to be leading anywhere. As a proof of this, the Ambassador pointed at the recent interview given by Abdul Malik al-Houthi, in which the Houthi leader declared that the group would not withdraw from Hodeidah. Thus, in spite of some recent positive announcements by the United Nations Special Envoy Mr. Martin Griffiths, no agreement between the two parties seems to be within reach.
The Ambassador went on by outlining the steps that the Government of Yemen should undertake. She repeatedly stressed that a military offensive on Hodeidah would be not only undesirable, as it would risk to completely destroy the city, but also unfeasible, as the Houthis exploited the recent ceasefire to strengthen their defences. Rather, she noted that the Government should focus on a decentralization of the humanitarian approach, making full use of the other sea and land ports that can serve the country. Moreover, the Ambassador repeatedly stressed the importance of supporting the revival of the Yemeni economy, a step that would be crucial to ensure not only development, but also peace and security in the country.
Ambassador Ghanem and Counsellor Hadi also touched upon the situation in the Hajour district. There – they explained – past conflicts between the Houthis and local tribes resurfaced in the wake of the Stockholm agreement’s signature, as the Houthis attempted to forcibly assert their control over the district. The Ambassador accused the Houthis of using heavy weapons, including ballistic missiles, to target the Hajour district, and issued a thinly veiled critique to the media’s coverage of the conflict: “why is there so much mediatic attention on Hodeidah, and so little on the fight in Hajour?” – the Ambassador wondered.
In the ensuing question and answer session with the attendees, Ambassador Ghanem and Counsellor Hadi touched upon a number of different issues. For instance, they called on the UN to apply more pressure on the Houthi side, and they also pointed the finger at Iran for providing political, economic, technical, and military support to the Yemeni rebel group. Finally, Ambassador Ghanem also voiced her firm belief in peace from the grassroots, stressing the need to find a balance between empowering peacemakers at the local level, and (re)building Yemen’s national identity in the wake of a conflict that is becoming increasingly divisive.
At the end of the day, as Ambassador Ghanem put it, “no one wants peace more than the Yemeni people”. Hopefully, all parties will manage to engage with each other in a more constructive way and to move the country closer to the much-desired outcome: peace.
