Peace in Yemen?


This Thursday, the government of Yemen began a series of  “Milestone” peace talks in Sweden
with Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis. After nearly four years of civil war between the
Saudi-led military coalition and the Iranian-backed Houthis, there is some action in Yemen
towards creating peace. The aim of these initial meetings is to end conflict, and work towards
creating negative peace that prevents an “all-out battle”.
The conflict in Yemen has escalated since 2015, when the Houthis took control of the west and
forced the President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee the country. In response, the UAE, Saudi
Arabia and other Arab states intervened in support of Yemen’s government. Over 6,000 civilians
have been killed and over 10,000 injured. The civil war has been cited as the “world’s worst
humanitarian crisis in recent times”.

Attempts of peace negotiations have happened previously; in 2016, the Houthis failed to show
up for a meeting in Geneva. But the “humanitarian gestures” from the Yemeni government and
the Houthis in the past few weeks make these meetings more promising. Prisoners were
allowed to contact their families for the first time in years, and fifty Yemenis were able to fly out
from Sana to Muscat to get medical treatment. In Sweden, both parties signed a prisoner swap
deal that would reunite thousands of families in Yemen.
Many are optimistic that these meetings are the first step towards making peace in Yemen. Both
parties are willing and able to negotiate compromises that will benefit one another, and the
people of Yemen at-large. For years, Yemen has been a top concern for the United Nations, and
the Security Council is working hard to end this conflict. The meeting in Sweden is a hopeful
notion towards Yemen’s path to peace.

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