“It’s pathetic to see my boy dying, slowly. I would not return home without healing him completely,” said Mohammad Yusuf while looking at Shamim, who is just six, suffering from severe malnutrition.

It took around 15 hours for Yusuf, his wife Fadiha and Shamim to reach the Yemeni capital of Sana’a by a bus from a remote village in Taizz. The little boy weighs less than 6kg, as doctors are of the opinion that he was suffering from acute malnutrition! Earlier, they lost their two children who were barely at the tender age of six months and four months, respectively, because of malnutrition. Meanwhile, Doctor Abdel Malek Mohammad has assured Yusuf that he would cure Shamim. At the same time, he has said that staying a couple of months at the hospital would not be enough for the six-year-old boy, as he needs nutritious food. Meanwhile, it has become increasingly difficult for Yusuf to bear the cost of Shamim’s treatment!

Yemen has been ravaged by Civil War for the past five years. Moreover, the West Asian nation often experiences floods and frequent locust infestations. The majority of people have no work, no money, no food and no medical facilities, there. Yusuf is an agricultural worker. As the country has run out of fuel due to the Civil War, the land owner is facing problems in using the pump for irrigation. So, Yusuf recently lost his job! Now, people, like Yusuf, solely depend on relief materials. However, Saudi Arabia blocked land, air and water routes to Yemen three years ago. As a result, relief materials do not always reach Yemen from abroad. Yusuf and his countrymen have become accustomed to enjoy meal just once a day.

In its latest report, the UN has revealed that 80% of the population of Yemen is depending on relief. Quite a large number of children have been admitted to various hospitals in Sana’a in the last few months, and most of them suffer from malnutrition. There are also outbreaks of Diarrhoea and Diphtheria. As per UN data, one in five children is malnourished in the war-ravaged nation!

UN Secretary General António Guterres recently stated that war-torn Yemen was in “imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades”! However, Doctor Abdel Malek Mohammad believes that famine has already rocked the country, and it’s too late to handle the situation…

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/boundlessoceanofpolitics/

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/kousdas?s=09

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundless-ocean-of-politics

Contact us: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das