Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T03:02:28.050Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Yemen’s Unprecedented Humanitarian Crisis: Implications for International Humanitarian Law, the Geneva Convention, and the Future of Global Health Security

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2016

Alba Ripoll Gallardo ,
Frederick M. Burkle Jr. ,
Luca Ragazzoni  and
Francesco Della Corte
Alba Ripoll Gallardo*
Affiliation:
CRIMEDIM-Research Center in Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
Frederick M. Burkle Jr.
Affiliation:
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Luca Ragazzoni
Affiliation:
CRIMEDIM-Research Center in Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
Francesco Della Corte
Affiliation:
CRIMEDIM-Research Center in Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Alba Ripoll Gallardo, Via Lanino 1, PC 8100 Novara, Italy (e-mail: [email protected]).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The current humanitarian crisis in Yemen is unprecedented in many ways. The Yemeni War tragedy is symptomatic of gross failures to recognize, by combatants, existing humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention that have become the new norm in unconventional armed conflicts and are increasingly replicated in Africa, Afghanistan, and other areas of the Middle East with dire consequences on aid workers and the noncombatant population. The health and humanitarian professions must take collective responsibility in calling for all belligerent parties to cease the massacre and commit to guaranteed medical assistance, humanitarian aid, and the free flow of information and respect for the humanitarian principles that protect the neutrality and impartiality of the humanitarian workforce. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 3)

Keywords

Yemenhumanitarian crisisinternational humanitarian lawGeneva Conventionwar
Type
Commentary
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 10 , Issue 5 , October 2016 , pp. 701 - 703
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. The Aid Worker Security Database: 2014. https://aidworkersecurity.org/incidents/report/incidents. Accessed November 23, 2015.Google Scholar
2. Ripoll Gallardo, A, Ragazzoni, L, Della Corte, F. Yemen, an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. BMJ. 2015;351:h4366. http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4366/rr-0.Google Scholar
3. Dyer, O. MSF hospital is destroyed in Yemen airstrikes. BMJ. 2015;28:351.Google Scholar
4. Salisbury, P. Yemen: Stemming the Rise of a Chaos State. The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Middle East and North Africa Programme; May 2016.Google Scholar
5. Black, I. Saudi Arabia sees Yemen intervention as defence of ‘backyard.’ The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/27/saudi-arabia-sees-yemen-intervention-as-defence-of-backyard. Published January 27, 2016. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
6. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Yemen, crisis overview. OCHA website. http://www.unocha.org/yemen/crisis-overview Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
7. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Yemen: year in Review 2015 – 2016. ReliefWeb website. http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-year-review-2015-2016-enar. Published March 24, 2016. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
8. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs. Almost 9 in 10 deaths and injuries from explosive weapons in Yemen are civilian. OCHA website. http://www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/almost-9-10-deaths-and-injuries-explosive-weapons-yemen-are-civilian. Published September 25, 2015. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
9. United Nations Refugee Agency. Yemen situation. UNHCR Regional Update #38. April 2016. http://www.refworld.org/docid/574548494.html. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
10. International Committee of the Red Cross. Yemen: Intensified ground fighting heightens civilian suffering [news release]. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/yemen-intensified-ground-fighting-heightens-civilian-suffering. Published July 24, 2015. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
11. Médecins Sans Frontières. MSF Treats Over 40 Wounded Following Deadly Airstrike on Marketplace in Yemen. http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/msf-treats-over-40-wounded-following-deadly-airstrike-marketplace-yemen. Published March 16, 2016. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
12. Samar, Kadi. Humanitarian workers in Yemen in the crossfire. The Arab Weekly. http://www.thearabweekly.com/pdf/2016/02/05-02/p09.pdf. Published February 5, 2016. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
13. Médecins Sans Frontières. MSF-Supported Hospital Bombed in Northern Yemen. http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/msf-supported-hospital-bombed-northern-yemen. Published January 10, 2016. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
14. Canadian government ‘lied’ over $12bn arms sale to Saudi Arabia. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/canadian-government-lied-over-12bn-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia. Published April 13, 2016. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
15. Wearing, D. Why is Britain still selling Saudi Arabia arms to use in Yemen? The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/20/britain-selling-saudi-arabia-arms-yemen-corbyn. Published April 20, 2016. Accessed May 30, 2016.Google Scholar
16. Osler, W. Aequanimitas. London: McGraw-Hill Book Company; 1906.Google Scholar
17. Thrall, AT, Glaser, J. The U.S. should stop supporting the war in Yemen. Commentary, Cato Institute. http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/us-should-stop-supporting-war-yemen Published February 17, 2016. Accessed February 17, 2016.Google Scholar

Ripoll Gallardo supplementary material

Movie

Download Ripoll Gallardo supplementary material(Video)
Video 5.6 MB