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

Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2016 Oct;10(5):701-703. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2016.50. Epub 2016 Aug 11.

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: Geneva Convention; Yemen; humanitarian crisis; international humanitarian law; war.

MeSH terms

  • Altruism*
  • Global Health
  • Humans
  • Public Health / standards*
  • Survivors / psychology
  • Warfare*
  • Yemen