Saudi tries its hand at rebuilding a ‘destroyed’ Yemen

Aden – The hospital in southern Yemen was decked out with roses and red carpet runners last week for a ribbon-cutting ceremony in its cardiac wing, newly refurbished with Saudi funds.

Many patients, however, had been cleared from the air-conditioned lobby and forced to wait for hours outside in stifling heat, shouting “I’m tired! I’m sick!” at passing dignitaries, among them the Saudi ambassador.  

Eight years after mobilising troops to topple Huthi rebels and restore Yemen’s internationally backed government, Saudi Arabia is touting reconstruction and development projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars as it pushes for peace. 

“Our goal is clear: a secure, stable and developed Yemen,” the Saudi envoy, Mohammed al-Jaber, told AFP after a tour of Aden General Hospital, nearby apartment buildings and Aden’s international airport — all revamped under the kingdom’s official Yemen development programme.

Yet as the scene at the hospital made clear, meeting the needs of a population reeling from punishing aerial bombardments and drawn-out desert battles will be a tall order. 

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people either through combat or knock-on effects like hunger and disease. Millions remain displaced, their homes and communities destroyed.

The needs are so great in Aden that, instead of relaxing during the

hospital ceremony, some doctors fretted about the dozens of appointments that would need to be rescheduled in order to accommodate it. 

Many were for destitute patients who had travelled long distances to reach one of the few facilities offering free medical care, said doctor Abdulwahab Al Matry. 

“Is this enough?” he asked, referring to the new hospital beds and equipment. “Of course it is not.”

– Peace in sight? –

Saudi officials say they had no choice when, in 2015, they formed a military coalition and sent in fighter jets to topple the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who had seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa. 

They cite threats to Saudi territory underscored by several high-profile attacks on oil facilities, including one in 2019 — claimed by the Huthis but widely attributed to Iran — that temporarily halved output for the world’s largest crude exporter. 

The consequences for Yemen’s population were stark.

By September 2021, more than 23,000 air strikes carried out by the coalition had left 18,000 civilians killed or injured, according to a UN expert panel.

Fighting diminished considerably thanks to a truce deal that took effect in April 2022 and has largely held despite officially expiring last October. 

Now the Saudis, having failed to dislodge the Huthis, are trying to broker a more durable ceasefire. 

Last month, Jaber travelled to Sanaa for talks with officials including one Huthi leader, Ali Nasir Qarshah, who Riyadh once included on a wanted list for “terrorism”, offering $5 million for information leading to his arrest or whereabouts.

Those meetings ended without a new agreement, though Jaber told AFP he believes all parties are “serious” about wanting peace. 

– ‘Repair the harm’ –

Meanwhile, Riyadh is trying to spread the word about its reconstruction drive, which Jaber noted includes $1 billion deposited earlier this year in Yemen’s central bank, a $600 million oil derivatives fund and $400 million worth of projects like the hospital and airport.

Officials even flew Saudi influencers like the screen actor Fayez al-Malki — best known for his film character Menahi, a hapless villager in the big city — down to Aden to interview beneficiaries of Saudi-funded home renovations. 

“This is the first time someone has helped us, and you are a country of goodness and blessing,” Samah al-Hussaini told Malki, who dutifully posted the recording for his millions of Twitter and Snapchat followers. 

For many observers, such gestures are woefully inadequate when judged against Saudi Arabia’s conduct in Yemen for the better part of a decade. 

“There hasn’t been any discussion of accountability for what they’ve done to the country, what they’ve done to the people and infrastructure, the way they’ve devastated and destroyed the country,” Niku Jafarnia, Yemen researcher for Human Rights Watch, told AFP. 

“It’s not just a question of should they do something, what would the benefits be. It’s a legal requirement that they repair the harm that they’ve done, which is massive,” she added. 

Aid groups also underline what they describe as Saudi Arabia’s enormous — and long-term — obligations to Yemen’s recovery. 

“Saudi Arabia, as well as other nations that played a direct or indirect role in this catastrophe, must step up to support the millions of Yemeni civilians that have borne the brunt of this brutal conflict,” Erin Hutchinson, Yemen country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told AFP. 

“They must help rebuild what they destroyed.”