Since the onset of the Yemeni conflict in March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition has enforced a naval and air blockade, severely limiting the entry of essential goods like food, fuel, and medicine. In response to a missile attack on Riyadh by Yemeni forces in November 2017, the coalition temporarily closed all of Yemen’s access points. Though some restrictions were eased later that month, the blockade continues to disproportionately affect civilians, restricting the flow of critical commercial imports and humanitarian aid.
Yemen, already devastated by years of conflict, faces an escalating humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the Saudi-led coalition’s blockade. This blockade severely restricts access to essential goods, imperilling millions of lives and violating fundamental human rights. Multiple reports from organisations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Committee of the Red Cross highlight how the coalition’s tactics have compounded civilian suffering.
According to Human Rights Watch, these restrictions have disproportionately affected civilians, contributing to widespread famine and the collapse of healthcare systems outages, a direct consequence of the blockade, and have crippled the transportation of life-saving goods and the operation of medical facilities. Medical shortages, particularly in treating cholera and malnutrition, have made the humanitarian crisis even more dire.
The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) reports that over 377,000 people have died as a result of the war, with a large proportion due to famine and lack of medical supplies. Amnesty International has further stressed that restrictions on the delivery of life-saving supplies have devastated the healthcare system, leaving over 16 million people without adequate medical care. Human Rights Watch emphasises that the blockade limits access to food and fuel and impedes essential humanitarian aid.
The Saudi-led coalition’s blockade on Yemen is a violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Convention, which Saudi Arabia is obligated to uphold. Despite Saudi Arabia’s claims of providing humanitarian aid, widespread human rights abuses continue. In 2021, the Group of Eminent Experts, responsible for monitoring violations in Yemen, saw its mandate blocked by Saudi and UAE lobbying efforts. The absence of an independent monitoring system is highly concerning. Yemeni civil society and international organisations continue to call for accountability mechanisms to address unchecked violations and restore oversight.
This lack of accountability enables the ongoing humanitarian disaster, where millions of Yemeni civilians are deprived of critical supplies like food, fuel, and medicine.