On
Yemen, As
Pause for Evacuation
Proposed in
UNSC, What's
US Position?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April
4, with video
-- Amid
complaints by
Doctors
Without
Borders and
the International
Committee of
the Red Cross
that they
can't get
medical aid
into Yemen, an
urgent UN
Security
Council
meeting began
on Saturday
April 4 at 11
am, on a
proposal for
"humanitarian
pauses" -- and
evacuation.
This puts the
US, which has
yet to evacuate
Americans in Yemen,
in a strange
position. At
the State
Department's
briefing on
April 3,
Acting
Spokesperson
Marie Harf was
asked why the
US is not doing
an evacuation
(giving rise
to a campaign,
#StuckInYemen)
and said
"first,
we have been
warning for I
think a decade
now that
American
citizens not
travel to
Yemen. So
that’s not a
reason why not
to; I’m just
reminding
people of
that. The
second is that
in each of
these cases,
we have to
make a
decision based
on the
security
situation and
what is
feasible to
do. And given
the situation
in Yemen is
quite
dangerous and
unpredictable,
doing
something like
sending in
military
assets even
for an
evacuation
could put U.S.
citizen lives
at greater
risk. In some
other places
we’ve helped
evacuate U.S.
citizens. For
example,
airports were
still open and
you could
evacuate
people on
commercial
airlines.
Obviously,
that’s not the
case in Yemen.
So we’re
continuing to
evaluate the
security
situation, and
we’re
continuing to
look at what
our options
are, but at
this point, no
plan – no
change in
plans."
If the lack of
a humanitarian
pause for
evacuation is
one of the
reasons the US
has not done
one, now a
resolution has
been proposed
which would
call for just
such a pause.
What is the US
position?
We hope to
have more on
this.
UK
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Peter Wilson
on his way
into the
Security
Council said,
"we continue
to support the
Saudi-led
action in
Yemen... in
response to a
legitimate
request.”
Wilson said
the UK regrets
all casualties
and is
committed to
international
humanitarian
law including
access by
agencies to
deliver aid.
But, Wilson
said, “it is
extremely
important” to
note “how we
got to this
position.” He
said the
Houthis took
military
action, took
action by
force instead
of engage in
talks and
called for a
return to
“genuine
political
talks on an
equal basis.”
Despite being
called
"urgent,"
things were
surprisingly
low key.
Speaking on
the way into
the Council's
closed door
meeting were
the Permanent
Representatives
of Chad and
Nigeria, and
the Deputy
Permanent
Representatives
of Russia and,
as noted and
quoted above,
of the UK.
The Saudis, it
should be
noted, have
been
air-dropping
weapons and ammunition
into Yemen.
One might
think the
Security
Council would
want to get a
briefing from
the ICRC. But
they were not
here.
Soon it was
leaked --
presumably by
a Western
Permanent
Three members
of the
Security
Council --
that Russia
had tabled a
resolution.
This is how it
works, or
doesn't, at
the UN
Security
Council.
Beyond aid
getting in,
how might this
impact
people's
desire and
need to get
out?
Back on March
30 Inner
City Press
asked the US
State
Department if
any steps are
being taken to
evacuated
Yemeni
Americans.
On March 31 a
State
Department
official
provided Inner
City Press on
background
with this
answer:
"We
have no
current plans
to evacuate
private U.S.
citizens from
Yemen. We
continue to
watch the
situation
closely. The
protection and
safety of U.S.
citizens
overseas are
among our top
priorities."
Some of those
impacted,
including
Yemeni
Americans,
pointed out to
Inner City
Press that
other
countries, as
simply one
example
Pakistan which
is part of the
Saudi-led
coalition,
have done
evacuations.
This has been
followed by
India, China
and
others.
But not (yet?)
the US,
leading to the
campaign
#StuckInYemen.
We'll haver
more on this.
, 
