Many of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East are characterized as internal wars in which central governments are engaged against non-state militias and armed actors. The prolonged duration and violence characterizing these conflicts have led to severe humanitarian crises. Numerous analyses shed light on cases of civilian killings and injuries, the spread of hunger and diseases due to the collapse of healthcare systems, and the prevalence of malnutrition, as well as waves of internal displacement. The alarming result is that the number of individuals suffering and dying due to the indirect effects of wars in some regional countries may surpass the number of those who die due to combat operations and associated violence. Nevertheless, international and regional humanitarian relief efforts in these conflicts and wars continue to face obstacles, potentially worsening living and humanitarian conditions therein.
Humanitarian Crises
Conflicts in the region have led to a deterioration of humanitarian conditions as they continue unabated with no solutions in sight to end or mitigate their negative consequences. Some examples are as follows:
1. Yemen:
Nine years into the Houthi insurgency against the legitimate government, Yemen continues to face one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. The Houthi militia's military escalation and obstruction of any political resolution have exacerbated the conflict. United Nations statistics estimate that over three million Yemenis have fled their homes due to the conflict, with an additional two million internally displaced. The dire situation is worsened by the fact that eight million people have lost their jobs, and a million homes have been destroyed during the war. According to a report by the World Bank, Yemen could be on the brink of famine due to a decline in agricultural production and a severe devaluation of the local currency, driven by the Houthi's insistence on escalating and targeting economic resources.
2. Syria:
Since it broke out in 2011, the conflict in Syria has become one of the world's most complex political and humanitarian crises. The United Nations estimates that around 7 million people were internally displaced within Syria, and approximately 13 million suffer from food insecurity. Due to displacement and the conditions brought about by the war, the ratio of medical personnel has plummeted to 11 doctors and nurses per 100,000 people.
3. Sudan:
The ongoing military conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, has hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid to a country already grappling with inflation, high foreign debt, and a significant number of citizens in dire need of urgent assistance - one in every three Sudanese before the current crisis erupted.
Indeed, the one thing that unites the three aforementioned cases, Yemen, Syria, and Sudan, is the alarming complexity of the humanitarian situation, which profoundly affects not only the physical and mental health of the citizens in those countries but also infringes upon their most basic rights to life. Moreover, at times, neighboring countries have borne the brunt of the refugee influx, adding pressure to economies that might already be struggling, much like numerous other nations worldwide. This strain comes amidst the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, further impacting economies globally.
Complex Conflicts
Understanding the catastrophic humanitarian situations in certain regional countries and the intricacies of their management cannot be isolated from comprehending the nature of the ongoing military conflicts. On the one hand, these conflicts are characterized by their civil nature, where the collapse of central government authority has led to a near-total absence of the state in many regions. This exacerbates the humanitarian crisis, imposing immense costs on immediate relief efforts and long-term development endeavors.
On the other hand, these conflicts also bear a clear external dimension. Some regional and international powers extending humanitarian aid may be accused by conflict parties of pursuing political agendas and aligning themselves with one side. This undermines the principles of impartiality and neutrality that are supposed to characterize humanitarian relief efforts.
In addition to all of this, the conflicting agendas of internal militias, along with certain regional and international actors, seem to further complicate the attainment of urgent peaceful settlements to these conflicts. Major donor and humanitarian support systems currently focus on addressing the repercussions of the Russo-Ukrainian crisis, which broke out in February 2022.
Existing Dilemmas
Regarding conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and Sudan, numerous dilemmas pose a challenge to efforts to improve the humanitarian situations in these countries. This can be outlined as follows:
1. Syria:
UN-affiliated agencies operating in Syria, such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization, face repeated accusations of violating the principles of humanitarian work, including neutrality and impartiality. Despite the validity of this criticism, implementing humanitarian principles on the ground, especially concerning neutrality and impartiality, proves to be a challenging endeavor. The unprecedented exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis in Syria necessitates that the United Nations and its specialized entities continue their humanitarian operations to reach the largest possible number of people affected by the ongoing war, regardless of their location.
The second dilemma is linked to the relationship between humanitarian relief and the political agendas of major contributors or donors. Donors tend to view civil conflicts through the lens of their own security interests, giving priority to processes of state-building in the affected country, as evidenced in the Syrian case, where the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States tie the provision of humanitarian aid to their long-term political and security objectives. These objectives often include achieving a political transformation in the governing structure and countering extremism that has found fertile ground in the Syrian conflict.
This Western approach to humanitarian relief overlooks the fact that state-building is a lengthy and resource-intensive process, especially in a volatile environment characterized by various forms of instability. However, the political realities on the ground do not seem to support this Western approach.
The third dilemma pertains to the ability of the United Nations and its humanitarian bodies to deliver aid to civilians within Syria, especially in areas that are besieged due to ongoing fighting. Many of these areas can only be accessed through government-controlled territory. Due to political interests, governments in any conflict tend to try to exert control and influence over aid distribution areas to secure local populations' loyalty or punish rebels. This means that this dilemma persists unless the international community, through the United Nations Security Council, manages to pass a binding resolution allowing humanitarian aid flow to all war-affected areas.
2. Yemen:
UN estimates indicate that around two-thirds of Yemen's population, or 21.6 million people, will be in need of humanitarian assistance and protection services in 2023. However, humanitarian relief efforts in Yemen face a range of obstacles, one of which is the safety of humanitarian aid teams in a setting marked by rampant armed violence by the Houthi rebels and other terrorist organizations. This has led to the targeting of international staff and the subsequent evacuation of many of them.
The most recent example of this was the assassination of the World Food Programme's official, Mueed Hamidi, a Jordanian national, at the hands of an armed group in Taiz province on July 21, 2023. The following day, Yemeni security authorities announced the arrest of the immediate suspects in the incident, along with ten others believed to be part of a gang responsible for the assassination. This incident served as a reminder of the dangers faced by aid workers in Yemen. It is worth noting that five United Nations staff members were kidnapped by al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen more than a year ago and that two UN employees remain detained in Sanaa by the Houthi rebels.
Despite assurances from the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the assassination of Jordanian national Hamidi would not impact relief programs in Yemen, there are concerns that the incident might lead to the closure of the World Food Programme's office in Taiz and other threatened areas. Such closures can have a negative impact on humanitarian aid provided to Yemeni people.
Adding to this challenge is a shortfall in funding from international donors. In this context, the United Nations, in a report released on May 25, 2022, warned that the funding gap would jeopardize the life-saving humanitarian response for millions of people in Yemen. The report noted that the Humanitarian Response Plan received only 10.4% of the targeted funding in the first quarter of the current year, out of the total required amount of USD 4.3 billion to address the urgent needs of the most vulnerable populations. This situation has forced relief organizations to reduce or halt essential humanitarian programs.
Furthermore, in early July 2023, the World Food Program announced a 35% reduction in food rations distributed in Yemen due to the funding shortfall. The UN food relief agency further confirmed that 17 million Yemenis are experiencing food insecurity.
Because a large segment of Yemenis opposes any presence of Western organizations on the ground in Yemen, these entities have been compelled to rely on local partners to deliver the necessary aid. However, the affiliation of these local humanitarian bodies with Western organizations also exposes their own teams to risks.
Notably, the regional donors' ability to access the affected areas in Yemen has been more effective than that of their international counterparts. Both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have led efforts to deliver economic and humanitarian aid to Yemen.
3. Sudan:
The outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces in mid-April of last year has undermined efforts for a peaceful political transition in the country following Omar al-Bashir's departure from power. This development has exacerbated an existing humanitarian crisis in the country. The United Nations estimates that over one million people have been displaced by the war and warns that there is an urgent need for USD 2.6 billion in funding to support humanitarian relief efforts.
In order to secure the delivery of humanitarian aid, the warring Sudanese parties signed a ceasefire in Jeddah on May 20 last year, under the sponsorship of Saudi Arabia. Despite the collapse of the ceasefire agreement and the repeated violations of the truce, the ceasefire facilitated the delivery of humanitarian assistance to more than 2 million people, according to numerous reports. With the resumption of fighting, obtaining necessary healthcare and essential goods for civilians who remained in Sudan became increasingly challenging. The Sudanese Doctors' Union reports that over 70% of hospitals in conflict-affected areas have become incapable of fulfilling their primary functions.
The case of Sudan serves as a stark example of the gap between humanitarian needs and the international community's capacity to respond to the crisis. This gap was caused not only by the ongoing and intensifying conflict, which complicates the delivery of humanitarian aid with security and logistical challenges but also by the international humanitarian system's inability to keep pace with the rapidly evolving Sudanese crisis. At a time when major powers are focusing their attention on the Ukrainian war, Sudan's share of international attention is diminishing over time.
In May 2022, the European Union announced the establishment of an airlift to provide essential aid to Sudan. However, a greater dilemma remains: how to distribute this aid within Sudan in areas controlled by warring military factions—a challenging question given the significant evacuation of United Nations personnel from Khartoum at the onset of the conflict. The challenges faced by humanitarian relief teams extend beyond just the shortage of humanitarian aid or the continued fighting. They also encompass looting and threats from the warring parties. The World Food Programme announced that around 17 tons of food supplies were stolen from storage areas from the start of the conflict to early May. Additionally, the World Food Programme suspended its relief operations for a period of time after three aid workers were killed in mid-April.
In Conclusion, it can be said that despite its limited successes, the international relief system remains incapable of resolving humanitarian crises in a region plagued by ongoing armed conflicts. This failure can be attributed to several factors, including the system's need for funding to operate. In a world driven by power dynamics and national interests, it is difficult to imagine that an international donor would not lean towards utilizing the humanitarian aid it provides to achieve its own political goals. This implies a bias towards one of the parties involved in the ongoing conflict, negatively impacting local communities' acceptance of such aid.
Furthermore, Western powers may currently only be able to provide a minimal amount of funds to support humanitarian relief efforts in the Middle East because of factors linked to their engagement in the war in Ukraine and the economic crises some of these powers face.
