National Geographic

TOPLong lines to refillcanisters are a commonsight at gas stations.Since 2015 fuel priceshave more than dou-bled and the countryhas lost more than40 percent of itsGDP. “The economicdisaster is even worsethan the killing,” saysRadhya Almutawakel,co-founder of theMwatana Organizationfor Human Rights,in Sanaa. “Peopleare dying behindclosed doors.”BOTTOM LEFTAn average of fivechildren have beenkilled or injured eachday since the conflictbegan, according toUNICEF. At the Motherand Child Hospital,nine-year-old ArzaaAbdalbaqu Abdellareceived fresh dressingfor a fracture.BOTTOM RIGHTA seven-year-old boyhit by shrapnel froman explosion is treatedby Doctors WithoutBorders in a hospitaloutside Taizz. The cityhas been batteredby Saudi-led coalitionair strikes.PREVIOUS PHOTOHundreds of schoolslike this one in Ad Dalihave been destroyedby air strikes. Currentlytwo million school-agechildren are notenrolled in school.More than half of Yemen’s hospitalsare closed or partly functioning, andsometimes administrators must choosebetween buying medical supplies andfuel for generators. Infectious diseasessuch as cholera and diphtheria are ram-pant, reflecting the lack of treated waterand other basic government services.BEFORE 2015 the recently built, five-story white stone building on theoutskirts of Taizz was slated to be ahotel. Less than two miles behind abattlefront, it’s now a maternity hos-pital and trauma center run by DoctorsWithout Borders. Behind the concretebarrier, malnourished babies are fed,cholera patients recover, and war vic-tims are bandaged: young boys hit withshrapnel while playing in their yards,the hospital’s own night watchman,hit by a shell while shopping.Doctors and other health workersat public hospitals haven’t been paidsince 2016. Humanitarian groups aresupporting the health ministry withsalaries and supplies. But a Saudi-ledcoalition blockade on the country’sairports and ports in an attempt to stopsupplies from reaching the rebels hasarbitrarily delayed or diverted aid ship-ments, says Kristine Beckerle, withHuman Rights Watch, adding that bothsides “are weaponizing aid.”Since 2017 the country has seenmore than a million suspected choleracases—the worst outbreak in modernhistory. One NGO ordered a shipment ofmedication in July 2017. It didn’t arriveuntil April.Many of Yemen’s doctors havemoved to private hospitals or fled thecountry, leaving a shortage of medicalprofessionals. Those who stay behindtrain their neighbors to treat wounds incase of an emergency overnight, whenit’s too dangerous to travel.The private clinics cost more thaneven a middle-class civilian can aford.If you are dying, one elderly man toldBastianelli, you have to pay to be pro-nounced dead. The other option isto drive across the front lines to oneof the country’s two open airports.Few can afford the cost of fuel—orthe risk. “They’re locked in Yemen.No country is giving them asylum ormaking a humanitarian corridor,” saysBastianelli. “They count the days andwait to die.” j140 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC