Remember Yemen? It was only four months ago that everyone and their second cousin seemed to be pronouncing on the country. Now, you hear nary a squeak about the place.
Since late last year, the UN Refugee Agency has been trying to sound the alarm on a looming humanitarian disaster stemming from massive internal displacement caused by civil war. When the would-be underwear bomber was said to have received training there, it seemed that the international community was poised to get to some of the root causes of instability. That did not exactly happen. Instead, the first response was to bolster U.S.-Yemen military relations. Humanitarian aid was slower to come.
Today, the UN Refugee Agency is struggling to keep up with the needs of some 30,000 internally displaced. Here is a glimpse of life inside one of those camps, provided by UNHCR.
UN humanitarian agencies were in Yemen long before the underwear bomber visited the place–and they will remain long after. They deserve our support.