Yemen’s Houthi rebels have sought to claim legitimacy ever since they overthrew the internationally recognised government in Sanaa in 2014. Using the same rhetorical lines as those adopted by other Iranian proxies, the group presents itself as a defender of Yemeni sovereignty. However, one need only look at the list of civilian casualties from week’s Houthi attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia to understand the hollowness of that claim.
The details of the dead and injured reveals not hardened opponents but ordinary people from Sudan, Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, Bangladesh and the Philippines going about their lives. Saudi citizens are also among the injured.
Such indiscriminate violence against a neighbouring state highlights the danger the Houthis present. Striking airports and energy infrastructure does nothing for Yemenis’ welfare. Instead, it risks drawing their impoverished country further into regional confrontation.
An organisation that says it represents a nation should be judged by what it does for its people. On that measure, the Houthis’ record is poor, to say the least. While they use ballistic missiles and heavy weaponry, 62-74 per cent of the people of Yemen live below the poverty line. In the Yemeni city of Taiz, Houthi forces have imposed a siege that has trapped aid workers and threatens water supplies. There are increasing reports of child soldiers being found among captured Houthi fighters. This is in addition to the rebels’ subpar ability to govern the areas it controls.
There is no denying that Yemen suffers from real political grievances and deep regional divisions. Those issues cannot be wished away, but recognising Yemen's problems is not the same as accepting the Houthis’ answers to them. There is a difference between resolving political exclusion and allowing an armed organisation to use force to establish territorial facts. The Houthis repeatedly open new fronts, extort international shipping and threaten their neighbours. Most tragically of all, the Houthis subject Yemenis themselves to further conflict. This is not “resistance”.
Eventually, Yemen will need a political settlement. The country’s divisions cannot be resolved on the battlefield. However, peace cannot mean rewarding territorial conquest or allowing the rebels to entrench parallel power structures.
Yemen needs functioning institutions, secure borders, open roads and ports, and a political system capable of representing its people. This is a far cry from the Houthis’ preferred approach of permanent mobilisation. Resistance may be a powerful slogan, but it is not the answer to Yemen’s many problems. The sooner the realists within the Houthis’ ranks realise this, the better.
