The year 2020 marked another year of world’s worst humanitarian crises in some countries, below are five such crises.
Yemen Crisis
Ongoing since 2014, the proxy war has been between the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s government and Houthi rebels. It became world’s worst humanitarian crisis after military intervention of the Saudi Arabian-led coalition, which received intelligence and military support from the US. UNICEF warned that the emergency levels of food insecurity could rise to affect nearly 3.6m to 5m Yemenis, in the first half of 2021. Despite UN embargo, the UAE backed STC and Iran backed Houthis, both have been equally responsible for the political turmoil and humanitarian havoc which ultimately has created a security vacuum in the region.
Afghanistan War
The Afghanistan war began in 2001, following the United States invasion to deny a safe base to al-Qaeda by removing the Taliban from power. By the end of 2020, the number of Afghan people in need of humanitarian assistance mounted by 30 per cent, including 5.1m children.
Libya Civil War
The Libyan civil war began in 2014 between the UN-recognized Fayez al-Sarraj’s government and General Khalifa Haftar. The offensives escalated with the active armed intervention of the UAE and Turkey. In the growing humanitarian crisis in Libya, Haftar’s forces opted the means of mass graves and landmines. Russian jets and Chinese drones have been shelling fire from the sky.
Syrian Crisis
The Syrian crisis began in 2011, with a violent suppression of protests against Bashar al-Assad. In 2020, the US imposed economic sanctions on anyone related to the Syrian government, under the Caesar Act. By the end of 2020, it was ranked as the most severe humanitarian crisis by the INFORM Severity Index, with 13m civilians in need of assistance.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Battling the second largest Ebola outbreak since 2017, the Democratic Republic of Congo faced a number of other catastrophes, including the 2018 polio outbreak, regional droughts, the ongoing Horn of Africa locust invasion and the devastating floods. It led nearly 19.6m civilians in need of humanitarian help.
