Background Information

The Yemen is a country located in the middle east with about 28.25 million inhabitants. It borders on Saudi-Arabia in the north and on Oman in the east. Before 1990 the Yemen was divided into two separate countries, the north was Shiite- and the south was Sunni-oriented. The Houthi Rebels fighting today originally came from the north and after the unification of the north and the south, the Houthi felt politically disadvantaged. The conflict escalated in 2004 with a rebellion of the Houthis against the government in which hundreds of thousands have been killed and displaced. In 2011, after the Arab Spring, former authoritarian president Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to give power to the current president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Under his leadership the division in the country deepened. The Rebels ultimately occupied the capital city Sanaa in 2014 what led to the escape Hadis to the allied Saudi Arabia. In the following a coalition guided by Saudi Arabia began to carry out air strikes on the Houthis. By now the conflict developed to a proxy-war in which several other Sunni-oriented states support the coalition against the rebels which on the other side are supported by the Shiite Iran. So, it has now evolved into a war between Sunni and Shia leading to the strengthening of various terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and the IS. The United Nations Security Council has hardly granted against the Houthi Rebels and has passed a resolution (UN Resolution 2216) against them demanding the retreat of the rebels and imposing an arms embargo. The United States of America support the Saudi-led coalition by importing arms. After four years of war, more than twenty million war fugitives need help regarding medical and food auxiliary supplies.

Issues of the Legal Committee

The Legal Committee now has the task to discuss the justification of set conflict regarding the intervention of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Iran. In regard to this year’s debate, the question of Justification in the Yemen Conflict will be rethought and the delegates should argue in a well-founded manner such as:

The Saudi Arabian air strikes are justified because of the occupation of Yemen´s capital Sanaa.

Or

The Interventions of the UN member states are not justified because it is a war civil war carried out by two national parties.