New Statesman: How the Saudis Make It Almost Impossible to Report on War in Yemen

Saudi Arabia is intent on limiting media coverage of its role in the war on neighboring Yemen. Since 2015, the civil war in the poor country of 25 million, between Saudi-backed forces of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and Houthi rebels has left 10,000 dead, more than 530,000 suspected cases of cholera and millions starving, and “Yet the lack of press attention on Yemen’s conflict has led it to be described as the ‘forgotten war,’” report Ahmed Baider and Lizzie Porter for New Statesman. Saudi Arabia limited coverage over the past year with changing rules that hamper journalists’ access: controlling airspace, increasing bureaucracy for securing visas, closing the Sana’a airport, prohibiting safety equipment like helmets and satellite phones, prohibiting journalists on UN humanitarian flights. Some journalists travel to Yemen by crossing the Red Sea by boat. A French documentary producer suggested that the tactics are “part of the Saudi-led coalition’s strategy to ‘bring [Yemen] to its knees in an atmosphere of silence and indifference.’” A UN report suggests that the Saudi-backed coalition is failing in Yemen, and the suffering and injustices in Saudi Arabia’s neighbor to the south could divide the region for years to come. – YaleGlobal