When Britain and the US launched a joint military operation to confront the Houthis in Yemen in January, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it was a “limited, single action”.
Since then, however, several more strikes have been carried out. As the Houthis have vowed to continue their campaign to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea, it seems likely that there will be more.
The UK has a small but significant Yemeni diaspora of around 80,000 people. The first Yemenis arrived in the northern city of Liverpool in the early 1900s – they were sailors and their families. For this community, rooted in the UK but retaining deep ties to Yemen, recent events have been a cause for alarm. Ahmed Hamood, who runs a shop in Liverpool, told Al Jazeera by phone:
I was shocked and worried to hear about the strikes. The good thing is that for now it’s limited to military bases and not further into the cities, but there is a fear that it might spread. I have my extended family there so of course it’s a worry. Yemen has been through so much violence and conflict in recent years and it’s a tinderbox that could easily catch alight again.
The crisis began in November when Israel launched an offensive on Gaza following a Hamas-led attack on 7 October. The Houthis began launching missile and drone strikes against ships in the Red Sea, most of which were intercepted by US and Israeli countermeasures.
The group said their campaign was retaliation for Israel’s actions in Gaza, an enclave ruled by Hamas, and its support from the West. Leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said his forces were “ready to move in hundreds of thousands to join the Palestinian people and confront the enemy”.
Analysts believe that the Yemeni campaign has significantly boosted Houthi support domestically, given the deep feelings for the Palestinian cause. This is also reflected in the views of some in the diaspora. Najib al-Hakimi, a British Yemeni who runs a community organisation in Liverpool, said:
The majority of Yemenis are against the Houthis and their agenda within Yemen – they are dividing the country, and influenced by the Iranian regime. However, in this specific incident, many Yemenis agree with what the Houthis are doing. This is a retaliation for what’s going on in Gaza, an attempt to come to the aid of our brothers, the Palestinians.
The Houthis are an Iranian-backed group that emerged in the 1980s in response to Saudi influence in Yemen. Since the group overthrew the president in 2014, Yemen has been engulfed in a catastrophic civil war.
The UN estimates that by the end of 2021, 377,000 people had been killed and four million displaced. A truce brokered in 2022 significantly reduced the violence and fighting has not resumed, even though the ceasefire has officially expired. Al-Hakimi said:
It is challenging for us, especially thinking of our families back home – every member of the Yemeni community in UK, they have friends and families still in Yemen. But the strikes are very limited. It’s not the whole country. It’s only specific places. The feel of the community is Yemen is already destroyed anyway so limited strikes won’t make any difference.
However, some fear the civil war could resume. The Houthis claim they have recruited tens of thousands of new fighters since they began their operations in the Red Sea. Some analysts suggest that this surge in recruitment could change the balance of power in Yemen and prevent a lasting end to the civil war. Amina Ali, a British-Yemeni student based in Liverpool, said:
The biggest concern for me is whether US-UK air strikes could somehow prompt the different sides of the civil war to take up arms again. The war lasted eight, nine years and it’s been less than two years since the ceasefire agreement. It’s close to the surface, and Yemen’s systems – healthcare, everything – are so fragile. I worry about that bigger impact, even though I am proud that despite all the problems we have in Yemen, my country is doing something to stand up for people in Gaza.
Today, the Houthis control most of the western part of the country, including the Red Sea coast.
The Red Sea is one of the world’s most populous shipping channels, lying south of the Suez Canal, the most important waterway connecting Europe to Asia and East Africa. The cost of rerouting commercial ships has been significant, and there are fears that continued disruptions could seriously affect world trade.
