Episcopalians, Anglicans spotlight Yemen’s humanitarian crisis

[Episcopal News Service] The ongoing Yemeni civil war has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises since it started nearly 11 years ago, with hundreds of thousands of people dead, millions of people displaced, large-scale famine and a lack of access to health care, petroleum and potable water. Yemen, however, is often overlooked compared to other global conflict zones.

“As horrible as the situation in Gaza is – or Libya and Ukraine or Syria and others – the circumstances in Yemen also are deserving our attention and deserving our prayers,” the Rev. Paul Feheley, The Episcopal Church’s Middle East partnership officer, told Episcopal News Service. “If people know anything about Yemen, it’s usually in the context of how its conflict relates to other conflicts, but more often than not the Yemenis are forgotten as other global crises arise.” 

Yemen, a coastal country bordering Saudi Arabia to the south and Oman to the southeast, has been in a political crisis since 2011, when the Yemeni Revolution led to the dismantling of the government led by Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s first president. The country’s civil war broke out in 2014 because of clashes between the Sunni Islam-majority Yemeni government and Ansar Allah, a Zaydi Shiite Islamist political and military group more commonly known as Houthis, who took part in the revolution.

Since the civil war began, at least 377,000 have died in the war or by hunger and a lack of access to health care and potable water, according to the United Nations. Yemen also has been experiencing a severe cholera outbreak since 2016 and is one of of the poorest countries in the world by gross domestic product per capita.

The Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, which includes Yemen, has been helping Yemenis through the Ras Morbat Eye Clinic, which is located on the grounds of Christ Church in Aden. The clinic opened in 1996 as a general medical clinic but has specialized in eye care since 2002, providing services ranging from eye exams and eyeglass prescriptions to cataract surgery to anyone in need.

The Rev. Bill Schwartz, a retired archdeacon of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf who currently serves at Christ the King Episcopal Church in Alpine, California, oversaw Ras Morbat at its inception. He told ENS that, based on recent communications with colleagues in the country, the clinic is operating normally with a “steady stream of patients” despite running on two hours of electricity a day and having spotty phone and internet service.

“It’s so hard for the average American Christian to understand the level of positive impact something as seemingly small as a comprehensive eye clinic can have,” Schwartz said. “Life is rough for the Yemeni people. The economy is all but collapsed and the health infrastructure is certainly collapsed. There’s no end in sight. … But people know they can trust Ras Morbat for quality care.”

Schwartz said that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees brings Somali refugees from the Kharaz Refugee Camp in the Lahj Governorate to Ras Morbat every Tuesday for ophthalmology services.

At the 80th General Convention in 2022, The Episcopal Church House of Bishops and House of Deputies passed Resolution B002, “Fund an Ophthalmologist at the Ras Morbat Clinic, Aden, Yemen,” which additionally called on the church’s Washington, D.C.-based Office of Government Relations to support policies allowing “unobstructed access in the conflict areas for humanitarian and medical relief organization, and journalists” and to advocate for U.S. policymakers and the U.N. to “engage in every possible effort to relieve human suffering and find a political solution to the complex ongoing war in Yemen.”

“We continue to advocate for peace in Yemen,” Rebecca Blachly, The Episcopal Church’s chief of public policy and witness, told ENS in an email. “We will also continue to work alongside of ecumenical and interreligious partners, including Anglican Communion partners, in advocating for humanitarian assistance and de-escalation of the conflict.”

The Episcopal Church raises money annually through its Good Friday Offering to support Anglican churches and ministries in the Middle East, including Ras Morbat. The church also occasionally hosts informative events for Episcopalians to learn more about the political and humanitarian crisis in Yemen and how to help. Most recently, the church hosted a webinar providing an overview of Yemen today and the small but historic Anglican presence in the country.

During the webinar, Feheley encouraged participants to write notes of “love and continual prayers” for Ras Morbat and Yemen to the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf’s bishop, the Rt. Rev. Sean Semple, that he can share with the Yemenis.

“It seems like a very simple task that won’t make much of a difference, but believe me, it does,” Feheley told ENS. “We can’t necessarily change the circumstances in Yemen, but we can at least tell its people that they’re not forgotten, and that makes a huge difference.”

Feheley also said Episcopalians in the United States can stay up to date with news reports in Yemen and individually contact their senators and representatives to help advocate for peace in the country.

Schwartz hasn’t been in Yemen since 2021, but he said that he’s always enjoyed visiting the country and interacting with locals.

“Yemenis find their joys in the simple aspects of life, and they are tremendously hospitable,” he said. “We don’t hear about Yemen very much, but its people are wonderful.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.