- Published
Ibrahim Issa, 50, is from the Yemeni coastal town of Dhubab, right on the front lines of the war between Yemen's Houthis and the Saudi-backed pro-government forces fighting them.
asserted
Issa → publish → them
Today he sits, surrounded by his family, on a tarpaulin spread over a sandy floor inside a vast open-sided warehouse at Markazi camp in Obock, northern Djibouti, packed with Yemeni families who have fled by boat across the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait.
asserted
who → sit → strait
After their sea crossing, Yemeni refugees have made their way by truck and on foot to this camp, jointly administered by the government and the UN.
"How could I just sit there when my kids are screaming and shaking in terror?" says Ibrahim Issa.
uncertain
Issa → make → terror
"When the sound of the planes start, and the kids hear the planes, they begin shouting and screaming.
asserted
they → start → planes
As parents it is our responsibility, what can you do when you see this?
asserted
you → do → this
That is why we fled, to save them.
asserted
we → flee → them
"
As a fisherman, Ibrahim Issa already owned a boat large enough to bring out his family from Yemen.
asserted
Issa → own → Yemen
He even brought several of the family's goats which I can now see nibbling at scraps nearby, foraging amidst the discarded canisters of cooking gas and empty plastic bottles.
asserted
I → bring → gas
Some families have been able to bring small bundles of possessions with them from Yemen – one family has even brought a "jeraak", a tall metal shisha pipe – but others have arrived, exhausted, in just the clothes they left in.
asserted
they → bring → clothes
In just the last few days more than 3,000 refugees have arrived here from Yemen, many entire families.
asserted
refugees → arrive → Yemen
The UN estimates that in all, more than 120,000 Yemenis have been displaced by the sudden surge in fighting along Yemen's Red Sea coast.
asserted
Yemenis → estimate → coast
This month, the country's Houthis, who had already seized most of the populated parts of Yemen years ago, made a lightning dash down the coast towards Bab al-Mandab, the narrow, maritime chokepoint where the southern Red Sea flows into the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean.
asserted
Sea → seize → Aden
Saudi Arabia, which backs the internationally recognised UN-recognised government of Yemen, has responded with hundreds of air strikes along the flat, coastal plain where the Houthis are now digging in.
asserted
Houthis → back → plain
The Houthis have also launched hundreds of drones and missiles at cities and infrastructure in south-western Saudi Arabia.
asserted
Houthis → launch → Arabia
"We don't care which side it is that's attacking," is the message I got loud and clear in Arabic from everyone here I spoke to.
asserted
I → care → everyone
"It's the bombs falling all around us that have caused us to flee."
asserted
us → fall → us
Djibouti, a tiny former French colony that sits just across the water from Yemen, has made it clear it has no intention of involving itself in the war between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
And yet Djibouti is one of the most militarised nations in Africa.
asserted
Djibouti → sit → Africa
Since 2003, the US has run a huge multinational base here, Camp Lemonnier, once home to the French Foreign Legion.
asserted
US → run → Legion
China too has a major base here, its largest military presence on the Indian Ocean and recently upgraded.
asserted
China → have → Ocean
Back in Markazi camp, one of those I spoke to is Qassim Abraham Abssy.
asserted
I → speak → those
Once also a fisherman, his identity card shows him to be 100 years old.
asserted
him → show → ?
"What led us to come here?" he asks rhetorically.
asserted
he → lead → us
That's what made us flee, for the sake of our children.
asserted
us → make → children
It burns ours hearts.
asserted
It → burn → hearts
We don't know which side they are from.
asserted
they → know → side
They are bombing everywhere, because the Houthis are everywhere, in the mountains, in the roads.
asserted
Houthis → bomb → roads
A plane comes, bombs everywhere.
asserted
plane → come → ?
"
Outside in the blazing 37C heat, close to the neat lines of tents supplied by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, I met Mohammed Abdullarim from Aden, a 63-year-old former tour guide old enough to have been born when Aden was still a British protectorate.
asserted
Aden → blaze → Aden
He fled to Djibouti soon after the fighting first flared up between the Houthis and the government of the now-ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
asserted
fighting → flee → President
He has been at the camp ever since but suddenly, as we were talking, the sadness of what is happening to his country overwhelmed him and he turned his head away, choking back tears.
asserted
he → talk → tears
I am very touched, I'm crying for these people, for my people, for their suffering.
asserted
I → touch → suffering
I want our voices to be heard by the NGOs and the Djibouti government.
asserted
voices → want → NGOs
And I'm thankful to them for accepting us.
asserted
I → accept → us
How long will they have to stay here?
asserted
they → have → ?
That depends, of course, on the fighting.
asserted
That → depend → fighting
Yemen has been wracked by a horrific civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions since 2014.
asserted
that → wrack → 2014
A shaky, UN-brokered 2022 truce between the Saudis and the Houthis has broken down spectacularly in recent months, with the two sides trading missiles, drones and air strikes.
asserted
sides → broker → missiles
Yemen's war may be a remote one to most people but the effect of choking off Saudi Arabia's oil exports through the Bab al-Mandab strait are well publicised.
uncertain
effect → choke → strait
But as ever, it is often the human cost that goes unnoticed.
asserted
that → go → ?
Sitting beside his wife on their tarpaulin, amid the cacophony all around them, Qassim Abssy the fisherman is wary of leaving the safety of Djibouti: "If the war continues then we're not going back because we have peace here."
asserted
we → sit → peace
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
