Beset by poverty, war and repression, the residents of Yemen’s ancient capital Sanaa, under Houthi control for over a decade, struggle to survive.
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residents → Beset → decade
The Houthi movement seized the city in 2014, forcing the government to flee south and sparking a brutal civil war in one of the world’s poorest countries.
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movement → seize → countries
In Sanaa, said to be one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, residents say they long for the pre-war days and a measure of prosperity.
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they → say → prosperity
“Before the war, salaries were paid in full on a regular basis,” Ammar, a 24-year-old university student who asked not to use his last name for security reasons, told AFP by phone.
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who → pay → phone
“Today, the Houthis have divided salaries into categories,” he said.
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he → divide → categories
“My father is a civil servant; he falls into the category that receives half a monthly salary once every three months.
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that → fall → salary
My mother is a teacher and receives half-a-salary each month.
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mother → receive → salary
”
The Old City, with some buildings dating back nearly a millennium, bustles with life as vendors display foodstuffs including grains and spices in large sacks, and restaurant owners grill meat over charcoal.
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owners → date → charcoal
Unesco added the Old City to its World Heritage in Danger list in 2015, after it was damaged in fighting between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition backing the government.
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it → add → government
The historic alleys between tall, decorated mud-brick buildings are crowded with passers-by filing beneath banners reading “Boycott American and Israeli goods”.
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passers → decorate → goods
But many residents struggle to afford basic necessities.
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residents → struggle → necessities
What our parents earn is not enough to cover basic needs,” Ammar said, adding that “prices have risen sharply”.
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prices → earn → needs
He recently lost his job at a private school, which helped him pay his university tuition fees, amid layoffs.
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him → lose → layoffs
Alongside the struggle to secure basic necessities, residents of Sanaa complain of constant power cuts.
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residents → secure → cuts
Residents pay two electricity bills, one to the authorities and another to private generators that fill in the gaps during the many blackouts.
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that → pay → blackouts
“We try to ration our electricity use as much as possible.
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We → try → use
Water is also cut off in our neighbourhood, so we have to buy water from trucks at high cost,” Iman, a mother of two, told AFP by phone.
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Iman → cut → phone
“Inflation and the soaring cost of living are not matched by any change in salaries.
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Inflation → soar → salaries
My husband works in the private sector and has not received a raise in three years, and there are no other job opportunities.”
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husband → work → years
Living conditions have worsened in recent weeks with Saudi Arabia intensifying its airstrikes on Sanaa, according to Houthi media and officials.
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Arabia → worsen → media
Since a 2022 truce between the two sides collapsed in July this year, fighting has only escalated.
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fighting → collapse → July
Forty-four people were killed in the outlying village of Al-Sharia in Sanaa province on Saturday, the Saba news agency said, citing a spokesperson for the Houthi Ministry of Health.
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agency → kill → Health
Under the weight of poverty, the education system in Yemen has largely collapsed, and many of Sanaa’s youths have dropped out of school.
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many → collapse → school
Bilqis Abu-Osba, a former political science lecturer at Sanaa University who now lives outside the city, said dropouts have become endemic.
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dropouts → live → city
Her colleagues have had to find new ways to make ends meet, like selling cakes out of their houses.
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ends → have → houses
Meanwhile, “the battlefields have become a refuge for young people to earn a scrap of bread”.
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people → become → bread
“Poverty has played a very significant role in changing Sanaa,” she said, especially in eroding the formerly salaried middle class.
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she → play → class
She said the quality of education has also declined, not least because the Houthis have modified curricula to suit “a sectarian ideology that serves their political project”.
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that → say → project
“A new uneducated generation is now growing up, which will affect Yemen both in the present and in the future.”
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which → grow → future
“Sanaa used to be a city that was culturally, politically, and socially diverse, but it is now witnessing systematic exclusion to change its identity… into a Houthi ideological identity,” Abu-Osba added.
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Osba → use → identity
“Everyone is afraid to speak, as they can be arrested or severely punished,” she said.
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she → speak → ?
“There is intense terror about expressing any political opinion, even a simple one, within the city, and silence has become the norm.”
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silence → be → city
Above an archway in the Old City a banner flutters with the Sarkha, the Houthis’ ubiquitous slogan: “Death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.”
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banner → flutter → Islam
The Aporia
