Yemen is bearing the brunt of a deep Sunni-Shia schism, corruption and neighbour’s apathy

Yemen, the poorest Persian Gulf country from where the ancestors of Osama bin Laden migrated to Saudi Arabia holds every promise to be the epicenter of global terrorism. Two of the most daring attempts of suicide bombings in recent months were planned in this Gulf country.

There are some very evident reasons for why the country seems to resemble Pakistan in TV footages.

While Lebanon’s name repeatedly props up as an exporter of manpower in the Middle East, it’s practically Yemen where most people want to leave for greener pastures. That seems to be one of the many reasons why the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has strong reservations in integrating Yemen into its fold. An apparent discriminatory immigration policy that aims to stem the flow the Yemenis into the Arabian peninsula has led to a surprisingly low number of Yemen nationals in nearby countries like Qatar and the UAE.

Pockets of extreme poverty and high levels of corruption in the country located next to some of the highest per-capita income grossing nations (with admirably low levels of corruption) is giving preachers with a variety of religious backgrounds and ambitions an opportunity to spread fangs. Besides Iraq, this is the only Arab country where both Sunni and Shia sects exist in good numbers to be able to wage separate conflicts.

About 52 percent of the country is Sunni, whereas 46 percent of it is Shia. While Shias dominate the northern parts of the country close to its border with Saudi Arabia, the Sunnis dominate the southern parts. Shias, mostly Zaidis, are allegedly being supported by Iran and the Al Qaeda has been able to spread roots among the Sunnis. A large contingent of extremists from the Gulf who fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan came from this country, and therefore Al Qaeda, whose origins lie in the same war has found it easy to build a network.

There are reasons why Yemenis are disgruntled and are finding a solace in waging jihad(s) on different fronts. The country was ranked 140 out of 182 nations by the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index and 154th out of 180 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception’s Index. All the countries of the Arabian Peninsula that Yemen is part of are ranked quite high on all these indexes. Surprising as it may seem, before the discovery of oil in the region Yemen was the most developed country in the region where people from Saudi Arabia and Qatar emigrated to work on farms.

The country now has active LNG projects and is trying to exploit its unattractive oil reserves. But it would need a focused involvement of a rational government to extricate it out of the misery it is in.