Leaving My homeland A Refugee’s Journey from Yemen Heather Hudak Crabtree Publishing Company www crabtreebooks com
Leaving Yemen A civil war began in Yemen in the spring of 2015 The war is between rebel fighters and the Yemeni government The rebel fighters belonged to a minority or small group They felt that the government did not treat them fairly The rebels took power from the government and took control of many parts of Yemen There is now fighting across the country Widespread fighting has left millions of Yemeni children without access to food shelter and health care UN Rights of the Child Every child has rights Rights are privileges and freedoms that are protected by law Refugees have the right to special protection and help The United Nations UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a document that lists the rights that all children should have Think about these rights as you read this book Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict Millions have lost their homes Some of these people remain in Yemen They are internally displaced persons IDPs Food and water are hard to find There is no health care People are dying of starvation and disease Many buildings have been destroyed by bombs 4
Yemen’s flag Saudi Arabia Oman Eritrea Ethiopia Red Sea Sana’a Yemen Yemen’s closest neighbors are Saudi Arabia and Oman Djibouti Gulf of Aden Somalia Arabian Sea Nearly 300,000 people have left Yemen since the war began These people are refugees Refugees are people who left their homeland because their lives were in danger They are different from immigrants Immigrants chose to leave to look for opportunities in another country 5
