Dancing on the heads of snakes - Achilleas Zavallis

In 1990 The People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) merged with the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) to form the Republic of Yemen. The troubled unification resulted in a bloody civil war in 1994 which saw the South prevail and its president Ali Abdullah Saleh, became the first president of the newly founded state. His three-decade-long, autocratic-style, presidency was marred by lack of democratic reform, widespread corruption and human rights abuses by him and his allies. In 2011 demonstrations broke out in Sana’a, initially by a small group of youth and civil society activists asking for a more accountable, capable and inclusive state. The over-reaction by president Saleh’s supporters, which ended with the deaths of over 50 unarmed demonstrators on 18 March of the same year, prompted a wave of mass regime defections that eventually forced Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Despite the change in leadership the chronic misuse of power that characterised Saleh’s presidency persisted and by mid 2007 civil servants, teachers, lawyers, academics and unemployed youth from across the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) joined a group of army pensioners from the Dalia Governorate who started peaceful protests and sit-ins in late 2006, demanding higher pensions and/ or reinstatement to their former positions within the armed forces of the country. The resulting movement became known as Al Hiraak al Janoubi (Southern Movement) which by late 2008 began openly calling for Southern independence. Once more the government responded with increased repression prompting parts of Hiraak in Dhalia, Lahj and Abyan to take up arms. In 2014, taking advantage of what they perceived as a weak central government and joined by ex-president Saleh and troops still loyal to him, the Huthi Shia Rebel Movement seized control of Saada province and went on to take control of Sana’a forcing President Hadi into exile. Fearing that Iran will gain a foothold in the region prompted Saudi Arabia, backed by a coalition of eight Arab States along with the United States, UK and France, began airstrikes against the Huthis in an effort to restore President Hadi’s government. The ensuing conflict, which claimed the lives of more than 100000 people, has forced more than three million civilians to flee their homes and has pushed 53% of the country population on the brink of starvation.

A fully loaded car-hauler that was destroyed durning an airstrike seen in the desert of the Al Mahra Governorate on 19 September, 2019.

View of the al-Jafinah IDP camp, located on the outskirts of Ma'rib, Yemen, on 3 September, 2019. The camp is one of thirty-one official IDP camps in the Ma'rib Governorate. Funded primarily by the King Salman Foundation, Emirati, Turkish and local NGO's the sprawling camp houses over 5000 displaced families from all over Yemen.

Ahmed al-Khamini seen in the al-Jafinah IDP camp, located on the outskirts of Ma'rib, Yemen, on 3 September, 2019. Ahmed, who has been living in the camp since 2014, fled his hometown of Serwah in the Marib Governorate with his two wives and sixteen children when fighting broke out between Huthi and Hadi loyalist forces. According to the UNHCR, more than three million people have been forced to flee their homes due to increased violence in the country and more that fifteen million people, 53% of the country population, are on the brink of starvation.

Children playing with water leaking from a water distribution truck pipe, in the al-Jafinah IDP camp, located on the outskirts of Ma'rib, Yemen, on 3 September, 2019. Despite amble funding by the King Salman Foundation and an array of Emirati, Turkish and local NGO's water shortages are common in the camp which is located in a barren and unforgiving landscape on the outskirts of Ma'rib. Many resident families of the camp rely on their own resources to acquire water, which costs 2000 YER (£6.5) per 500L tank filling.

Two young boys seen outside a tent that houses the primary school in the the al-Jafinah IDP camp, located on the outskirts of Ma'rib, Yemen, on 3 September, 2019. According to the UNHCR more than two million children in the country cannot attend school due to the conflict and one in five schools cannot be used because they are damaged, being used in the fighting or to house displaced families.

View of the desert in the Hadramaut Governorate, on 7 September, 2019.

View of street in the city of Shibam, Yemen on 2 September, 2019. The city has some of the tallest mud buildings in the world with some of them reaching 30 m above ground. In order to maintain the buildings from rain and erosion the walls need to be routinely maintained by applying fresh layers of mud.

A herd of goats takes cover from the mid-day sun, in the city of Shibam, Yemen on 2 September, 2019. Often refereed to as the "Manhattan" of the Desert, the city dates back to the 3rd century BC and is listed with the UNESCO World Heritage List.

View of Sana'a, Yemen on 12 September, 2019.

A group of young girls seen standing under the portrait of a Houthi martyr, in the old city of Sana'a, on 12 September, 2019.

A bombed staircase inside a Government administration building that was destroyed during a Coalition airstrike, seen on 13 September, 2019.

Halima Yehia, from Damar, holds her granddaughter Qasima in the malnutrition ward of the al-Sabeen women and children’s hospital, on 12 September, 2019.

Women are seen in a screening tent at outside the cholera ward of the al-Sabeen Women and Children's Hospital in Sana'a, on 12 September, 2019.

Samira Abdullah watches her daughter Qasima, who is injected with an IV drip, at a screening tent outside the cholera ward of the al-Sabeen Women and Children's Hospital in Sana'a, on 12 September, 2019.

Eleven-year-old Sadia Ibrahim Mahmud seen in a bed at the malnutrition ward of the al-Sabeen Women and Children's Hospital in Sana'a, on 12 September, 2019. Eighty per cent of Yemenis, about 24 million people, depend on aid to survive and half of that number are on the brink of famine.

Woman and their children are seen inside a room at the malnutrition ward of the al-Sabeen Women and Children's Hospital in Sana'a, on 12 September, 2019. Eighty per cent of Yemenis, about 24 million people, depend on aid to survive and half of that number are on the brink of famine.

Part of a destroyed Government Administrative Building, that was bombed during a Coalition airstrike, is seen in the city of Sa'dah, on 13 September, 2019.

Men chewing qat, seen sitting in-front of a mural in the center of the city of Sa'dah, on 14 September, 2019.

The graves of some of the 44 young boys who died when a coalition plane bombed their school-bus in the middle of the city of Dahyan, seen on 14 September, 2019.

Twelve-year-old Yusef al Amir jumps-off the remains of a school bus that was hit a year ago by a Coalition airstrike, on 14 September, 2019. The airstrike claimed the lives of forty-four boys who were on their way back from a school-trip. Yusef, who almost joined his friends during that trip, goes to the adjacent cemetery and visits their graves every other day after school.

Photos of prisoners, who died during a Coalition airstrike that totally destroyed the Dhamar Detention Facility and claimed the lives of at least 100 people, are seen on a wall at the Dhamar General Hospital, on 15 September, 2019.

Hamid Yahia al Oud, the father of Radwa Hamid Yahia al Oud who died during a Coalition airstrike, photographed in his house on 14 September, 2019 .

A dog walks through the ruins of a mosque that got bombed in 2015 during clashes with Houthi forces for control of the port city of Aden, seen on 9 September, 2019.

Locals of Dhamar walk through the ruins of a bombed Government administration building that was destroyed during a Coalition airstrike, seen on 13 September, 2019.

Halima al Banan folds clothes, inside a room in her house that was badly damaged during a coalition airstrike, on 12 September, 2019. She and her family were asleep when their neighbours house, which was hit during the airstrike, collapsed onto their building destroying the top two floors of their building.

A young man seen at the early hours of the morning inside an empty gat market in the port city of Aden, on 9 September, 2019.

Members of the STC (Southern Transitional Council) forces seen at a security checkpoint in the port city of Aden, on 16 September, 2019.

An member of the STC (Southern Transitional Council) forces seen taking a break near a security checkpoint in the port city of Aden, on 16 September, 2019.

A young boy plays in the sea as fishermen unload fish they caught earlier, at a fish market in the port city of Aden, on 8 September, 2019.

African migrants and locals seen sleeping at the fish market of the port city of Aden, on 8 September, 2019.

A man carries a tuna caught earlier in the day by fishermen, in a fish market of the port city of Aden, on 8 September, 2019.

Men seen in a gat market in Ma'rib, on 6 September, 2019.

A man seen at the parking entrance of a hotel in the city of Aden, on 7 September, 2019.

Two young boys selling balloons in the streets of Aden, on 8 September, 2019.

A young girl seen with a flock of sheep in the port city of Aden on 9 September, 2019.

A fishing boat seen in the port of Aden on 7 September, 2019.