Houthi Interference Compels UN Council To Suspend Yemen Aid
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Roshan Amiri
- . February 19, 2020
- . Update: February 19, 2020 10:19 am
Houthi continue to interfere in relief a operation that is trying to take of the displaced inhabitants of northern Yemen. It is now been reported that the United States is planning to suspend aid efforts in northern Yemen next month unless the unnecessary interference by Houthi forces stops.
This was communicated by the US ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft addressing the UN Security Council informing them that constantly interference by Iran led Houthi forces, has reached such a level that donors are unsure if their aid is getting through.
Countries putting in the aid are now feeling cheated and wondering as to how to justify the contributions to the tax payers in their respective countries. Either they are being looted, damaged, left unclaimed or even being slapped with unnecessary regulatory taxes.
According to the UN findings, Houthis are said to be tying to introduce a two percent tax for international aid organizations. Sir Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator has also shared that the Houthis have introduced more than 200 regulations on aid delivery, blocked staff and aid from reaching their destinations and failed to approve 40 percent of aid projects last year in the territory it controls.
In 2019, the World Food Program suspended some food aid in Sanaa amid allegations the Houthis redirected aid from the people it was intended for. The Houthis have refused to allow the agency to introduce a biometric data system to record who receives the aid. Food packets were being destroyed or left to rot, at other times stolen and the deserving were not being given the necessary aid.
In the words of Martin Griffiths, some kind of short term military goals for Yemen may help solve the problem. But this does not look like a long term solution.
