Lise Grande: The Houthis usurped the zakat and squandered Yemen's revenues for their benefit
English - Thursday 22 April 2021 الساعة 11:04 pm
Aden, NewsYemen:
Lise Grande, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, previously confirmed that the Houthi militia systematically changed the state institutions under their control, and devoted all resources to serve their own project at the expense of the citizens under their control.
The UN official, whose mission in Yemen ended recently and is currently chairing the American Institute of Peace, stated during a briefing session before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that, “In northern Yemen, the Houthis have systematically assumed governance in the areas they administer and have changed them, and censorship has become Control of state institutions is now completely in the hands of the movement. "
She added, "Parallel institutions have been established, with which the Houthis work exclusively, to carry out major tasks, and almost all public revenues are now directly transferred to institutions under their control, including the central bank branch in Sana'a, in addition to introducing mechanisms to develop and implement the budgets of districts and governorates."
Grande continued: The Houthis have usurped zakat, a fundamental pillar of social protection, made it a compulsory tax, and imposed strict tariffs on agriculture and trade, and the new structures and mechanisms they created are not an improvement on the old system. They are predators, they operate without public accountability, and they form a separate power system with broad powers. "
She emphasized that the Houthis used "these tools to divert revenues from public goods and services to their fighters, destroy private sector companies that do not cooperate with them, and manipulate currency and liquidity for their own interests, not the interests of the general public."
she confirmed: “At the same time, the Houthis have effectively imposed hundreds of restrictions on humanitarian aid, seeking to control the type, flow and targeting of all forms of assistance, as they continue to threaten, bully, intimidate and detain humanitarian workers,".
She pointed out that the Houthis' arbitrary exercise of power and their reliance on repressive administrative mechanisms and systems have combined to create one of the most impermissible work environments in the world for humanitarian workers.
