40 kg in Sanaa and only 20 in Taiz..Houthi loots aid and exploits the displaced
English - Saturday 10 September 2022 الساعة 09:02 am
Taiz, NewsYemen, special:
The Houthi militia has increased its looting of aid intended for the displaced and poor families in the Al-Ta’aziah district and Al-Qaeda city, delaying it for several months. Leaders affiliated with the Iranian arm, which is the de-facto authority in northern Yemen, are looting this aid and transferring it at its disposal, selling it and depriving citizens of it.
Informed sources revealed to NewsYemen that the Houthi group deliberately delays the disbursement of aid for several months, despite its monthly reports to the organizations that it provides this aid monthly and disburses it in full.
It is noteworthy that the areas subject to the internationally recognized legitimacy have resumed the disbursement of financial aid allocated by the World Food Organization, after it was interrupted for months, and NewsYemen sources confirmed that the displaced and the poor received this aid again.
Houthi exploitation of the relief side
On the other hand, the leaders of the Iranian arm deduct quantities of aid, manage it to finance its political and military situation, and use the aid file in its areas of control for personal loyalty and social relations of the leaders.
Sources in Al-Taziah Directorate also report that Houthi leaders have refrained from disbursing financial aid allocated to the displaced and poor groups for years. Beneficiaries who spoke to NewsYemen accused the exchange centers of complicity and facilitating the seizure and sharing of aid, and while the beneficiaries in Dhamar and Sana'a receive 40 kilograms of wheat per month The displaced in the areas near Taiz and Ibb only receive 20 kilograms and are not given monthly, and it is delayed for a few months, sometimes up to six months.
Observers noted that aid distribution operations in internationally recognized legitimacy control areas such as Aden, Taiz, Hadramawt and Shabwa are subject to evaluation, and institutions and organizations start their work openly and their activities are reviewed with ease, unlike Houthi-controlled areas where aid is subject to the reality of Houthi power centers.
Local sources said that the leaders and officials of the Houthi militia refrained from providing oils, sugar, beans and salt, which were given monthly to the displaced, and this increased their suffering.
The displaced people fear that such policies will be a prelude to permanently cutting off aid and using it only for limited groups and areas, while the rest of the aid is seized.
Houthi policies, and the looting process, affected food and financial aid in Al-Ta’iziyah district and Al-Qaeda city, to further deteriorate the conditions of needy groups of the displaced and the poor, and this increased the reality of what they lived after losing their areas and jobs.
Private sources revealed that the Houthi militia used aid, as it distributed it to its fighters in training camps, and also included the names of its recruits and the families of its dead and wounded in the lists of food allocations provided to the displaced.
Jamil Ali Ahmed says that the Houthi group has become the controller of the reality of aid and is not committed to any transparency in the relief activity in its regions and has worked in previous years to militarize the relief side and make it subject to its interventions.
Jamil believes that "foreign organizations in Houthi-controlled areas are helping the Houthis circumvent the distribution of this aid in an unfair manner, as the number of poor people has increased in Sana'a and Ibb, and Houthi-controlled areas of Taiz, but these organizations support the Houthis' looting of financial and food capabilities."
