Gifts of martyrs and raising customs fees.. Sana'a merchants are crying out from Houthi's oppression
English - Monday 12 December 2022 الساعة 03:23 pm
Sana'a, NewsYemen, exclusive:
The owner of one of the shops in Hayel "A. Al-Qubati" was surprised by armed elements of the Houthi militia - Iran's arm in Yemen, asking him to prepare food baskets in order to distribute them to the families of their dead who fell on the battle fronts, as part of a new looting campaign called "gifts of the martyrs."
Along Hael Twenty Street, in the center of Sana'a, various merchants are subjected to extortion and forced to pay royalties and levies by force of arms by armed Houthi elements, under various names and celebrations, and amid threats of kidnapping, arrest, and closure of shops for all merchants who refuse to pay these royalties.
The collection and extortion operations taking place in Sana’a and some Yemeni governorates under their control come under the name of “Martyr’s Week”, which is an occasion that the Houthi militia holds annually, to collect money from citizens, merchants, owners of institutions and private companies, which are transferred to accounts affiliated with a Houthi body supervised by prominent leaders of the group.
A merchant, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Capital Sana'a, told NewsYemen: From time to time, the Houthi militia comes up with appropriate names, to force us to pay money or present our goods as gifts to them, while the collection and customs points that they set up at the entrances to Sana'a cost us lots of money to deliver.
He added: There are violations and organized crimes practiced by the Houthis against merchants and businessmen, starting with the restrictions and suffocation imposed on the import process and the delivery of goods, especially those brought from ports under the control of the legitimate government, explaining that the Houthis raised customs prices in their newly established outlets despite the merchants payment for legal fees in the liberated ports, but merchants pay other fees to Houthi customs.
For its part, the Merchants Syndicate in Yemen and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sana'a issued a statement of protest against the practices and policies practiced by the Houthi government against them, describing these practices as improvised, arbitrary and ill-considered against them.
The public and explicit protest came against the decision issued by the Houthi militia to force merchants to reduce prices in their areas of control in return for raising customs.
The statement issued by a member of the Merchants Syndicate and a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, merchant Mansour Al-Rimi, revealed that merchants rejected the decision issued by the Houthi government and the Ministers of Trade, Industry and Finance on December 1, which forces them to reduce prices. According to the statement, the decision lacked linking responsibility to accountability in accordance with the constitution, considering that the Houthi government seeks to solve its problems and impotence and neglected the problems of merchants and their campaign alone with all the consequences of the war.
The statement of the Merchants Syndicate asked the Houthi government: If you are in the Salvation Government not responsible for the actions of your ministers, who is responsible?! He explained that this government acted as if it had no income from the damage and losses incurred by merchants.
The statement concluded with a warning that if the Houthi government does not respond to their demands, they will be forced to go on a comprehensive and complete strike in all economic joints, and that this is a final warning and a statement to the people that Yemen's trade will close its doors in impotence and bankruptcy amid a torrent of arbitrary and unfair decisions that do not take into account the rights of citizens and merchants alike.
