UN tells Houthis food aid for three million in Yemen is at risk because of rebels looting
Looting of food aid by the Iranbacked Houthi rebels is putting at risk desperately needed deliveries for about three million people in Yemen.
The World Food Programme has issued an ultimatum to the rebels, whose theft is exacerbating what the UN says is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
Programme director David Beasley has written a letter to the rebels’ leader, Abdulmalik Al Houthi, threatening to cut aid deliveries unless the rebels proved they had changed their ways and allowed all of the aid to get to those in need.
Mr Beasley said that only 40 per cent of aid was reaching those eligible to benefit from the deliveries in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
Only a third were receiving aid in the northern Houthi stronghold of Saada, he said
“If you don’t act within 10 days, the WFP will have no choice but to suspend the assistance that goes to nearly three million people,” Mr Beasley wrote.
“This criminal behaviour must stop immediately.”
The programme said that it had photographic evidence of the rebels seizing food and manipulating lists of aid recipients.
The UN agency helps about 8 million hungry people in Yemen and has been trying to increase its scope to reach a total of 12 million.
It wants an overhaul of the relief system, including biometric registration, but says the rebels resist such measures.
Yemeni Information Minister Muammar Al Eryani praised the UN agency for publicly calling out the Houthis over their offences.
Mr Al Eryani said the body was committed to ensuring that crucial food aid reached those who needed it most.
“The WFP report indicates that the Houthi militia is deliberately starving the population in the areas under its control to increase their suffering, which gives it an opportunity to exploit this suffering through international forums to achieve political and military objectives,” the minister told the Saba news agency.
“The Houthi militia deliberately deprives millions of Yemenis of salaries, livelihoods and aid from donor countries, increasing their suffering and pushing many of them to participate in the war, after opening the door of recruitment and joining the fronts as a single option for those who lost
their sources of income.” Mr Al Eryani said that the Houthis were funnelling the food to fighters on the front lines of the civil war or using it to spread their ideology, suggesting that they were not committed to ending the conflict.
He called on international organisations to move their local offices to the southern city of Aden and ensure that there would be transparency for their operations.
The Houthis lashed out at the UN agency’s claims, saying that the body’s accusations were politicised.
Mohammed Al Houthi, head of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, said the agency “did not communicate officially” with the rebels about the theft.
Mr Al Houthi threatened to retaliate against the body and said it did not provide enough food for the Yemeni people.
He accused international organisations in Yemen of being political, singling out staff in the office of the UN envoy to Yemen.
Mr Al Houthi threatened to prosecute the food agency for providing poor-quality food that was rejected by the Houthi government.
In an attempt to help deliveries reach those in need, a UN team led by former Dutch general Peter Cammaert has
Head of Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Council threatens to retaliate against UN food agency
been monitoring a ceasefire in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah since late December.
The truce was agreed to in peace talks in Sweden, which ended months of fierce fighting between the two sides for control of the city.
About 70 per cent of Yemen’s imports come through Hodeidah’s port.