September Net

The United Nations, primarily the World Food Program, has been providing aid to millions in need of proper nutrition in Yemen but according to a new report, a significant part of this has been stolen by the Houthi militia.

The CNN report says that the Houthi rebels have stolen around 1,200 metric tons of aid in the form of food in the capital alone.

According to the report, this trend has been around for a while, with the UN releasing a report in 2018 claiming that 1 percent of its aid was not going to their allocated areas. But in reality, many families are not being helped.”

The Houthi insurgents control the aid agency that was appointed by the WFP to distribute the aid. The stealing is only adding to the misery of a country struggling with poverty and conflict.

CNN said that Issham and the people of Bani Qais did not receive any aid “ they have received no grain, cooking oil or other aid supplies” for many weeks.

The Arab Coalition in Yemen has repeatedly said that Houthis have been blocking the passage of aid ships.

Also, the Coalition has said that the Houthis were not pulling out from Hodeidah and its port, and were obstructing the work of the UN mission in Yemen and also blocking the passage of vessels carrying aid to the country’s ports.

It asserted in many statements that Houthi militias deliberately disable ships and unload their cargo in Hodeidah and Salif ports.

The diverted aid was initially shielded from the WFP by the use of fake records and false thumbprints confirming the handout of the aid, which was being sold in the city rather than being given to those villages in need.

Amira Saleh, a woman whose name has been listed for aid and was even said to have received $440 has claimed that she did not receive any aid for half a year. Other women said that the aid that they were entitled to was denied to them due to lack of records that they had left behind in the cities they had fled. This was another excuse that the Houthi militia used to divert the aid, selling it to gain political support.

As a result, the WFP said it is considering suspending aid distribution in areas controlled by Houthi militias for fear of misappropriation.
The executive director of the WFP threatened to stop sending aid to Houthi-backed organizations.

“Humanitarian workers in Yemen are being denied access to the hungry, aid convoys have been blocked, and local authorities have interfered with food distribution,” the WFP said in a statement. “This has to stop.”