The US decries Houthi war on aid in Yemen

LONDON: The Houthis are blocking aid projects in Yemen, profiting from humanitarian funding and harassing aid workers, US aid officials said on Wednesday. As a result, they are preventing critical, life-saving aid from reaching millions of Yemenis who rely on humanitarian assistance to survive, USAID’s deputy director of the Office of Food for Peace Matt Nims said. He made the comments hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the US would provide $225 million in emergency aid to Yemen to support food programs.

“This assistance will provide the UN World Food Program’s emergency food operation in southern Yemen, as well as a reduced operation in northern Yemen, which the WFP was forced to scale down earlier this month because of the ongoing interference of Iran-backed Houthis,” Pompeo said. It was Houthi interference in aid work that forced the US, other donors, and the UN to recalibrate some aid programs in northern Yemen, Nims told a teleconference. Last month, the World Food Program (WFP) said it would halve the aid it gives to people in parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthis. 

According to the UN, around 80 percent of Yemen’s population relies on aid. “We are concerned about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen as well as Houthi interference in aid operations that are preventing life-saving assistance from reaching people who need it more now than ever,” Richard Albright, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for the bureau of population, Refugees, and Migration said. Six people have died in Yemen from COVID-19 and 26 cases have been recorded. However, aid groups have warned that years of war have left the health system unable to cope with the widespread outbreak.

Albright praised Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian response to the crisis in Yemen and its efforts to maintain peace in the country. “Saudi Arabia has been the largest humanitarian contributor in Yemen, and we certainly welcome their contributions as well as that of other donors to meet the needs in Yemen. We continue to call for all donors to provide their assistance in a timely manner and according to humanitarian principles,” Albright added. The Kingdom pledged $500 Million to the UN humanitarian response plan for Yemen in 2020 and a further $25 million to help the country combat COVID-19 as a ceasefire was announced in early April. theHouthis continue to violate the ceasefire, which is supported by the Kingdom and the Arab coalition supporting the internationally recognized government.