Ahmed Atef (Aden, Al-Ittihad)
A report issued by the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) confirmed that Yemen will remain the country most in need of humanitarian aid by October 2024, as the food insecurity crisis continues to worsen without any signs of improvement.
The report expected that the number of Yemenis suffering from severe food insecurity will increase to 18 million people by October, equivalent to more than half the population.
In general, expectations indicate that the number of people suffering from food insecurity in the countries covered by the Famine Early Warning System network will increase by 10 million people to reach 130 million people, with 10% of them concentrated in Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Ethiopia.
The report explained that the continued economic deterioration in Yemen, the decline in the purchasing power of families, the shrinking of job opportunities, and the rise in food prices are all factors that contribute to the exacerbation of the food insecurity crisis.
The report warned that some areas under the control of the Houthis may witness an increase in food insecurity, with the possibility of being classified as “emergency” areas (“IPC4 phase four”) by October, due to the cessation of World Food Program activities in those areas. .
The report called on the international community to increase humanitarian aid to Yemen, to address the worsening food insecurity crisis and prevent a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe.
In addition, experts and analysts revealed the multiple manifestations of the Houthi group’s corruption and the inflation of their wealth by imposing taxes on merchants and plundering the money of the Yemeni people.
Yemeni security expert Yasser Abu Ammar believes that the Houthis, during the last period, intended to achieve great wealth in order to continue their project to destroy Yemen. He explained that the Houthis allocated sources of wealth for the benefit of their leaders, starting with taxes, services, social service fees, oil exploitation, and other investment projects.
Abu Ammar explained in a statement to Al-Ittihad that the Houthi group has deprived Yemenis of receiving their salaries for about 7 years, dealt with false principles and slogans, and seized state treasury funds, communications revenues, the Internet, taxes, customs, and other revenues, and harnessed them for the benefit of strengthening its members and centers of influence inside Yemen.
The circle of Yemeni protests denouncing the corruption and repression of the Houthis has expanded recently, against the backdrop of deteriorating services, looting of lands, manipulation of fuel prices, and the disappearance of kidnapped persons in more than one governorate controlled by the Houthi group.
For his part, Yemeni political analyst Faris Al-Bail described, in statements to Al-Ittihad, that the Houthi leaders suddenly turned into real estate owners, and extended their hands to control the capital, Sanaa, largely with the liquid money in their possession while the people were in a state of hunger and extreme poverty, explaining that the eyes of the Yemeni people It monitors this major corruption, knowing that when the Houthi group entered Sanaa, it raised the prices of petroleum derivatives and looted the funds of the Central Bank of Yemen. Al-Bail pointed out that the Houthis – according to United Nations estimates – collect about $8 billion annually in taxes, in addition to looting and collecting taxes on everyone under the pretext of the war effort.
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