Houthis interrupt 35 humanitarian initiatives in Yemen

Dozens of Ramadan-inspired charity campaigns are repressing by Houthis in Yemen while they totally ignoring poverty and famine levels that reaching unprecedented highs in areas controlled by the Iran-backed militias. Youth and volunteer campaigns occured in government-controlled parts of Yemen, the war-ravaged country’s poor.

Sanaa-based human rights sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that since the beginning of Ramadan in mid-April, Houthis have stopped 35 volunteer humanitarian initiatives that intended to help thousands of poor Yemenis living in areas controlled by the militias.

They also said that about two weeks ago, the Houthis diffused detectives in Sanaa neighborhoods and other cities that they run to monitor youth initiatives that offer aid to certain of the poorest families there.

The arrest of dozens of young men and women

Sources also indicated that Militias detained dozens of young men and women who were delivering help to the destitute in Sanaa and its countryside and in the cities of Ibb, Dhamar, Hajjah, Taiz, Mahwit and Amran, adding that those detained were held in militia arrest centers.

A local volunteer, who was threatened by the militias, informed Asharq Al-Awsat: Last Monday, Houthi gunmen prevented activists from distributing food to more than 100 needy families in separate neighborhoods in Sanaa.

Furthermore, the volunteer spoke with condition of anonymity, expressed his anger at Houthi efforts to interrupt charities that are seeking to put a smile on the faces of the poor and needy and relieve some of their pain and deprivation. Besides, the militias took cash, food, blankets, clothes, sewing machines and rainproof tents that were destined for certain of the country’s neediest families.

Sources also stated that taking of the different forms of help took place in large quantities, indicating that the Houthis redirect the assistance to arrive to members involved in its war effort.