الجمعة 29-03-2024 05:38:23 ص : 19 - رمضان - 1445 هـ
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Citizens in the areas under the Houthi coup... Renewed crises and comprehensive starving

الثلاثاء 17 مايو 2022 الساعة 04 مساءً / alislah-ye.net - Exclusive

 

By: Abdul Salam al-Hatimi

The crises that afflict the citizens in the areas under the control of the Houthi militia come one by one and increase in severity day after day to the point where food and livelihood security are in danger, in addition to the crisis of oil derivatives and domestic gas, the crisis of food prices rising, especially essential ones, such as wheat, flour, oil, sugar, and so on, has emerged. and so on, which portends a catastrophic situation and the expansion of hunger and poverty, which will be exacerbated by the spread of unemployment and the continued looting of government employees’ salaries by the militia, as well as the militia’s continuation of looting relief aid and selling it in markets or bargaining poor families to recruit members of them to fight in militia ranks in exchange for receiving food baskets from time to time.

And these crises come as a result of the behavior of the terrorist Houthi militia and its practicing policy of impoverishment, mass starving and waging a livelihood war against citizens, by imposing exorbitant taxes and customs on various commodities and foodstuffs, in addition to the unfair royalties it imposes on companies, commercial establishments and farmers. And those taxes, customs and royalties are added to the prices of goods and foodstuffs, then accumulating all these calamities and casting their woes on the citizens directly, where the Houthi militia extracts the necessary sustenance from the mouths of citizens to finance its absurd wars and in order for its leaders to enjoy obscene wealth at the expense of the suffering of millions of citizens. It even came to preventing philanthropists from distributing aid to the needy, arresting any philanthropist if it knew that he was distributing aid secretly and not releasing him until after paying a sum of money as a fine, in addition to a pledge not to repeat the distribution of aid, and notifying him that if he wanted to distribute aid or charity, it must be delivered to the militia leaders (the supervisors) to distribute it, and the aim is to loot that aid and deprive the poor and needy of it.

- Creating and doubling levies:

The succession of living crises in the Houthi militia-controlled areas was nothing but a product of the expansion of the policy of looting and the imposition of unjust royalties on the pretext of supporting the war effort and what it calls “the zakat of one-fifth (Zakat of the Khumus).” In this context, the militia, at the beginning of last Ramadan, distributed delegates of its loyalists to chicken farms in all areas of its control and imposed on the owners of those farms what it calls “the zakat of one-fifth (Zakat of the Khumus),” which it estimated at 300 riyals on each chicken, after estimating the average price on each chicken is 1500 riyals. But the matter did not stop there, but the militia also imposed additional levies on chicken distributors and slaughterhouse owners, which caused the price of chicken to rise, especially during the seasons of demand for it (on the month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr), and because of the continuation of levies, the prices of chickens are growing.

And thus, the militia has deprived a large segment of citizens of eating chicken, which for them represented a substitute for livestock meat that they could not buy, knowing that livestock meat (sheep and cows) had risen to record levels years ago due to similar practices undertaken by the Houthi militia. The militia was not satisfied with the royalties it imposed on the owners of animal production projects of sheep and cows, but also imposed additional royalties and levies that are collected at the entrances to the main cities on livestock suppliers to markets, restaurants and butcher shops. And because of the doubling of levies and royalties, the prices of meat have skyrocketed, thus depriving a large proportion of citizens of it, even on holidays and other occasions.

And in recent days, popular calls have appeared in the capital, Sanaa, and other areas under the control of the Houthi militia to boycott the consumption of chicken after its prices increased by double, in a move to force the owners of chicken farms and distributors to back down from raising their prices, but the problem of royalties and levies imposed by the Houthi militia on Chickens farm owners, distributors and owners of slaughterhouses will remain. If the citizens react to the boycott calls, this will force the farm owners and the Houthi militia to restore prices to what they were, otherwise the losses will affect everyone.

Likewise, the prices of many types of fruits and vegetables have risen due to the doubling of taxes on farmers, and other taxes imposed at the entrances to cities on all fruits and vegetables that are imported to markets, followed by other taxes imposed in wholesale and retail markets and on owners of “flee markets” and “mattresses” and street vendors. And these exorbitant and repetitive royalties cause in rising the prices of various types of vegetables and fruits. and the burden of this rise is borne by the consumer (citizen). And thus, the militia pursues the citizen for his livelihood and for the necessities and everything, including water, where the militia doubled royalties and levies on the owners of water wells, causing their prices to rise, and citizens joke that the militias have nothing left but to impose royalties on the air, even if it was in the ability of the Houthis militia control the air, they will monopolize it and sell it to them for large sums of money.

- A new oil derivatives crisis:

The domestic gas and oil derivatives crisis is one of the most frequent crises that the terrorist Houthi militia provokes at approximated times, and these crises only end for a few days and then return again. And the militia began to creating it since the early days of the coup, while the militia’s black market flourished, in which oil derivatives and household gas are sold at high prices with the aim of looting citizens’ money by twisted and forced methods, financing the militia for its absurd wars and achieving special wealth.

On May 11, the legitimate government accused the Houthi militia of creating a new crisis for oil derivatives in Sanaa and the areas it controls. And Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani said that despite the regular arrival of ships loaded with fuel to the port of Hodeidah at the rate of two ships per week, the militia continues to manipulate the prices of derivatives and trade in the suffering of citizens and restrict their livelihoods.

Al-Eryani added that the number of derivatives ships that have unloaded their cargo in the port of Hodeidah, since the beginning of last April until now, has reached ten ships, loaded with more than 300,000 metric tons of fuel, which are quantities that exceed the actual needs of the Houthi militia’s control areas estimated in three months, demanding the international community and the United Nations to condemn the Houthi militia’s practices that exacerbate the suffering of citizens.

- Threat to livelihood security:

The increasing Houthi measures represented in the succession and doubling of levies and royalties, would threaten the living and food security of citizens and make more of them vulnerable to a critical food security risk, especially since the conditions resulting from the war, which the Houthi militia was the main cause of its outbreak, has made a large number of citizens lose the basics of their lives, and therefore the expansion of the policies of impoverishment and starving portends more danger.

And recent international reports confirm that those who need food security and livelihoods are approximately 14 million citizens, most of whom live in Houthi militia-controlled areas, including 7 million citizens who are in dire need of food and agricultural security, while 8 million citizens have lost their livelihoods or live in societies where the minimum level of basic services is not available because of the war.

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