Donors cut humanitarian aid to Yemen because of Houthi’s terrorism

Mahmoud Mohammadi

As the Iranian-backed Houthi militias continue terrorist operations in Yemen, a number of world humanitarian aid agencies announced aid cuts to the Yemeni people.

Aid agency sources told Reuters Houthi authorities in northern Yemen were obstructing efforts to get food and other help to those in need, to an extent that is no longer tolerable.

Two sources told Reuters cutbacks could begin at the start of March after consultation with donors this month. Two said they could begin sooner.

“The operating environment in north Yemen has deteriorated so dramatically in recent months that humanitarians can no longer manage the risks associated with delivering assistance at the volume we currently are,” a senior UN official said.

“No one wants to walk away from a crisis, certainly not a crisis as big as the one in Yemen, but humanitarians have to adjust what we are doing based on the risks we are facing,” the UN official said.

This would include curtailing some food aid overseen by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), which feeds more than 12 million Yemenis a month, 80% of them in Houthi areas.

The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis and says millions of people are on the verge of starvation.

The WFP partially suspended food aid delivery for two months in Sanaa in June in a dispute over control of the biometric data. Eight months on, the system is still not operational in Houthi areas.

UN documents seen by Reuters show that agencies have repeatedly asked Houthi officials over the past year to allow access and deliveries. Aid workers complain that they have been prevented not only from delivering food, but also from treating it in storage to prevent it from spoiling during delays.