Sanaa, May 21: The United Nations has on Monday threatened to suspend humanitarian aid to war-torn Yemen nation if the ruling Houthi rebels do not comply with an agreement which was inked last year and put an end to the diversion of food supplies.
In an official statement, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said, “Humanitarian workers in Yemen are being denied access to the hungry, aid convoys have been blocked, and local authorities have interfered with food distribution. This has to stop.”
According to ANI news reports, the UN, which is long-feeding over 10 million people across the war-torn region, also alleged the “obstructive and uncooperative” Houthi rebels are tempering the independent selection of beneficiaries.
The agency’s executive director David Beasley, in a letter to rebels, said, “If the beneficiary targeting and biometric exercise is not carried out as agreed, WFP will be left with no option but to suspend food distribution in the areas controlled by Ansarullah, the Houthis.”
The WFP inked the accord with the Houthi rebels in December and January in the capital Sanaa.
Moreover, the agency had also earlier expressed discontent over the behaviour of the Houthis, and collected evidence which alleged the rebel group of diverting the shipments of humanitarian aid.
Last Sephttps://theindianwire.com/world/yemen-houthi-forces-withdrawal-in-line-with-plans-128203/tember, Beasley said, “This conduct amounts to the stealing of food from the mouths of hungry people.”
Last month, Houthi unilaterally reached a final decision to pull out its forces which were stationed in three key ports of the Hodeidah, Ras-Issa and Salif. The UN had said the very-first full-day withdrawal of the Houthi forces from three ports of crisis-hit Yemen went totally “in accordance with established plans”.
The move was seen as a crucial step taken towards ending the very-long civil war in Yemen which kicked off in 2014 after the Houthis captured Yemen’s capital, Sanna.
Also read: Houthi forces’ withdrawal from 3 Yemen ports in line with ‘plans’: United Nations