Exert more pressure to dry up funding for Houthi militias, Yemeni leader tells UN

“A collective approach is necessary to assist the Yemeni Government to reinforce its institutional capabilities,” its capacity to address the ongoing economic crisis and protect against threats to international navigation,” Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi told world leaders at the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level meeting.

Focusing largely on what he saw as the ever-present threat of escalation by Iran-backed Houthi militias, Mr. Al-Alimi said that without stepped-up efforts and assistance to tackle this threat, “the militias will not engage in any efforts to seek a comprehensive peace”, nor would they refrain from “blackmailing” the region and wider international community.

He argued that such efforts should include not only immediate humanitarian assistance but should extend to measures that would engender “stronger accountability mechanisms, especially in militia-controlled areas,” as well as greater investments in infrastructure, healthcare, education and sustainable development.

The Government had recently suspended its decision to move its banking headquarters from Sana’a, which is under Houthi control, to the temporary capital in Aden, heeding the call of the UN and the international community to de-escalate, he continued.  

This decision could hold “provided the Houthis engage in serious talks towards alleviating the country’s economic crisis and to revive the peace efforts in line with the roadmap mediated by Saudi Arabia and Oman.”  

Despite these and other efforts at de-escalation, Houthi militias had hijacked three Yemeni Airlines planes, launched drone attacks against the Safer oil facility, and issued “racist orders and laws” to ensure the nomination of their affiliates to public positions.  

This ongoing pattern of reckless escalation required the international community to take firm policies and push the militias towards the choice of peace, in line with international resolutions.

He said Yemen’s years-long economic crisis continued to be exacerbated by Houthi violence and terrorist attacks, including in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways, which impacted not only the region but threatened trillions of dollars in global trade, and against oil facilities, which hampered the ability of the Government to pay workers and provide public services.  

This ongoing “economic war” being waged by the Houthis “is part of a larger strategy aimed at weakening the Government and aggravating the humanitarian crisis facing 14 million Yemenis.”  

Against this background, Mr. Al-Alimi underscored: “Yemen’s recovery is not just a national issue, but a regional and global need, as its stability is crucial to maintaining peace and security [locally] as well as vital trade routes in the Red and Arabian Seas and surrounding waterways.”

Regarding the situation in the wider Middle East, Mr. Al-Alimi said, “The brutal Israeli war on the Palestinian people must stop immediately. That is the key to the desired peace, and an entry point to lifting the cover from Iran’s and its agents’ pretexts to exacerbate the situation in the region.” 

Click here for the full statement (in Arabic).