Houthis Accused of Using ‘Health' Staff Names to Loot Aid
Houthis have looted millions of riyals allocated as motives
for health centers' personnel in Houthi-ruled regions, a source in the Ministry
of Health and Population in Sanaa has revealed.
The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said some
influential individuals in the ministry received huge amounts of money originally
dedicated to health centers' employees. They managed to receive the funds after
forging the related documents.
The millions handed out to the ministry in ambiguous
conditions are motives funded by international organizations for employees of
health centers in 2018. The source continued that the health personnel
underwent a state of frustration, which pushed some to shut several centers
amid suspicious silence by the ministry.
The source continued that a gang of powerful individuals is
trafficking medical aid provided by relief international organizations. This
gang is originally a corruption mafia laying hands over the ministry.
He called for a quick action to tackle the disastrous
condition in the health sector and for the formation of a committee to
investigate the fate of the motives. The same source warned of the danger of
disregarding corruption crimes.
This coincides with several other accusations against the
militias for looting food from the impoverished. For over a year, names of
Al-Thawra newspaper's staff were used to steal aid.
Yemen’s Executive High Relief Committee said in a statement
on Tuesday that Houthi militias, between May 2015 and December 2018, have
banned access to 88 ships with humanitarian aid and other products to the ports
of Hodeidah and Saleef in Hodeidah governorate. It explained that 34 of these
ships were held for six months, so the bulk of the load went bad.
It also noted that seven vessels were directly attacked by
the insurgents during the same period, while sailing in the Red Sea off the
Yemeni coast. Four of the vessels were from Saudi Arabia, two were from UAE and
one was from Turkey.
