Houthi militants deny UN access to Yemen food aid

CAIRO – 3 April 2019: Yemeni rebels blocked the UN from accessing vital food aid near the flashpoint port city of Hodeidah, a pro-government source said Tuesday.

More than 100 workers were denied access to the Red Sea mills warehouse, said a source in the Arab coalition fighting on the side of the Yemeni government.

“Unfortunately, the Houthi (rebels) have decided to once again renege on a previous commitment, denying the team access to the mills,” the source told AFP.

In February, a team from the UN’s World Food Programme visited the Red Sea mills warehouse for the first time since September, when they became inaccessible due to the conflict between pro-government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.

The WFP said laboratory tests confirmed the wheat had been infested with insects and had to be fumigated to feed million of people.

WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel told AFP Tuesday the mission planned by the UN agency to the Red Sea mills was postponed due to “security reasons.”

Before the UN lost access in September the Red Sea mills held 51,000 tons of grain, which was enough to feed more than 3.7 million people for a month.

This comes after an agreement was struck in Sweden in February, in which Yemeni rivals agreed to redeploy their fighters outside the ports and away from areas that are key to the humanitarian relief effort.

The ports are in the rebel-held west of the country, and the agreement especially set out free access to the Red Sea mills warehouses, under control of d government forces.

Moreover, Yemen’s Human Rights Minister has said Houthi violations of the Hodeidah ceasefire amount to nearly 2,000 “criminal acts” against civilians.

On the sidelines of the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mohammed Askar said the Yemeni government was concerned with the progress of the implementation of the agreement.

“Houthi actions against civilians in Yemen amount to war crimes," said Mr Askar. "We have recorded a total of 1,943 violations of the ceasefire which resulted in the killing of 123 people and 627 injuries.”

The ceasefire deal, one of several confidence-building measures taken by Yemen's government and the rebels at the UN-brokered talks in Sweden, was hailed as the best path to full-scale peace negotiations and an end to the war.

The Yemeni minister also touched on the country's dire humanitarian situation. Houthi rebels, he said, have been blocking the delivery of much-needed aid.

“I am surprised at why the international community is silent on this issue,” he said, calling on rebels to open humanitarian corridors.

“They are taking advantage of the agreement to reinforce their defence position by digging trenches and planting mines,” Mr Askar told the delegates.

Houthis have targeted the Red Sea Mills, a facility that stores wheat and milling equipment to feed millions of starving people, and have destroyed 25 per cent of its grain reserves, the minister explained.