Weakening and exhaustion.. Houthi policy to appease Yemen's merchants

English - Thursday 08 June 2023 الساعة 03:52 pm
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:

"Weakening and exhausting before acquisition and confiscation", the Houthi militia - Iran's arm, is pursuing a deliberate and slow policy in order to subjugate Yemeni merchants and businessmen in their areas of control.

Hundreds of trucks loaded with flour stand in front of customs outlets established by the Houthi militia in the governorates of Taiz, Ibb and Al-Bayda, in light of imposing high fees on merchants in order to allow them to cross and deliver this basic and important material to citizens in the areas under their control.

The ban was not limited to flour only, but also includes other basic materials of various commodities and needs, within the restrictions and continuous restrictions to force merchants to import through the port of Hodeidah in the west of the country, and to end dealings with ports and sea and land outlets in areas under the control of the internationally recognized government.

prevent the flow of goods

A Yemeni trader told NewsYemen: Houthi customs in the Al-Rahda area of Taiz governorate are holding about 300 trucks carrying a large amount of local flour coming from factories in the capital, Aden, and various foodstuffs. He explained that the Houthis impose fees under the name of customs in huge amounts, and all these obstacles are placed through the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Sana'a in order to impede the continued flow of materials from the liberated areas and force merchants to import from the port of Hodeidah, which is under their control.

The merchants pointed out: The trucks are being held without caring about the damage that this matter will cause to the citizens in the areas controlled by the Houthis. Not to mention exposing the retained materials to damage and damage due to the heat of the sun and the rainfall. Hosts: The merchants' refusal to extort the process is being exploited in order to confiscate the quantities of materials withheld and sell them in the market for the benefit of the Houthi leaders.

The Houthi escalation prompted the leadership of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry to come up with a clear and explicit statement that revealed the reality of the fragile living and economic situation in the unliberated areas. The statement confirmed that the seizure of goods at the Houthi ports cost merchants great material losses, indicating that the practices of the Houthi militia threaten catastrophic economic repercussions on national companies and the commercial sector in the country.

According to the statement, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Houthi militia "has become a sword wielding private sector companies, targeting their ruin and bankruptcy."

Traders scream

During the past few days, armed Houthi teams began to descend on markets and commercial centers in Sana'a and the rest of the areas under Houthi control in order to implement decisions issued by the militia leaders appointed at the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the internationally unrecognized coup government.

The Houthi teams closed a number of shops in Sana'a and took their owners to prison, under the pretext of not adhering to the price they set.

Local sources said: The so-called Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Houthi militia launched a campaign consisting of dozens of crews, during which it closed a number of shops and outlets in the capital, claiming that it was not committed to reducing prices according to the price list set by the militia.

According to merchants in Sana'a to "NewsYemen": they received circulars from the Houthi Ministry of Industry a few days ago asking them to show the pricing on foodstuffs and consumer items approved by the ministry during the past days. Promising to impose fines and strict legal procedures on violating or refusing merchants.

They added: The Houthis want to impose an irrational and reasonable pricing on prices while the trucks of goods are being held at their customs outlets, and forcing us to pay exorbitant fees, not to mention the value of customs in the liberated ports where the goods arrived.

They pointed out that the allegations of the Houthi gang that merchants did not adhere to the price list that it set is just a cover for practicing more extortion against merchants who are on the verge of declaring their bankruptcy as a result of the exorbitant levies practiced against them.

International silence about a serious disaster

The Houthi restrictions imposed on the arrival of basic commodities arriving from the liberated governorates fall within the scheme of controlling the private sector mainly.

The Ministry of Industry in the internationally recognized Yemeni government confirmed that Houthi tampering with the system of legal legislation related to the economic sector and various state resources threatens an economic catastrophe.

A statement issued by the ministry in the capital, Aden, indicated that the militia directed to pass new laws and amendments to the laws on income taxes, customs, commercial banks, and other laws that would impose more restrictions on the movement of trade and investment and the flow of goods and merchandise, and burden citizens with more unfair and illegal levies. And deepening the state of political and economic division between the people and regions of the same country.

The Yemeni Minister of Information, Muammar Al-Eryani, called for the need for the international community and the UN and US envoys to move to stop the Houthis' futility and oblige them to lift the restrictions they imposed on the flow of goods and the movement of goods between the Yemeni governorates.

The minister explained that hundreds of trucks coming from the liberated ports, especially those loaded with flour, are arbitrarily detained, in an attempt to limit imports through the port of Hodeidah, which is under the control of the Houthis. He pointed out that the militias seek to achieve material gains through these measures, impose more restrictions on merchants, monopolize the import of basic commodities through their import companies and merchants, continue their policy of starvation and impoverishment against citizens in the areas under their control, and assert their responsibility for the deterioration of the situation. humanitarian conditions.

Al-Eryani stressed that the Houthi militia aims to completely control the commercial sector and control the national economy without any regard for the difficult economic and humanitarian conditions, and to persist in its arbitrary measures towards the private sector and commercial companies without legal justification or court rulings.

Al-Eryani addressed the international community and the United Nations and its Special Envoy not to stand by and watch what he described as the open war launched by the Houthi militia against commercial houses and capital that had withstood and continued its commercial activity despite the difficult circumstances, and to take practical steps to stop the systematic destruction it is practicing against the private sector, which threatens collapse of economic conditions and exacerbate human suffering.