Amid harsh living conditions and the spread of poverty and hunger in areas controlled by the Houthi militia in Yemen, a morbid image has spread among Yemeni activists on social media over the past two days.
It showed Yemeni women in the Shumaila region south of Sana’a scavenging for food among rubbish heaps, sparking widespread resentment against the Houthis, whose leaders ignore the suffering of Yemenis by depriving them of their most basic rights, according to Asharq al-Awsat.
This painful scene comes amid a string of UN warnings that about 25.5 million people in Yemen, out of a total population of 30 million, now live below the poverty line and are in dire need of support more than ever before.
deteriorating living conditions
Many human rights and humanitarian organizations have repeatedly blamed the Houthis for deteriorating living conditions, especially in the Yemeni capital, due to the suspension of wages for workers, as well as the monopolization of many professions, the sale of oil and fuel to the black market, not to mention the manipulation of prices for food and corruption, as well as obstructing the work of aid organizations.
While the legitimate government and the presidential leadership council are committed to paying wages, a cease-fire, continuing flights and port calls for oil-producing ships “as long as it leads to an alleviation of the crisis for citizens”, according to what Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak recently confirmed.
Notably, last summer, the United Nations announced that restrictions imposed by the Houthis on aid workers and their movement made it difficult for most of the humanitarian aid to those in need to enter the country in the second quarter of 2022. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs explained at the time that of the 532 cases of restricted access to humanitarian assistance reported by humanitarian partners during the period (April, May, June) this year, 89% of them were in areas controlled by the Houthis.
