Houthis Raid Company that Determines Aid Recipients in Yemen

Arab World

January 15th, 9:16am

Aden - Mohammed Nasser

Displaced citizens receive food aid in a camp in al-Hays in al-Hodeidah, western Yemen (AFP)

Houthi intelligence agents stormed the "Prodigy Systems" offices in Sanaa that manages data collection on citizens who are eligible for humanitarian aid, in cooperation with international organizations. The Houthi agents forced some of its employees, at gunpoint, to sign documents accusing the company of working for Israel. They also arrested dozens of employees and detained them for investigation until the end of the day. The company was closed for an indefinite period. Informed sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that dozens of Houthi intelligence vehicles surrounded the company's building, which collects data and conducts field surveys on citizens eligible for relief aid on behalf of the UN and international organizations. It also helped supervise aid delivery to all displaced and eligible people across Yemen. According to the sources, dozens of masked agents stormed the building last Wednesday and detained all the employees until late evening after confiscating their phones and computers. The employees were later released after they were forced to sign papers accusing the company of working for Israel. The sources indicated that the Houthis confiscated the company's equipment, which employs more than 313 workers. They arrested the company's director and the heads of its departments and took them to an unknown destination, which is likely to be the building of the intelligence service. They forced the director to send a message to the employees reassuring them that the problem had been resolved and that they were on temporary leave. The sources confirmed that the Houthi militia confiscated all the devices containing information about the displaced and those affected by the war. They believed Houthis wanted to prevent the company from conducting the field survey to verify the data of those eligible for international aid. Earlier, government data showed that a million fictitious names in Houthi-controlled areas receive food and cash aid, seized by the so-called Humanitarian Affairs Council, which controls relief organizations and local partners. According to the sources, the Houthi militia wanted to carry out the field survey process through organizations and companies it established for this purpose, aiming to provide aid to its fighters. The sources indicated that the militias' control over the local partners who carry out the field survey placed Houthis members at the top of the list to receive aid. Meanwhile, human rights sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the closure of all independent non-governmental organizations, the alternative organizations, and the control of militia leaders forced international organizations to use data provided by local partners, which work under the supervision or in partnership with the Houthi intelligence service. Yemeni human rights sources noted that this control made militia supervisors bargain with families in the countryside to obtain aid and a monthly salary if their children were recruited. Most families were forced to submit to the militia because they lacked financial sources. The Yemeni government rejected the results of the survey submitted by the World Food Program on those eligible for aid, confirming that about a million names were unjustly approved in militia-controlled areas. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people and host communities were excluded in government-controlled areas. Subsequently, the government and the UN program agreed on a new survey using modern techniques to avoid previous issues.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4099011/houthis-raid-company-determines-aid-recipients-yemen