UN hopes for ‘political solution’ after US revoked Yemen's Houthis as terrorists

After the US announced that it is revoking the designation of Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a terrorist group, the UN welcomed the decision and called it “extremely positive”. The Biden Administration on February 12 reversed former President Donald Trump’s actions that humanitarian groups feared that it would impede aid deliveries to the conflict-torn country facing the world’s worst crisis. However, on Friday, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Biden’s decision to rescind the designation “a recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen”.

Blinken said that the new US administration listened to warnings from the United Nations, humanitarian groups, bipartisan members of Congress and others “that the designations could have a devastating impact on Yemenis’ access to basic commodities like food and fuel”. It is worth noting that Yemen imports 90 per cent of its food, nearly all purchased through commercial channels. The UN had also warned that the US designation of the Houthis already had companies pulling back from dealing with the Yemenis and would likely lead to “a large-scale famine on a scale that we have not seen for nearly 40 years”. 

Following Biden’s decision, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called US decision “extremely positive”. Dujarric said, “We hope that helps build momentum for a political solution to the conflict in Yemen. I think the reversal of the designation, the naming of the (US) special envoy (for Yemen), and the clear, clear language from the top of the administration, from president Biden himself, expressing his strong support for the UN-led mediation process ... are very, very welcome indeed”. 

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US remains clear-eyed 

Yemen has been engulfed in chaos since a civil war began in late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the control of several northern provinces and even forces the globally-recognised government headed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. Later in 2015, the Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict to back Hadi’s government. According to AP, the conflict has been disastrous for Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, killing more than 112,000 people, creating a humanitarian disaster, and wrecking infrastructure from roads and hospitals to water and electricity networks.

While announcing the decision, Blinken said the United States “remains clear-eyed” about the Houthis’ “malign actions and aggressions including taking control of large areas of Yemen by force, attacking US partners in the Gulf, kidnapping and torturing citizens of the United States and many of our allies, diverting humanitarian aid, brutally repressing Yemenis in areas they control, and the deadly attack on December 30, 2020 in Aden against the cabinet of the legitimate government of Yemen.”

(With inputs from AP) 

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