Houthis and corona: Mullahs’ other face in dealing with global pandemic

The Houthi militia in Yemen has been following Iran’s
approach in dealing with the corona virus, including obscuring the numbers of
infected people and the methods of burying those who have died, including using
the pandemic for economic and political gains internationally.
Houthi blackout
Like Iran, the Houthis have had a blackout policy since the
beginning of the pandemic and does not disclose the true numbers of people
infected with the virus, which prompted the Yemeni government to condemn the
coup militia and ask the international community to press the Houthis to
disclose the number of casualties before the pandemic spreads throughout Yemeni
society and cannot be controlled.
The government statement, published by the Yemeni media on
May 17, stated that field reports indicate that the incidence of corona
infections in the Houthi-controlled areas is high. The World Health
Organization (WHO) was also asked to announce its data regarding infection
cases in the Houthi-controlled areas.
Meanwhile, Yemeni doctors working in Houthi areas issued a
statement warning against the Houthi blackout and called on health officials in
the capital Sanaa to be transparent and take preventive measures to confront the
corona virus and provide means of personal protection for the health staff dealing
with patients directly.
Doctors arrested
As a result, the Houthis arrested and threatened a number of
doctors protesting the militia’s actions concealment of the virus’s spread in
Sanaa, forcing doctors to write a pledge not to disclose any information about
the number of cases, according to the Yemeni news website Al-Masdar Online. This
led to health organizations in Sanaa refusing to comment or provide numbers on
the number of cases for fear of Houthi retaliation.
On May 17, the Iranian-backed militia bombed medical camps
dealing with the corona pandemic in the Qaniya area between the governorates of
Ma'rib and Al-Bayda in central Yemen, which resulted in injuries, and the
checkpoint was also severely damaged, according to a statement from the Public
Health and Population Office in Ma'rib.
The statement noted that this is a criminal attempt by the
Houthis to use the corona pandemic in its war against the Yemeni people, as
well as to stop the humanitarian role of medical crews examining those
traveling from Houthi areas that are witnessing a major outbreak of the virus,
despite the blackout of its spread. The doctors demanded the United Nations
investigate this as a terrorist crime.
According to the doctors, the number of infected in Houthi areas
amounted to about 1,400, with about 300 deaths, until May 17, and they fear the
number of cases will increase by June. WHO announced that half of Yemen's
population of 30 million could be infected and more than 40,000 people could
die from the virus, mainly due to the weakness of the Yemeni health sector and
the blackout policy, which results in citizens not committing to preventive
measures.
On May 13, the Yemeni government announced that 70 people
had been infected with the corona virus since April 10, including 12 deaths and
one recovery, while the Houthis had only recognized two cases, the death of a
Somali immigrant and someone infected coming from Aden.
Yemeni Human Rights Minister Mohammed Askar said in press
statements that the Houthi militia is censuring those infected with the corona
virus in Hodeidah Governorate in western Yemen and a number of governorates
under its control, stressing that the militia’s failure to disclose the true
numbers of those infected is a crime against humanity. He called on the
international community to intervene to confront the terrorist group.
Economic and political card
The coup militia is using the virus as a political card to
blackmail the international community. Yemeni Foreign Minister Mohammed
Abdullah Al-Hadrami pointed out on Twitter that the terrorist militia is
politicizing the corona crisis in Yemen and does not want to report cases in
the areas under its control so that they will not be blamed, despite the
frequent reports of the spread of the virus.
The Houthis are also using the pandemic as an economic card
to provide its needed funds, especially since the Iranian regime, which had
been providing them with all means of support, is suffering its own financial
crisis due to the country’s poor economic conditions. Therefore, the Houthi
militia continues to violate civilians throughout Yemen with the aim of
stealing their money.
The terrorist militia recently plundered aid provided by
merchants and businessmen to the poor during the month of Ramadan, and they
also deployed in Yemen’s streets to rob money from car owners, all to support
its war efforts and enrich its leaders.
The Houthis also closed dozens of shopping centers under the
pretext of preventive measures to counter the corona outbreak, only to reopen
them again a few days later after being paid millions of riyals from new
royalties that were imposed in the name of a fundraising campaign to tackle the
virus.