Yemen battle ground.
2 February 2021.
UN reported that warring factions have diverted millions of dollars of public money into their military campaigns and into the pockets of their warlords, abusing foreign aid as well as tax and customs revenues.
The internationally-recognised government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, misused a part of the US$2 billion aid package Saudi Arabia deposited with the Yemen Central Bank in 2018 for food aid such as rice, milk, sugar and other food items. The document also slammed Iranian-backed Houthi party which controls 70% of the country, diverted a large portion of at least $1.8 billion worth of taxes and state revenue they collected on the territory they control to fund their military campaign against the internationally-recognised government. UN also accused Iran of sending weapons to the Houthis in violation of the U.N. arms embargo. U.N accuses both sides of human rights violations, including indiscriminate attacks against civilians, enforced disappearances and torture.
Yemen’s Central Bank manipulated the foreign exchange market, laundering a substantial part of the Saudi deposit in a sophisticated money-laundering scheme that enriched traders by a $423 million, the report said. Yemen family conglomerate Hayel Saeed Anam Group was named in the UN report. It received a substantial chunk of the Saudi deposit.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned in November that Yemen was in “imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades” and that “millions of lives may be lost”.
Yemen’s Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik Saeed on Monday criticized a UN report accusing the country’s central bank of corruption. Saeed told reporters that his government is cooperating with international auditors who would examine the central bank’s financial activities, mainly with regards to the Saudi deposit. He also said that Saudi will also commission an independent audit into the allegations.
Hundreds of thousands of innocent Yemanis are dying in the battle game play between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
