As the world marked Labor Day last week, Yemenis living in areas controlled by the Houthis had no reason to celebrate as they continue to live in poverty, misery and deprivation after losing their jobs and salaries to the Iran-backed militias.
The Yemenis marked a sixth year under Houthi rule, with union sources in Sanaa estimating that eight million workers had lost their jobs since the militias staged their coup against the legitimacy in September 2014.
Abou Mohammed, an employee working in the academic sector in Sanaa, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “How can an employee celebrate (Labor Day) when his salary is still being held by the militias? How can he rejoice while he is unemployed and cannot find a way to make a living and feed his children?”
Suleiman, a carpentry workshop owner, revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the successive crises caused by the Houthi coup have forced him to lay off 15 out of 18 of his employees because work had dried up.
“Work had come to a complete halt at the beginning of the year. I tried to keep the workers and pay their salaries, but after three months, I could no longer support them and had to reluctantly let them go,” he said.
Carpentry is not the only domain affected by the coup. The majority of handcrafts and other sectors have come to a halt because of the people’s diminished purchasing power. Commercial production is now limited to essential goods.
Suleiman’s employees were not the only victims of the coup. Construction site worker R.H., another Sanaa resident, complained of a lack of job opportunities for him in his line of work, saying he can barely make ends meet to feed his family of five.
A worker at the health ministry in Sanaa, asked to be identified as K.N., revealed that the Houthi supervisor at the ministry forced him to quit his job to appoint a member of the militia in his place.
“My wife and I were forced to go through all of our savings. I tried to find another job in the health sector, but I have failed,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Since their coup, the Houthis have laid their hands on Yemen’s economic and financial resources, depleting the state treasury and depriving the people of their livelihood. More than a million workers have been deprived of their salaries by the militias.
Social affairs minister in the legitimate government, Ibtihaj al-Kamal, had previously revealed that the Houthis’ seizure of state resources has led to the laying off of over 5 million employees as of May 2019. This accounts to nearly 60 percent of the labor force in the country.
She accused the Houthis of seizing state institutions through the force of arms and firing employees and replacing them with their own loyal members.
A union source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis have been withholding the salaries of a million government employees for over three years.
Many are now effectively unemployed, he said on condition of anonymity out of fears of Houthi reprisals.
Labor Day this year will be “celebrated” with over a million people becoming unemployed, he lamented.
