Houthis Double Customs Duties, Tariffs

Yemenis in Sanaa market (EPA)
Yemenis in Sanaa market (EPA)
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Houthis Double Customs Duties, Tariffs

Yemenis in Sanaa market (EPA)
Yemenis in Sanaa market (EPA)

The Houthi militia is preparing to increase customs duties rates on goods, increase tariffs and raise the exchange dollar rate from YR250 to YR600.

The militias imposed multiple taxes on goods arriving from areas under the control of the legitimate government or through Hodeidah port, in a country that imports 90 percent of its needs.

Conflicts between the group's wings have intensified, according to reports claiming that the factions argue over funds and recruitment to cover the lack of fighters on the Marib, al-Bayda, and al-Jawf fronts.

The group had already doubled the tax and customs duties on goods and merchandise several times.

In 2017, the militias approved increasing the taxes on mobile, landline, and internet services and raising taxes on domestic and imported cigarettes.

Taxes on mobile services increased from 10 percent to 22 percent, and the local and international phone services from 5 percent to 10 percent.

Taxes on domestic and imported cigarettes, tobacco, and molasses were raised to 120 percent from 90 percent.

Last year, a study by the Economic Media Center reported that the Houthi militia amended the tax and customs laws and introduced new articles, including amendments to Law No. 17 of 2010 on income taxes and a draft law for the year 2020 amending law No. 19 of 2001 on general sales tax.



UN: At Least 542 Killed in North Darfur in Past 3 Weeks

World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS
World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS
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UN: At Least 542 Killed in North Darfur in Past 3 Weeks

World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS
World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS

At least 542 civilians have been confirmed killed in Sudan's North Darfur region in the past three weeks, the United Nations said Thursday, warning the actual death toll was likely "much higher.”

"The horror unfolding in Sudan knows no bounds," UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement, referring to the country's ongoing civil war.

Darfur in particular has become a key battleground in the war that erupted on April 15, 2023 between the regular army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The war has left tens of thousands dead and triggered what aid agencies describe as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

The battle for El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur to elude RSF control, has intensified in recent weeks as the paramilitaries have sought to compensate for their loss of the capital Khartoum last month.

According to AFP, Turk pointed to an attack three days ago by the RSF on El-Fasher and the Abu Shouk camp that killed at least 40 civilians.

"This brings the confirmed number of civilians killed in North Darfur to at least 542 in just the last three weeks," he said.

"The actual death toll is likely much higher."

He also cited "the ominous warning by the RSF of 'bloodshed' ahead of imminent battles with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their associated armed movements."

"Everything must be done to protect civilians trapped amid dire conditions in and around El-Fasher."

Turk also highlighted "reports of extrajudicial executions in Khartoum state", which he described as "extremely disturbing".

"Horrific videos circulating on social media show at least 30 men in civilian clothing being rounded up and executed by armed men in RSF uniforms in Al-Salha in southern Omdurman," he said, adding that in a subsequent video, "an RSF field commander acknowledged the killings."

Those videos came after "shocking reports in recent weeks of the extrajudicial execution of dozens of people accused of collaborating with the RSF in southern Khartoum, allegedly committed by the Al-Baraa Brigade", a pro-SAF militia, Turk said.

"Deliberately taking the life of a civilian or anyone no longer directly taking part in hostilities is a war crime," he insisted.

The UN rights chief said he had "personally alerted both leaders of the RSF and SAF to the catastrophic human rights consequences of this war".

"These harrowing consequences are a daily, lived reality for millions of Sudanese. It is well past time for this conflict to stop."