The Yemeni government condemned the Iran-backed militia’s recent targeting of banks and money transfer shops in areas falling under their control, describing Houthis as a “criminal gang,”
This week, the pro-Iran group stormed the headquarters of the most branched out bank in Yemen, Al-Kuraimi Bank. Houthis closed its offices in Sanaa, and temporarily shut down its branches in Hodeidah, Ibb,and Ad Dali' governorates.
The group’s attack on the Al-Kuraimi Bank shocked Yemeni circles. Economists described it as “a barbaric action taken without any awareness of the risks it imposes on the private sector and the national economy.”
Information minister, Muammar Al-Eryani wrote on Twitter on Thursday that the group is taking 30% of each money transfer from outside Yemen or from regions under the control of the government.
"Deductions from remittances of expatriates or citizens inside the country is a criminal act and collective punishment amidst deteriorating living conditions and deepening humanitarian crisis," he said.
The government has accused the Houthis of stealing the national foreign currency reserves, public revenues and salaries of public servants for five years and imposing illegal taxes and customs duties.
Harassing banks and exchange firms means cutting the remaining artery of the national economy which is helping save the lives of millions of people, Al-Eryani said.
Late last year, the group ordered to stop the circulation of new banknotes issued by the government under the justification of protecting the national currency from total collapse.
The move confused exchange firms across the country, forcing them to increase the transfer fees to 30% of the value of a remittance to secure the difference of exchange rates.
Al-Eryani confirmed that the Houthi “criminal” policies undoubtedly proof the group’s indifference towards the dire humanitarian conditions Yemenis are suffering from, and an insistence on advancing an agenda anchored in the impoverishment of citizens.
Houthis, through starving out Yemenis, aim to drive the poor to fight their battles in exchange for money.
