29 voluntary organisations oppose the declaration of Houthi rebels as a ter

Washington: Ten people were killed in the attack by the Houthi rebels on the Hodeida City. This takes the total number of people killed in Houthi attacks in the last two weeks to 51, including children. The Trump administration in the United States is making efforts to declare Houthi rebels as a terrorist outfit. Saying that, in that scenario, the humanitarian aid to Yemen will be affected, 29 international level voluntary organisations have opposed the US move to declare Houthi rebels as terrorists. At the same time, the Foreign Minister of Oman has said that the situation will not change with this US decision.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have already declared Houthi rebels, acquiring power through a military coup, as a terrorist organisation in 2014. Saudi and UAE accused that Houthi rebels are also involved in the terrorist activities in their countries, along with Yemen. Since 2018, the US Trump administration is trying to get Houthi rebels declared a terrorist outfit. As a part of these efforts, the Trump administration has expedited moves in that direction.

The United States, Saudi Arabia and UAE accuse that the Houthi rebels are getting support from Iran. The United States and Saudi Arabia have even produced evidence in support of the claim. Therefore, President Trump was planning to increase pressure on Iran by declaring Houthi rebels as a terrorist outfit. The United Nations has already imposed sanctions against Houthi rebels and has banned any arms supply to the Houthis. In this scenario, it would have made it easy for the United States to initiate military action against Houthis, invading into Yemen. Former US Ambassador and analysts claim that this would have had a direct impact on Iran, the supporter of Houthi rebels.

But before President Trump could take this decision, 29 international level voluntary organisations demanded that Houthi rebels should not be declared as a terrorist outfit. Twenty-nine voluntary organisations like Oxfam America, Norwegian Refugee Council, International Rescue Committee carrying on humanitarian work have opposed the US decision to declare Houthi rebels as a terrorist outfit in their letter written to the US Congress.

More than 80% of Yemen is under Houthi control. The humanitarian aid reaches the Yemenis people only after a sanction from the Houthi rebels. The voluntary organisations have warned that in the current situation if the Houthi rebels are declared as a terrorist outfit, the flow of humanitarian aid to the Yemenis people, would be stopped and they will be starved, which will create a major crisis. Whereas, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Al Busaidi, the Foreign Minister of Oman, has asked whether it will make any difference if the Houthi rebels are declared a terrorist organisation. Busaidi added that the Yemenis conflict would flareup more, instead of subsiding if the Houthis are declared terrorists.

In this scenario, the entire world is eagerly waiting to see what decision is taken by the Trump administration, who is trying to corner and pressurise Iran from all sides.