The crimes and violations committed by the Iran-backed Houthi militias at Yemen’s Hodeidah port have left five of the facility’s staff dead, a Yemeni government official revealed on Sunday according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
One of the employees, Mansur Salam Al-Hakimi, died on Saturday after the militias stopped the health insurance of the port's staff.
Deputy Minister of Transport Nasser Sharif said that the militias have since their takeover of Hodeidah port three years ago committed many abuses against the staff.
These violations include the sacking of many employees and replacing them with militia loyalists who lack the basics of navigational operations.
Sharif said that through these actions, the Houthis are attempting to seize control of Hodeidah port to employ it for its military agenda and arms smuggling in flagrant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and the port’s humanitarian functions.
The militias have seized the port's revenues and invested them in actions that have left innocent people dead in Hodeidah city and areas under their control, Sharif said in a statement broadcast by the Yemeni official news agency.
The minister stressed that the Houthis’ ongoing control of Hodeidah and its port will only exacerbate the humanitarian crisis and increase the suffering of the Yemeni people, especially after the militias were implicated in obstructing trade and relief supplies.
