The severity of the famine in Yemen has worsened since the beginning of the Houthi coup until the present day, and what increases this suffering is the militia’s measures that work to limit the flow of goods and impose new royalties on goods and foodstuffs, which leads to increase in prices. In addition to that, the militia's threats commercial ships in the Red Sea, causing an increase in the cost of insurance for commercial ships coming to Yemen. This, in turn, will double the suffering of Yemeni citizens due to the expected increases in prices as a result.

Since the coup against the state and the war sparked by the terrorist Houthi militia nine years ago, the Yemeni people have continued to suffer from difficult living conditions that have disrupted the national economy and led to an expansion of the circle of hunger and poverty, at a time when many of no income people headed toward garbage cans in search of food to satisfy their hunger. The sight of the poor eating from piles of garbage in a number of areas controlled by the Houthi militia has become a familiar daily sight after that militia's coup against the state.

Some citizens have also turned into skeletons as a result of the policies of impoverishment and starvation pursued by the Houthis, which include plundering state resources, employee salaries, and humanitarian aid provided by foreign organizations working in relief fields, in addition to the unjust royalties imposed by the militia on merchants, which causes an increase in high prices, as well as other royalties and plunder under the pretext of supporting the war effort.

- On the brink of starvation:

Reports issued by the United Nations and other international organizations confirm that food security in ten governorates (out of 22) in Yemen has reached the brink of starvation, while the governorates of Hudaydah, Taiz, and Saada have entered the stage of actual danger or declared starvation.

It is known that the Houthi coup has caused damage to the components of the Yemeni economy and its infrastructure, stopping the disbursement of social welfare grants and salaries, rather caused the closure of most private sector institutions, factories, and companies, which led to increasing unemployment and thus weakening the ability to meet daily needs and supplies.

The numbers reported by the United Nations in its report indicate that there is a food shortage, a rise in food and fuel prices, and an interruption in agricultural production, as well as other factors that have led to food insecurity for about 19 million people, meaning approximately 80% of the population of Yemen.

There are also reports issued by the World Food Program confirming that four out of every five Yemenis suffer from food insecurity, meaning that they depend on only one meal a day and do not secure their food for the next day.

In June 2022, the United Nations reported that more than 19 million Yemeni people were suffering from hunger, including more than 160,000 people on the brink of starvation.

- Warnings about the consequences of the Houthi economic war:

Last August, the Yemeni government warned of the consequences of the economic war waged by the Houthi militia on the Yemeni people. The government considered that imposing double taxes on the movement of goods at the crossings linking the liberated areas and areas forcefully under the control of the Houthis was an escalatory step.

This came during a meeting between Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak and Grundberg. Bin Mubarak warned of the consequences of the economic war waged by the Houthi militia on the deteriorating humanitarian situation, calling for the need to take a firm UN and international stance on these practices.

In the same context, the Minister of Information, Muammar Al-Eryani, said that the Houthi militia’s imposition of double taxes on the movement of goods at the crossings linking the liberated areas to the areas under its control, which are parallel to the tax and customs duties it imposes on goods imported through the port of Hudaydah, is a new escalatory step. It falls within the declared economic war waged by the militia against the government and the Yemeni people.

He added, "This dangerous step, which aims to force import companies and merchants to stop importing through the port of Aden and instead go to the port of Hudaydah, which is under its control, aims to harm government revenues and prevent the government from fulfilling its obligations, including paying the salaries of employees in the liberated areas, and this comes within an extension of the policies of impoverishment and starvation pursued by this militia against civilians.”

Al-Eryani renewed his warning against the Houthi militia continuing its escalatory approach, which exacerbates human suffering and threatens the collapse of economic conditions, stressing that the government will not stand idle in the face of this dangerous escalation and will be forced to reconsider the facilities related to restarting the port of Hudaydah and take measures that preserve the interests and capabilities of the Yemeni people.

- The high cost of marine insurance on ships heading to Yemen:

In the latest Houthi measure that exacerbates the suffering of Yemenis, the cost of marine insurance on commercial ships heading to Yemen has increased as a result of the threats launched by the Houthi militia on navigation in the Red Sea, which will affect consumers and increase their suffering.

Muhammad Alawi Amzarba, the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation, said that the marine insurance fees imposed by navigational protection clubs on ships and tankers heading to government ports in Yemen have risen to 200% from the previous situation before the piracy and ship hijacking operations in Bab al-Mandab Strait and the waters of the Red Sea by the Houthi militia.

In a press statement, Amzarba added, “Between 50 and 60 percent of international trade now depends on the Cape of Good Hope navigational corridor in southern Africa instead of passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the waters of the Red Sea, which has led to an increase in ship insurance fees.” Which passes through Bab al-Mandab because it is a high-risk area, and therefore shipping companies raised shipping prices in order to compensate for their losses paid to insurance.”

He pointed out that "these measures will add more burdens to Yemeni merchants and owners of goods, and will reflect negatively on consumers as a result of the rise in commodity prices," noting that "the war that resulted from the Houthi coup against the state in 2015 has devastated the private sector in Yemen during the past years between... 400 to 500 million dollars to cover the insurance cost paid to persuade ship owners to come to Yemeni ports because it is an area of armed conflict.”

Amzarba confirmed that “these measures related to reducing the cost of insurance imposed by the war are still in effect. And that there is a government delegation in London that is holding discussions with British protection clubs in order to complete the arrangements related to reducing the high cost of insurance, which in the first implementation phase includes the port of Aden, followed by the next phase, which will include the port of Mukalla.

Last August, the legitimate Yemeni government had signed a preliminary agreement of understanding with the United Nations Development Program in order to reduce the cost of marine insurance on ships heading to government ports in Yemen after its size had increased 16 times from normal conditions due to the war sparked by the Houthi militia nine years ago. However, the suffering will increase as a result of the rise in marine insurance due to the exaggeration of the Houthis and their claim to support Gaza through their threats to commercial ships in the Red Sea, even though this was only for the sake of serving Iran, a service that the Yemenis will pay for with their daily bread.

- All-out economic war:

Regarding the Houthis’ economic war on the Yemenis, the report of the United Nations experts on Yemen submitted to the Security Council in November 2023 indicated that the Houthi militia implemented a deliberate set of coercive economic measures related to the maritime, land, and air sectors with the aim of paralyzing the activity of the Yemeni government and preventing it from performing its duties. Its functions. These attacks on maritime assets, the ban on crude oil exports, the diversion of international trade from Aden to Hudaydah, the closure of roads, the ban on major local trade activities such as domestic gas trade, and the recent freezing of Yemeni Airlines funds, are just some of these indicators that indicate the Houthis' strategy.

The report pointed out that monetary and economic stability in Yemen is at risk due to the continued ban on a certain series of banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden and the possibility of using counterfeit banknotes and passports printed by the Houthi militia.

The expert report stated that following the attacks on the Al-Dhabbah oil station, the Yemeni government began losing revenues amounting to about $2 billion annually, explaining that the shift in imports from Aden to Hudaydah led to a huge loss in revenues amounting to 637.36 billion Yemeni riyals, which the Yemeni government lost during the period from April 2022 to June 2023, while the Houthis made significant gains.

According to the experts’ report, the total revenue losses due to the ban imposed on purchasing domestic gas from the Yemeni government is estimated at about 64 billion Yemeni riyals annually. Under the new mechanism that began implementation in March 2023 to collect revenues at land customs ports, the Houthis began treating the areas under the control of the legitimate government as foreign territory for customs purposes, which effectively led to the division of Yemen into two countries, according to the report’s description.

- Consequences of the economic war:

The Houthi economic war has increased the severity of international warnings warning of food insecurity and the increasing number of hungry people, as the cost of food has risen by about 300 percent, especially in light of the cessation of oil exports from the ports of Al-Dhabbah and Al-Nashima in Hadhramawt and Shabwa Governorates due to attacks by the Houthi militia.

According to World Bank estimates, the oil blockade and the shift of imports from the port of Aden led to a decline in government revenues to about 40 percent during the year 2023, before the government announced at the end of the year that ships would go there for inspection instead of the ports of Djibouti and Jeddah.

On the other hand, the Houthi militia was able to double its revenues without committing to pay employees’ salaries or reflect those revenues in the form of services. Rather, for the ninth year, it continued trading in basic services and selling them to citizens and directing public revenues for the benefit of its leaders.

- Motives for the Houthi starvation policy:

The Houthi starvation policy is not only an act that reflects gluttony, greed, and financial and economic criminality, but rather it is a deliberate and systematized act that is at the core of the doctrine of sectarian tyranny, or what can be described as sectarian and cultural genocide of everyone who ideologically, sectarianly, and politically disagrees with the militia.

For example, the Houthi militia looted the salaries of government employees and retirees, worked to restrict their livelihoods, and closed all doors of livelihood to them. In return, it opened the door to recruitment and joining the fronts as an attractive option for all those who have lost their source of income, want a financial return, or food aid provided by organizations and whose distribution the militia controls. Under the influence of poverty and hunger, the militia forces parents to send their children to the fronts in exchange for sums of money that give them a little food that saves them from starvation, because if the family is well-off, it is impossible for it to push its son to go to combat, but rather it will educate him and protect him.

The concentration of money and business in the hands of the racist Hashemite dynasty will enable it to dominate, authorize and impose its visions on society. At the same time, the policy of starvation and impoverishment will enable the Houthis to subjugate many families and make them more willing to abandon their beliefs in exchange for providing what enables them to live, and this achieves the goal of sectarian extermination through the weapon of starvation. The employee whose salary was stolen by the militia is forced to attend sectarian courses held by the Houthis in order to receive half his salary every six months. For that half salary, the teacher is forced to teach his students the Houthi booklets and their sectarian curricula, and this applies to the various groups of society.

Thus, behind the policy of starvation, impoverishment, and comprehensive economic war on the Yemenis, the terrorist Houthi militia seeks to accumulate wealth in the hands of its racist sectarian dynasty so that it is the richest in Yemeni society, making it easier to control it in the future.

Therefore, the militia has linked the interests of the Yemenis in the areas under its control to the extent of their response and interaction with its terrorist armed project, which has led many Yemenis to leave and settle in areas not controlled by the Houthis or to migrate outside the country.