UN Resolution Against Houthis Receives Majority Vote

In the longest struggle against terrorism, The UN Security Council has finally announced the Yemeni Houthis as a terrorist organization, extending their arms embargo. With this, the council has actually expanded the existing arms embargo on Yemen as it adopted a draft resolution that now targets the leaders of the Houthi militia, including Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, to encompass the entire membership of the Iran-backed group.

Houthis have been known to loot humanitarian aid apart from indulging in crimes against humanity. With this resolution, many other restrictions and changes follow. For one, financial sanctions and a travel ban on senior members of the Houthi militia remains renewed for an additional year. It also labels the Houthis as a terrorist group for the first time, following an ongoing series of cross-border drone and missile attacks targeting some key Middle Eastern nations apart from a wide range of violations affecting the Yemeni people and the international community.

 

The US has already blacklisted the Houthis and sanctioned them. The decision by the UN Security Council came after a powerful Middle Eastern nation chaired the Resolution number 2624, condemning the continuing supply of weapons and weapon components to the Houthis from outside Yemen in violation of the arms embargo established by Resolution 2216 in 2015. It urges all UN member states to step up efforts “to combat the smuggling of weapons and components via land and sea routes, to ensure implementation of the targeted arms embargo.”

Fear around brokering and building peace in Yemen remains, while the resolution was being passed for a vote. But even then, the powerful tool against humanitarian crime and exploitation of precious food and aid that has been earmarked for Yemenis, received 11 votes of its 15 members. Those voting in favor of the resolution included Ireland, Mexico, Brazil and Norway abstained because of humanitarian concerns.