On March 7, the #Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen burnt alive over 450 African migrants after using force to end a strike by migrants protesting cruel treatment, extortion & poor conditions inside a detention facility.
arabnews.com/node/1825071/m…
Geneva-based @SAM4rights“The Houthis were directly & consistently responsible for the killing & injury of approximately 450, mostly Ethiopian, migrants in a detention center on 7 March 2021 in a fire caused by bombs apparently fired by Houthi forces.”
Local independent groups concur.@MwatanaEn, a leading Yemeni human rights org, blamed the Houthis for the fire & accused them of arbitrarily detaining survivors & relatives of the victims in order to stop them from talking about the incident.
“The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group caused the death and injury of scores of African migrants by starting a deadly fire in an overcrowded detention facility in Sanaa on March 7,” Mwatana said in a statement.mwatana.org/en/ansar-allah…
Separately, @WoSolidarityYe accused the Houthis of using live bullets and explosive devices to suppress migrant protests and demanded the UN protect survivors from such intimidation.
“We urge international organizations, including the United Nations, to provide protection to the migrants who have been hospitalized,” said the @WoSolidarityYe group.
Muammar Al-Eryani, information minister of the internationally recognized Yemeni government, said the Houthis have been intimidating survivors and their families to influence their accounts to the media or any international probe in the future.
Abdurrahman Barman, a Yemeni human rights advocate & director of @acj_usa, said his organization had interviewed some survivors who blamed the Houthis for the tragedy, accusing them of squeezing hundreds of Ethiopians into the detention center which led to overcrowding.
@HMAMichaelAron, UK’s ambassador to Yemen, has strongly condemned the deaths and called for an immediate and objective probe and unhindered access to the injured migrants.
Appalled by fire at Houthi-controlled migrant centre in Sana’a. OHCHR & humanitarian agencies need immediate, unrestricted access to site & those injured. A credible, transparent, independent investigation must be carried out, including a full account of those killed & injured
— Michael Aron (@HMAMichaelAron) March 12, 2021
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Aron did not quibble over the fact that the #Iran-backed Houthis were to blame for the fire and loss of life.
It is the Houthis inhumane treatment of migrants – including the creation of overcrowded conditions at the centre – that led to this terrible loss in human life. It is imperative that the Houthis change their policies towards migrants & provide them the basic dignity they deserve
— Michael Aron (@HMAMichaelAron) March 12, 2021
Reminder:
The U.S. @StateDept recently delisted the Houthis from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) in a measure of appeasement/rapprochement vis-à-vis Iran.This incident proves yet again how grave a mistake that decision was.
Iran & the Houthis, emboldened by Washington’s delisting, have in fact escalated their attacks with a new onslaught of ballistic missile & drone attacks targeting various cities of Saudi Arabia.
And there is no question that Iran is supporting the Houthis:“Quds Force commander admits Iran supporting Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia”
More reason why the West should not appease Tehran.
#Iran has long provided drones to the HouthisMarch 22, 2017
“… seven Houthi Qasef-1 drones and one drone engine recovered by forces from the UAE. Six of the drones were captured in October on a known Iranian smuggling route that runs through Oman…”
washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoin…
Iran’s IRGC has long been funding, arming, training, equipping and providing for the Houthis.Dec 30, 2020—Missile attack on Aden airport. Yemen government holds the Houthis responsible.
Iran provides at least $360 million, ballistic missiles, other ordnance, technology and training to the Houthis in Yemen.
The Iran-backed Houthis had claimed responsibility for a missile attack targeting Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil fields.
Here’s footage of Houthi militias in Yemen targeting a UN aid truck.
Yemen#Iran-backed Houthi militias performing Nazi-style ceremony”Death to America”
“Death to Israel”
“A curse upon the Jews”
The U.S. & int’l community should indeed designate the Houthis as terrorists.For those interested, read this thread for more published reports on Iran’s regime providing weapons, training & financial support to the Houthis in Yemen.
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May 27, 2015“The Iranian leadership earlier this month ordered militants from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, along with Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, to Yemen…”https://t.co/tYw5RS6SQm
— Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) November 23, 2020