Houthi militia imposes new fees on gold stores in Sana'a

During the past few days, the terrorist Houthi militia launched a campaign to impose new fees on gold stores in the capital, Sana'a (northern Yemen).

Asharq Al-Awsat quoted commercial sources as saying that the Houthi militia in Sanaa targeted gold shops and imposed levies on them under various names, including (collecting fines, collecting donations to organize sectarian-oriented events, and fines for failing to support the war effort and supply the fronts).

The sources reported that Houthi extortion campaigns targeted, during the past few days, about 40 shops selling gold and jewelry in the Ma'in district, west of the kidnapped capital, specifically in Riyadh Street and its surroundings, the Sunaynah market, and Jamal Street in the Tahrir district in the center of the city, in addition to other shops in commercial complexes in several areas.

She added that the militia, through its campaign, forced owners of large, medium and smaller gold shops in the targeted areas of Sana’a to pay sums of money by force under the name of “violations” and “disciplinary” fines, starting at around $93 and reaching more than $460 (between 50,000 riyals and 250,000 riyals, as the group imposes a fixed price for the dollar equal to 530 riyals).

The newspaper quoted Abdullah M., a jewelry merchant in Sana’a, as saying that the militia closed a number of shops within two days of the launch of the new tax collection campaign, and kidnapped the owners of some of them, before releasing them after obligating them to pay the amounts imposed on them.

The merchant pointed out the unprecedented escalation in the pace of Houthi levies against jewelry and gold merchants, and against the general population in the capital, Sana'a, in recent times.

According to the merchant, the group forces the owners of jewelry and gold stores in Sana’a to pay estimated amounts, according to the size and quantity of jewelry each of them owns, accusing it of restricting the remaining jewelry and gold merchants in Sana’a and the rest of the areas under its control in order to replace them with a new class of its supporters and leaders.

Owners of jewelry and gold stores who were subjected to Houthi arbitrariness complained of brutality and extortion, indicating that the group continues, from time to time, to launch campaigns against them to collect cash levies by force under various names; most notably financing fronts and supporting the holding of events.

The continuous Houthi targeting has forced many jewelry and gold merchants in Sana'a and other areas under the group's control to close their shops, while others have stopped their commercial activities and resorted to laying off their workers, in protest against this behavior that targets them every time to loot what remains of their money, according to the sources.

Traders in Sana'a are demanding an end to such repeated Houthi abuses against the remaining workers in the gold and jewelry sector, and all residents in areas under the group's control.

The coup group had previously carried out a wave of extortion and abuse targeting jewelry stores in Sana'a in the middle of the year before last, which prompted more than 22 stores to close, for fear of organized extortion and robbery operations carried out by the group's gunmen.

Since its coup and control of the capital, Sana’a, and other cities, the Houthi group has sought to double the amount of levies and taxes imposed on residents and merchants in the areas under its control, and has enacted legislation that has raised taxes, customs, and zakat fees, in order to cover war expenses and enrich itself and its leaders.

The Middle East