Angry strikes and protests.. These are the details of the arbitrary Houthi decisions against pomegranate exporters in Saada

No sooner had the mineral water factories suspended their strike two weeks ago against arbitrary Houthi decisions to impose new taxes on them twenty times more than what they collect in the name of the law, before other unions joined the strikes against the policy of collections pursued by the terrorist Houthi militias in the areas under their control in northern Yemen.

The strikes and protests are not limited to Sanaa, but have extended deep into Saada, where the Houthis believe that it is his safe fortress and impregnable stronghold. The strikes there came from the agricultural category of the tribes that the Iranian-backed militias relied on for recruitment, as they are their main stronghold.

For days, fruit exporters have been organizing a comprehensive and open strike against exporting abroad in rejection of Houthi decisions that dominate the agricultural products market. Private sources told "Yemen Shabab Net" that more than 60 agricultural exporters of pomegranate fruit went on an open-ended export strike in rejection of a series of decisions issued by the Houthi militia in its favor on behalf of the Agriculture Office in Saada Governorate.

Decisions targeting the agricultural sector

With the beginning of the season for harvesting pomegranates and exporting them abroad last July, the director of the agricultural office of the Houthi militia in Saada, called Zakaria Al-Mutawakkil, issued a series of arbitrary and destructive decisions for the agricultural sector, including the cancellation of dozens of private commercial institutions working in the export of pomegranates.

It also includes prohibiting citizens from buying and selling except through one commercial market in which he owns a share, handing over 4% of the value of pomegranates to the market in which he contributes, prohibiting any export outside that market, forcing merchants to buy new cartons from a new factory, in new forms that incur more losses for merchants. Two times more than old cartons.

Saada Governorate occupies the first place in pomegranate cultivation among the Yemeni governorates, as the number of pomegranate trees in the governorate reaches two million trees, and the area cultivated with pomegranates is estimated at (1618) hectares, and the amount of production reaches 100 thousand tons, according to the latest statistics.

Farmers, transporters and traders said that the commercial institutions concerned with exports agreed to a comprehensive strike in rejection of these decisions until they were retracted. Exporters considered these decisions to be illegal, and on the other hand, random, incurring huge losses on farmers and exporters, controlling the market, and imposing unfair taxes in exorbitant amounts for the benefit of a Houthi official who wants to divert exports to his advantage.

The refusal of exporters to submit to the decisions caused a major depression in the pomegranate market, and several agricultural and commercial sources who spoke to Yemen Shabab Net and on social media indicated a loss in the value of pomegranates amounting to at least 50%.

According to the sources, the price of the pomegranate basket decreased from 18,000 to 8,000 riyals in the old edition due to the pomegranates piling up in Saada’s farm markets. One of the farmers told "Yemen Shabab Net" that he used to produce an abundant crop of pomegranates every year, but the Houthi measures renewed every year against farmers pushed him to abandon pomegranate cultivation and export.

Other traders said on social media that they are seriously considering stopping growing pomegranates in the coming seasons as well, after the losses they incurred this season as well.

Popular pressure mounted

On social media, farmers, merchants, affected people, and even consumers published angry leaflets against the Houthis, and dozens of farmers gathered pledging to reject all Houthi decisions related to controlling the export of pomegranates, marketing them, and selling them locally for the benefit of a Houthi “fake company” called the Saada Fruits Association, in which the Houthi leader Zakaria Al-Mutawakkil participates and contributes. .

In the context of popular anger over the Houthi decisions, activists broadcast a clip of farmers with a Houthi official in Saada who works as an agent for the governorate, in which they talked about the fact that the Houthi militia wanted sums in the hundreds of dollars and may reach 2,000 dollars for each shipment exported from the farms.

In light of the escalating popular anger and the ongoing strike, the Houthi leader called Abu Zaid Al-Tawoos, who works as the security director of Saada Governorate for the militia, met with the farmers and asked for a deadline ending on Wednesday in an effort to end the strike organized by the exporters, and that he will seek with the Agriculture Office and Zakaria Al-Mutawakkil to reach a solution regarding these decisions. Which disrupted exports and caused farmers huge losses.

No confidence in temporary solutions

Farmers and informed sources in Saada said that the meetings with the Houthi leaders did not lead to any results, and that there is no trust in them, explaining that they had previously met with the governor of Saada Al-Houthi, named Muhammad Jaber, and a number of the governorate’s agents in the middle of this week, and they promised them to retract those decisions, but they ignored all of them. These promises to remove the export obstacles created by Zakaria Al-Mutawakkil and others.

One of the sources told "Yemen Shabab Net" that what Zakaria Al-Mutawakkil is doing is being supported by the senior leadership of the Houthi militia, stressing that farmers and merchants have no choice but to peacefully resist to extract their legitimate rights through strikes, demonstrations and legitimate means.

A number of merchants and farmers complained that the Houthi militia was persistently seeking to destroy the agricultural sector in Saada, one of the most important sources of work and income in the governorate, in favor of building a new Houthi economic network based on the logic of power and not the logic of market and competition.

During the past years, the Houthi militias have targeted various commercial sectors within a clear plan to control the private sector and the commercial market, by targeting commercial establishments and companies, restricting merchants, and establishing affiliated companies.

● We strongly condemn the arbitrary practices of the terrorist Houthi militia affiliated with Iran against pomegranate growers in Saada Governorate, the latest of which is the decision of the so-called Zakaria Al-Mutawakkil to prevent them from exporting the product to the Yemeni governorates, and to monopolize its export abroad to companies affiliated with its leaders, which led to its overcrowding in warehouses, and a decrease in… pic. twitter.com/LMUgNWcp3H

- Muammar Al-Eryani (@ERYANIM) August 7, 2024