At the outset, I would like to express my sincere congratulations to Your Excellency, Mr. Abdulla Shahid, as well as to your friendly country, the Republic of Maldives, on the occasion of your election to the presidency of the of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session. I wish you every success.
I would also like to thank your predecessor, Mr. Volkan Bozkir, for his remarkable efforts during the previous session. I congratulate as well His Excellency Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on his reappointment for a second term to lead the United Nations. I also thank him for his efforts in steering the Organization, in particular amid the coronavirus disease pandemic, towards strengthening its role in maintaining international peace and security and implementing the Organization’s noble mission of achieving global peace and prosperity.
It is my pleasure to convey the appreciation and gratitude of His Excellency President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, President of the Republic of Yemen, to the Secretary-General and the United Nations for the efforts made to achieve comprehensive and sustainable peace in Yemen. The Organization has sought tirelessly to address all challenges, especially the humanitarian ones. I also take this opportunity to express the sincere congratulations to the great Yemeni people on the anniversaries of the eternal September and October glorious revolution, as they coincide with the convening of this high-level meeting.
The 26 September 1962 revolution was launched to abolish the unjust, authoritarian and hateful Imami regime forever and to recover the legitimate rights of the Yemeni people. The international community recognized the nascent Yemeni Republic at the seventeenth session of the General Assembly, during which, on 20 December 1962, the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, expelled the dynastic delegation from this very Hall to be replaced by the delegation of the Republic of Yemen, which assumed its rightful place in the General Assembly. At the time, the then Head of the
Yemeni delegation delivered his first statement (see A/PV.1202). It marked the first diplomatic victory for the new republican regime, which espoused modern values. It was a day not made with the rays of the sun but with our own hands.
The seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly is being held while Yemen has been living through difficult and harsh conditions for the past seven years due to a war that has been forced on our people by Houthi coup militia, with logistical and military support from the Iranian regime. The aim is to destabilize Yemen and the region and create sectarian entities and affiliated armed militias. That confirms that Iran was and remains part of the problem rather than part of the solution in Yemen.
The coup d’etat of 21 September mounted by Houthi militias against the constitutional legitimacy transformed a spring of freedom, dialogue and the peaceful transfer of power into an autumn of suffering, injustice, oppression, the destruction of the political environment, the suppression of public freedoms, raids on houses, explosions at schools and places of worship, the persecution of opponents and the torture of citizens, while it transformed Sana’a, a city of history, civilization and peaceful coexistence, into a large prison for the Yemeni people.
Since 2011, the United Nations has played a critical role in the political transition in Yemen, starting with the interim period, according to the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism. That was followed by the Comprehensive National Dialogue, which included all segments of Yemeni society and the development of a draft Yemeni Constitution, pursuant to the outcomes of the Dialogue. It was to have been put to a referendum by the Yemeni people, adopted and employed for the holding of elections according to the new constitution.
The Houthi coup d’etat threw a wrench in the wheel of the interim phase and led to an all-out war against the Yemeni people. The Special Envoys of the Secretary-General for Yemen continued playing their role. I take this opportunity to welcome once again the appointment of Mr. Hans Grundberg as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen.
We emphasize the importance of giving our full support to him, in the hope that his efforts will achieve a just and lasting peace on the basis of the terms of reference of a political solution in Yemen, guided by the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, the outcomes of the Comprehensive National Dialogue and the relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution 2216 (2015).
The war forced on our people led to a humanitarian catastrophe, tore apart Yemeni society and triggered waves of mass displacement and refugees, oppression, forced disappearance and unprecedented destitution for decades. Time and again, we have extended our hands in the interest of peace to spare our people scourges and disasters. We spared no effort to support and facilitate the efforts of the United Nations and of the former Special Envoy and his predecessors to save the country and achieve lasting and comprehensive peace and put an end to the coup d’etat, the war, the suffering of the Yemeni people and the tragic situation in Yemen.
We agreed to any format that respects the fundamental principles of Yemen and its immortal republican regime, which renounced the dynastic theocratic regime that discriminated among social groups. We made several compromises to achieve peace over the past six years. We even accepted all initiatives and proposals aimed at ending the coup d’etat, in particular the initiative by former Special Envoy Mr. Martin Griffiths and the one proposed by the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is based on a comprehensive ceasefire.
That was one of the most important humanitarian steps to help address all humanitarian and economic issues, including the reopening of the Sana’a airport; facilitating access for oil products through the port of Al-Hudaydah, in line with the Stockholm Agreement; and the resumption of the political process.
However, all those efforts were regrettably thwarted by the complete intransigence of the Houthi terrorist militias supported by the Iranian regime. They even took advantage of the situation for mobilization and escalation. They attacked several governorates and cities. They went as far as to perpetrate more massacres against civilians in several governorates and cities in Yemen. The governorate of Ma’rib, the cradle of history and civilization, has been victim to indiscriminate military attacks by Houthi militias for months, using ballistic missiles, drones and heavy weaponry against residential neighbourhoods, with complete disregard for the lives of civilians and displaced persons, who
fled from areas under their control and are estimated to number more than 2 million.
Those terrorist militias continue to target civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They also destabilize areas, such as in the most recent aggression on Shabwah governorate, which is a symbol of pride and resilience and a model of stability and development in Yemen. They also launched attacks on the governorates of Al-Bayda, Abyan and Dhale. Recently, they also destroyed the civilian Al-Makha port after it initially opened as the only port on the western coast and in Taiz governorate, which has been under siege for six years.
The intentions of the militias and their position regarding peace are clear. They do not realize that weapons and violence will not sow the seeds of peace but will instead create vicious circles of conflict and war that will serve only to claim more lives and lead to more vengeance. That means that the international community must play its role in putting an end to arrogance and the suffering of our people by exerting effective and decisive pressure on the leaders of the coup d’etat and their sponsors in order to implement Security Council resolutions, end the bloodshed and destruction and create an environment conducive to the provision of humanitarian aid to all Yemenis.
Allow me, from this rostrum, to pay tribute to the heroes of our military forces and resistance for their sacrifices —across every Yemeni plain, mountain and valley, especially our heroes in Ma’rib and Shabwah, who defend the country and its dignity.
The crimes and violations against human rights perpetrated by Houthi militias in Yemen are inconceivable. On Saturday 18 September, they carried out the extrajudicial execution of nine Yemenis, including a minor, in an abhorrent and heinous manner, very similar to the crimes perpetrated by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Al-Qaida. Scores of Yemenis languish in prisons, awaiting execution if the world does not make a move to save them. That is only the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of politicians, activists and journalists languish in prisons and clandestine dungeons.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni Government stresses its commitment to international humanitarian law and the rights of its citizens, in particular women’s rights. We underscore our respect for Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), on women and peace and security. We have taken several measures and adopted a national plan on women and peace and security. We hope to implement it with the help of a number of international partners.
My country has endured economic and humanitarian hardship since the coup d’etat by the Houthi militias against constitutional legitimacy. Owing to the deteriorating national economy, the decreasing number of job opportunities and the devaluation of our currency, the national economy contracted by more than 50 per cent over the past seven years. Citizens’ low purchasing power is now the main driver of famine, which threatens millions of Yemenis.
In that regard, we would like to thank our sisters, brothers and friends, international organizations and donors for their support, which helps alleviate the humanitarian tragedy endured by Yemen. However, Houthi militias spare no opportunity to practise extortion, harassment and siege. Their practices have taken many forms throughout the protracted war and have exacerbated the economic challenges and obstacles facing the Government and State institutions, while preventing them from carrying out their tasks, providing services to Yemenis and realizing normalization in liberated areas.
The Houthi militias continue to impose more taxes and customs fees, even among Yemeni cities. They then use that income to drive the war machinery, which has prevented the Government from paying withheld salaries in governorates under the control of the militias for more than five years.
In many instances, through their leaders, the militias try to gain access to basic goods, including humanitarian aid and domestically produced natural gas from Ma’rib governorate, which continues to be attacked by Houthi militias. All their revenue, estimated at more than $3.8 billion per year, in addition to the significant amounts generated by warlords who are affiliated with the militias as a result of controlling the black market in oil products, is invested in recruiting thousands of children to take part in the war, including by diverting food supplies given to their families via international aid.
Moreover, the ongoing major efforts of the Government to mitigate the destructive economic impact of the war remain insufficient. We always welcome the humanitarian support provided by the United Nations and the donor community. However, we are of the view that the best sustainable solutions
are support for the Yemeni economy, resilience and the creation of job opportunities. In that regard, we again call on the international community to take practical steps, the most important of which are the following.
First, greater pressure should be exerted on the Houthi militias to deposit the money received at the Central Bank so as to regularly pay the salaries of civil servants. In addition, they should cease to impose exorbitant levies under various pretexts, such as to support the war effort. They should stop funding their various religious events and stealing money from salaries transferred to the Central Bank’s Al-Hudaydah branch, under the supervision of the United Nations, in excess of 60 billion Yemeni rial.
Secondly, support must be provided for the Yemeni economy. The devaluation of the national currency must be halted through the institution of many measures, including the funding of various international projects, while the programmes of all organizations and agencies working in Yemen should be channelled through the Central Bank.
Thirdly, development priorities and needs must be mainstreamed into all humanitarian aid activities to spur early recovery by focusing on socioeconomic activities and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
Fourthly, we urgently and swiftly need a package of financial support for Yemen, including a deposit into Yemen’s Central Bank, to end the economic fallout and currency devaluation in Yemen, as well as the exacerbation of economic burdens on Yemeni citizens.
My Government is grateful for international efforts and to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility for providing countries with vaccines against coronavirus disease. We are especially grateful to the friendly countries that donated to Yemen nearly 1 million vaccine doses. However, the number of doses still falls short of expectations. We look forward to an increase in the number of doses provided by donor countries to ensure that no one is left behind. The world will not be safe from that disease until all countries get the vaccine in a balanced way, especially the least developed countries and those that suffer from conflicts.
I call upon the international community to seriously and urgently work to avert a potential catastrophe being caused by the FSO SAFER oil tanker, as Houthi militias continue to deny access for United Nations teams to maintain and repair the tanker despite the fact that the Security Council held two meetings on that issue.
The Yemeni Government strives to unify all national efforts. The sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made appreciable efforts to unify various initiatives, which resulted in the signing of the Riyadh agreement. A technocratic Government that includes the participation of most political segments was formed and relocated to the interim capital, Aden, to start a new phase in an attempt to achieve peace in Yemen and meet all our people’s needs.
However, the Government faced security and economic challenges that significantly obstructed its work. I would like to stress from this rostrum the importance of implementing the security and military section of the Riyadh agreement and of the Government’s return in its entirety to the interim capital, Aden, in order to realize its tasks, above all to achieve peace in Yemen.
The Republic of Yemen underscores its steadfast position on the Palestinian question and the rights of the Palestinian people, above all the establishment of an independent State, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. We call upon the international community to continue supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which will enable it to provide services to Palestinian refugees. We strongly condemn the ongoing Israeli settlement policies in Palestinian territories and the daily violations against Palestinian people and Muslim and Christian holy sites.
In conclusion, I wish this session of the General Assembly every success. I hope that the United Nations will be more effective in serving humankind and that its resolutions can address the major challenges it faces. I also wish all Member States and their societies progress and prosperity, as I wish the entire humankind happiness and well-being.