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Houthi terror designation 'death sentence' for Yemenis, UN officials warn

United Nations officials took aim at the US plan to label Yemen's Houthis a foreign terrorist organization that relief groups say will imperil aid deliveries to the war-torn country.
Workers transport food aid provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) before distributing rations to displaced Yemenis in the northern province of Hajjah, on January 12, 2021. (Photo by ESSA AHMED / AFP) (Photo by ESSA AHMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Top UN officials urged the United States to reverse its plan to label Yemen’s Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, warning the designation “will be a death sentence to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of innocent people.”

“We fear that there will be inevitably a chilling effect on my efforts to bring the parties together,” UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Thursday. “The decision will contribute to the prospect of famine in Yemen and should be revoked based on humanitarian grounds at the earliest opportunity.”

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