The Trump administration’s designation of Ansarullah in Yemen as a “foreign terrorist organisation” would threaten humanitarian aid, Human Rights Watch said.
“It’s brutal what’s happening against civilians in Yemen. I don’t know how much more suffering civilians can tolerate. Life is already hell in Yemen. The designation would have disastrous ramifications on the already dire economic and humanitarian crisis in Yemen,” Afrah Nasser, Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a tweet on Monday.
“The US has stood by as Saudi and UAE forces have committed war crimes in Yemen, sometimes with US weapons. It adds insult to injury that the Trump administration – as a parting gift to its Gulf allies – would take such drastic action that is sure to harm even more civilians,” she said in another tweet.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move in a statement late on Sunday. It will come into effect on January 19, the Trump administration’s last full day in office.