The Swedish government announced the cessation of its development aid to Yemen, due to the Houthi group continuing to detain United Nations employees and launching their naval attacks against international shipping in the region.

The Swedish Minister of Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Benjamin Dusa, said that his country’s government had taken a decision “to stop development aid provided to war-torn Yemen.”

Dosa added that the decision comes against the backdrop of “the increasing destructive actions carried out by the Houthis in the northern parts of the country, including the kidnapping of United Nations employees, and the attacks they launch on commercial ships in the Red Sea,” according to what was reported by the “Yemen Future” platform. “Media.

The Swedish minister stressed that the goal of stopping this aid is to protect taxpayers’ money, which “we want to make sure is going to the right things, and currently it is not possible to enter the northern parts of the country and know that they are really being used as they should.”< /p>

Dosa indicated that the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) has been informed to complete all its development aid projects and activities in northern Yemen by the beginning of next year, while its efforts in the southern regions of the country are scheduled to be completed by mid-2025.

The Swedish official explained that his government takes into account the humanitarian aspects that may be affected by stopping its development aid to Yemen, but it is keen that the funds allocated to the country do not end up in “the pockets of the Houthis.”

Dosa did not rule out that the development aid provided, amounting to 80 million Swedish krona (equivalent to 7.3 million US dollars), would be transferred to humanitarian fields. He said: “The aid will not be completely withdrawn until the middle of next year. We can direct it to aid in other countries.” Or perhaps more humanitarian aid to Yemen.”

He added that Sweden supports Yemen with a value of 287 million Swedish krona (equivalent to 26.1 million US dollars), and these amounts are used to provide humanitarian aid such as food, shelter, medicine, clothing, and so on.