A/HRC/42/CRP.1 authorities to suspend activities, including in parts of al-Hudaydah and Hajjah governorates. Issues behind these suspensions reportedly included disputes about the sharing of cash beneficiary lists and reporting on humanitarian activities. 1255 Such interference poses serious risks to humanitarian principles and the protection of beneficiaries. 785. On 20 May 2019, the WFP warned that it would start suspending its operations in areas controlled by the de facto authorities, if it could not get independent access to the people in need. According to WFP: “Humanitarian workers in Yemen are being denied access to the hungry, aid convoys have been blocked, and local authorities have interfered with food distribution, and – most importantly, there have been repeated obstacles placed in the way of our independent selection of beneficiaries and a request for a roll out of a biometric registration system. This would allow WFP to identify and target the most hungry and ensure that they are the beneficiaries of food assistance.”1256 On 17 June 2019, WFP’s Executive Director David Beasley, in his address to the United Nations Security Council, advised that WFP was not allowed to operate independently, and announced that WFP would imminently start a phased suspension of food assistance, if it did not receive immediately the necessary assurances by the de facto authorities that agreements about beneficiary registration, beneficiary targeting and biometrics would be honoured. He highlighted that issues were multiple, and included difficulties in importing equipment, as well as the approval of visas for staff. He further highlighted that, while feeding more than 10 million people a month, WFP uncovered “serious evidence that some food was being diverted and going to the wrong people”, further indicating that food was being diverted for profit or other purposes: “Mr. President, our food assistance is being manipulated, and we are being blocked from fixing it. Mr. President, let me be crystal clear here: children are dying right now as we speak because of this interference and our lack of access.”1257 786. A few days later, on 20 June 2019, WFP issued a press statement announcing that it had started a partial suspension of aid in Yemen, reportedly affecting 850,000 people, citing a failure to reach an agreement with the de facto authorities to prevent the diversion of food. According to WFP, “the decision was taken as a last resort after lengthy negotiations stalled on an agreement to introduce controls to prevent the diversion of food away from some of the most vulnerable people in Yemen”.1258 787. Furthermore, the lack of access to the Red Sea Mills in al-Hudaydah city has been a major issue in terms of food delivery as they used to contain – before hostilities started in al-Hudaydah – a quarter of WFP’s in-country stock, i.e. enough wheat to feed 3.7 million people for one month.1259 As hostilities reached the site of the mills, WFP lost access to the site in September 2018 and was forced to use other wheat stocks as well as importing to cover the food needs of the Yemeni population. While the ongoing fighting provided a logical explanation for the impediments to access, the continuing refusal by the Houthis to provide access to the site from January to May 2019 in the aftermath of the Stockholm Agreement lacked an obvious justification.1260 Access to the site remained a constant 1255 Organizations reported more than 137 separate incidents between April and May 2019, including interference in local beneficiary registration and a ban on mobile clinics, hence impeding the delivery of health services for at least 47,000 patients in 87 districts across 18 governorates, see OCHA, Humanitarian Access Snapshot, April-May 2019(https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen%20Humanitarian%20Access%20 Snapshot_April%20May%202019.pdf). 1256 https://www1.wfp.org/news/world-food-programme-consider-suspension-aid-houthi-controlledareas-yemen. 1257 https://insight.wfp.org/world-food-programme-wfp-executive-director-addresses-un-securitycouncil-on-yemen-88ba18622ea. 1258 https://www1.wfp.org/news/world-food-programme-begins-partial-suspension-aid-yemen 1259 https://www1.wfp.org/news/wfp-gains-access-vital-wheat-stocks-needed-yemens-hungry-people 1260 While the Government of Yemen agreed to the United Nations accessing the mills, the Houthis denied such access from January 2019. The Houthis reportedly alleged security concerns: they suspected that an incident might happen to the United Nations once arrived at the site or during the frontline crossing, which then would be blamed on them. The Houthis required that for access to happen, an investigation team needed to be attached to the WFP team for it to investigate, immediately, any security incident that might take place. 188