UN reiterates call to release staffers detained in Yemen

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Ansar Allah in Yemen must immediately release 13 UN staff and dozens of personnel from civil society, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other entities, who have been arbitrarily detained for more than two months, two senior officials told the Security Council on Thursday. 

Hans Grundberg, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, and Lisa Doughten from the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, made the appeal in separate briefings to ambassadors.

Civic space shrinking

“In four days, on the 19th  of August, we will commemorate World Humanitarian Day,” Mr. Grundberg said.  “Yet, in Yemen, we are facing a clampdown by Ansar Allah on the humanitarian and civic space.”

The more than 60 people who have been detained are all Yemeni citizens and include one of his staff members. Furthermore, four other staff from the UN’s human rights office, OHCHR, and its cultural agency, UNESCO, have been held since 2021 and 2023, respectively.

Ansar Allah – more commonly known as the Houthi movement – also closed OHCHR’s office in the capital, Sana’a, on 29 July and ordered international staff to leave. 

The Houthis control much of Yemen after rebelling against the internationally recognized Government and battling a Saudi-led coalition in support of the authorities from 2015, after seizing the capital the previous year. 

A UN brokered ceasefire lapsed in 2022 but there has not been a return to all-out fighting.

‘An ominous signal’

Earlier this week, human rights chief Volker Türk said Ansar Allah forces had stormed the UN’s premises on 3 August, seizing documents, furniture, vehicles, and the office’s keys.

“This is an ominous signal of the broader direction Ansar Allah is taking and represents a serious attack on the ability of the UN to perform its mandate,” Mr. Grundberg told the Council.

“I therefore call on Ansar Allah to act responsibly and compassionately towards its fellow countrymen and women and immediately and unconditionally release all UN, NGO, civil society, diplomatic mission and private sector employees as well as members of religious minorities, and refrain from further arbitrary detentions.” 

Impact of regional escalation  

Turning to the wider region, the Special Envoy noted that “the Middle East is currently holding its breath” as developments surrounding the war in Gaza draw in other countries, including Yemen.   He expressed hope that this “escalatory trajectory” can be reversed.

He said that despite serious efforts to shield Yemen from the escalation, Ansar Allah continues to attack ships plying the Red Sea, while the United States and the United Kingdom have continued strikes on military targets in Ansar Allah-controlled territory in response. 

“This situation, which has lasted for over eight months now, is not sustainable,” he warned. 

Shift focus back to Yemen 

Mr. Grundberg said the regional escalation is also unfolding at a point when real and urgent challenges inside Yemen need to be addressed. 

For nearly a decade the Houthis have been fighting Yemeni Government troops and their allies and the conflict has claimed hundreds of thousands of victims, weakened the social fabric, and undermined the delivery of public services.  

As a result, Yemen is more vulnerable to natural disasters, environmental hazards and disease, as the dire flooding this week in some governorates and a continuing cholera outbreak have demonstrated. 

“Therefore, I, once again, call on the Yemeni parties, and Ansar Allah in particular, to prioritize the Yemenis. Your responsibility lies, first and foremost, with Yemen. We need to shift the focus back to Yemen and find solutions for Yemen’s problems,” he said. 

Military manoeuvres continue 

Mr. Grundberg reminded the Council how he has continually voiced deep concern over the trajectory of events in Yemen in recent months, and “unfortunately, this regressive trend, illustrated by continuing military activities and escalatory rhetoric, has continued.”

Although violence along frontlines remains relatively contained when compared to the period before the UN-brokered truce, “we are continuing to witness military preparations and reinforcements accompanied by continuous threats of a return to war”, he said, pointing to clashes in six governorates. 

Despite the “bleak picture”, the warring parties halted a dangerous cycle of escalation by reaching a deal last month, with support from Saudi Arabia, that ensures the functioning of the national carrier, Yemenia Airlines, and continued access of the country’s biggest banks to international banking services. 

“However, the onus is now on the parties to not only act in good faith and fully implement the commitments they made, but also to transform the understanding into something that improves the lives and livelihoods of all Yemenis,” he said. 

Humanitarians facing constraints 

Ms. Doughten, OCHA’s Director of Financing and Partnerships, also addressed the ongoing detention of the UN and other personnel, urging Member States “to exert any influence and leverage they have” to support efforts to secure their release.  

She also highlighted the “worrying deterioration in the operational environment in Houthi-controlled areas,” where the situation is growing more constrained at a time when humanitarians are already struggling to meet the needs of millions nationwide.  

The recent heavy rains and flash flooding have affected some 69,500 families and left 98 people dead and more than 600 injured.  Humanitarians have provided immediate life-saving assistance, but lack of funding continues to hamper their efforts. 

A $2.7 billion Humanitarian Response Plan, launched in February to assist more than 11 million people this year, is currently only 27 per cent funded. 

Families going hungry 

Meanwhile, food security continues to deteriorate in Yemen, where 60 per cent of surveyed households are not getting enough to eat. 

Rates of severe food deprivation have more than doubled over the past year in Houthi-controlled areas, from 17 per cent to 36 per cent.  They have also increased sharply in Government-controlled areas, where the rate is 32 per cent. 

Ms. Doughten said the impacts of increasing food insecurity and malnutrition extend far beyond hunger as they put children, especially girls, at increased risk of abuse and neglect. 

“Today, an alarming 30 per cent of girls in Yemen are forced into marriage before the age of 18 as families struggle to provide for them,” she said.

“And the number of children out of school – currently at a staggering 4.5 million – is likely to rise as more children are forced to leave school to help provide for their families.” 

Food insecure families in Lahj, Yemen, are supported by WFP with cash assistance to help them meet their food needs.

Avert ‘potential catastrophe’ 

She said the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is planning a one-off distribution to counter the impacts of a recent pause in general food distributions in Houthi-controlled areas. The aim is to reach more than 1.6 million people in the 34 worst-affected districts. 

“However, as the overall situation of food insecurity continues to deteriorate across the country, enhanced action will be needed to avert a further potential catastrophe,” she said. 

“Full and urgent funding of the Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen is a minimum requirement for these and other critical humanitarian needs.”