The United Nations said on Sunday that ten of its local employees had been arrested in Yemen by the Houthi movement, marking the latest in a series of detentions targeting UN personnel in the war-torn country.
UN condemns ongoing detentions of its Sstaff © Mena Today
The United Nations said on Sunday that ten of its local employees had been arrested in Yemen by the Houthi movement, marking the latest in a series of detentions targeting UN personnel in the war-torn country.
In recent years, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have arrested dozens of UN staff and humanitarian workers, accusing them of spying for the United States and Israel. The United Nations has strongly rejected these allegations, which carry the death penalty under Yemeni law.
The arrests have intensified since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, triggered by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil. Detentions have also increased following Israeli strikes in Yemen that, according to reports, killed nearly half of the rebel administration in August.
The latest incident comes days after UN Secretary-General António Guterres raised the issue of detained UN staff, diplomats and humanitarian workers during talks with Haitham bin Tariq, whose country plays a key mediating role in the Yemeni conflict.
Last month, a Houthi court sentenced 17 people to death on charges of spying for Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia, according to Houthi-affiliated media.
The United Nations has repeatedly called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained staff, warning that such arrests undermine humanitarian operations and further worsen an already dire situation for civilians in Yemen.
By Ahmad Sufrain
U.N. officials are hoping to overhaul a "bizarre" rule that could see the global body credit hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent dues to states next year, even as it faces fears of bankruptcy.
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday elected Barham Salih, a former Iraqi president who fled persecution under Saddam Hussein, as the next U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged all parties in Yemen to exercise maximum restraint after an advance by southern separatists that risks rekindling a 10-year-old civil war after a long lull.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.