The United Nations condemns the Houthis' arrest of UN staff in Yemen.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Follow-ups

Arabian Sea - Yemen - Follow-ups United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday strongly condemned the Houthi group's arrest of 11 United Nations employees, the storming of World Food Programme offices in Sana'a, and the confiscation of UN property, in the latest escalation targeting humanitarian organizations operating in Yemen. Guterres said in a statement that "the arbitrary detention of UN personnel and the raid of their premises is unacceptable," demanding "the immediate and unconditional release of all detained personnel of the United Nations, humanitarian organizations, civil society, and diplomatic missions, who have been arrested since 2021 to date." The Secretary-General affirmed that UN personnel and their partners should not be subjected to any threats or arrests while performing their duties, stressing the need to ensure their safety and protect UN premises and property in Yemen. For his part, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, considered the new wave of arrests to "directly threaten humanitarian work and impede opportunities to make progress in the peace process," noting that these developments come amid the continued detention of 23 UN employees for years, including those arrested in 2021 and 2023, in addition to the death of one of them earlier this year while in detention.