UN envoy condemns 'shameful' detention of aid workers in Yemen by Houthis

Aid workers unload a lorry with emergency food rations in Yemen. EPA

The UN special envoy for Yemen on Thursday condemned the “shameful” prolonged arbitrary detention of dozens of UN staff, NGO workers, civil society members and diplomatic personnel by the Houthi rebels, and urged the international community to act.

Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council that some detainees have been held since 2021, with new arrests occurring this year.

As of Thursday, 23 UN and five international aid personnel remain arbitrarily detained.

“Their continued imprisonment is shameful,” Mr Grundberg said. “I call again in the strongest terms for their immediate and unconditional release.”

Mr Grundberg pledged to keep pushing for their freedom “at every opportunity”, mentioning a personal pledge to the family of one detained UN team member held for more than a year.

“To the families of all our colleagues deprived of their liberty, know that the United Nations will continue to stand with you,” he said.

He urged Security Council members to use their influence to pressure the Houthis to free all detainees. The Iran-aligned group, which controls most of western Yemen, has not publicly responded to the allegations.

The detentions have drawn sharp criticism from rights groups, which accuse the Houthis of obstructing aid and targeting humanitarian workers amid Yemen's near-decade-long conflict.

US acting deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea told the UN Security Council that the group “bears overwhelming responsibility for the deterioration in the well-being and safety of the Yemeni people”.

“The Houthis terrorise their fellow Yemenis, impede the work of humanitarian organisations, and take advantage of innocent civilians through predatory commercial and financial practices,” Ms Shea said. “They profiteer from petroleum imports and harass civil society members who dare speak out against them.”

She also condemned the Houthis for allegedly coercing detainees into false confessions in propaganda videos last summer, warning that “the spectre of bogus trials and death sentences hangs over them”.

Ms Shea called on the Houthis to immediately and unconditionally release all those detained, adding that the group’s “terrorist acts” threaten regional stability almost daily.