The UN special envoy for Yemen warned on Thursday that no single faction has the authority to pull the war-scarred nation into a wider regional conflict.
Hans Grundberg also condemned the country's Houthi rebels for continuing to hold more than 70 UN personnel in detention.
“The question of peace and war is, fundamentally, a national one. It cannot be outsourced nor can it be appropriated by a single actor,” Mr Grundberg told the UN Security Council. “Restraint, in this context, is an obligation."
He called for “honesty” about the toll of a decade of conflict on Yemen and its people, and for political space for Yemenis to negotiate the country’s longer-term future, including the shape of the state, security arrangements and principles of governance.
Mr Grundberg called on the Houthis to “unconditionally and immediately release detained staff and rescind all court referrals”, while urging regional and international states to apply pressure on the matter.
“Today, 73 UN colleagues, in addition to other former UN staff, are detained, along with others from civil society and diplomatic missions,” he said, adding that there has been no investigation into the death of one detained staff member.
Many, Mr Grundberg said, have been held without contact amid serious concerns about their well-being, with some referred to a special criminal court, the proceedings of which fall short of basic due process.
“We have never given up on our detained staff, and we continue to pursue every avenue, at all levels, to resolve this issue,” he said.
The Houthis have increasingly focused on aid workers and international organisations in the country since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, which also prompted the group to attack Red Sea shipping in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
They have repeatedly accused UN staff, aid workers and journalists of spying for the US and Israel – allegations the UN has strongly rejected.
