The UN Security Council on Friday demanded the immediate and unconditional release of UN staff members detained by Yemen’s Houthis, warning that the escalating crackdown risks worsening the country’s humanitarian crisis.
In a formal statement, the 15-member Council strongly condemned the detentions of at least 21 UN staff members since August 31. It also denounced the forced entry into UN premises, including offices of the World Food Programme and the UN children's fund, and the seizure of UN property, calling the actions clear violations of international law.
The Council reiterated that all threats to humanitarian workers are unacceptable and said the safety and security of UN personnel and the inviolability of its premises must be guaranteed at all times.
UN Secretary General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that a total of 44 UN national staff members are currently being held by Yemen’s Houthi militants, alongside an unspecified number of personnel from national and international non-governmental organizations, civil society groups and diplomatic missions.
Of the 44 UN employees detained, 21 were seized between Aug. 30 and Sept. 11, 2025, Mr Dujarric said.
He added that the UNICEF Deputy Resident Representative, an international staff member, was also detained from September 1 to 11 before being released.
The council also urged the Houthis to ensure a safe and secure operating environment and allow the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian assistance in areas under their control.
Forces belonging to the Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have detained dozens of UN and civil society employees since last year. Some previous arrests led to the suspension of UN humanitarian operations in the country.
The detentions began three days after the Houthis’ prime minister, Ahmed Al Rahawi, was killed along with several government ministers in Israeli strikes on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. On Friday the Houthi rebels' caretaker prime minister vowed to carry on fighting Israel.
The group has been fighting Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they seized Sanaa and much of the north of the country. Hopes for renewed peace talks collapsed after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza.
Since then, the Houthis have launched attacks on Red Sea shipping in what they describe as solidarity with Palestinians, prompting retaliatory strikes by the US and Israel in Yemen.
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
