The United Nations announced Monday that it has halted all humanitarian operations in large Hooti-controlled regions in northern Yemen and has halted in response to arbitrary detention of staff.
United Nations secretary Antonio Guterres said he decided in late January as Housis detained eight more UN staff and was arrested from the age of 24 in 2021, and detained UN staff, according to the UN. said Farhan Hak, a spokesman for the program.
Haq said Houthis violated an agreement reached with the United Nations in December, halting detention of global organisation staff and finding a way to free people in detention. Less than a month later, the group arrested eight more workers on dark charges of spying and foreign intervention.
“This extraordinary and temporary measures aim to balance the need to ensure the safety and security of UN officials and their partners with the need to stay with the order to deliver,” the UN stated. stated in.
The United Nations also said that after detention all staff had stopped traveling to areas managed by Houthi.
The Houtis, the de facto ruler of parts of Yemen, including the capital Sana, is supported by Iran. According to the United Nations, they are engaged in campaigns for the lure and detention of dozens of current and former Yemenis, from hundreds of people working in the United Nations and foreign non-governmental organizations.
The United Nations did not clarify how much Yemenis was affected by the suspension of its humanitarian aid operations, which are said to include food, clean water and medical kit provision. However, the United Nations has identified Yemen as having the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of the 24.1 million people need essential aid and 3 million people displaced.
Sada, a region where the UN has stopped, is located north of Sana and has a population of about 1 million. Several UN agencies operate at Saada, including the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and other aid groups.
United Nations spokesman Haq said the decision to stop operations was not easy and was deeply discussed within the organization. “This is not a normal procedure or something we do often,” he said, adding that the decision reflects the seriousness of security concerns about UN projects in Yemen.
The UN operates in war zones around the world, including Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine, and its staff face high risks and obsessions, but rarely halts its operations. For example, in the war in Gaza, the UN says nearly 300 staff were killed in the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.
Haq said UN staff must have diplomatic immunity and be protected. Hope added that a suspension of operations in Yemen would provide space for negotiations with the Houssis to ensure safe conditions for the UN to resume its work.
