Yemen Monitor/ New York/ Newsroom:
The UN’s top humanitarian official said Thursday that the United Nations is scaling back its operations in Yemen in response to a crackdown by the Houthis on staff working for the UN and other humanitarian, human rights, development, and education organizations.
Joyce Msuya, acting UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the UN Security Council that the UN has taken steps “to reduce the risk to staff in Houthi-controlled areas.”
She said the UN has narrowed its focus to “core life-saving and life-sustaining activities” and is de-prioritizing broader activities in the Arab world’s poorest country.
In June, the Houthis detained more than 60 people working with the UN and other organizations, according to the UN Human Rights Office. Days later, the Houthis said they had arrested members of what they called a “US-Israeli spy network.”
Msuya said the UN strongly rejects the “false claims” made by the Houthis against humanitarian workers, including recent allegations of UN interference in Yemen’s education system.
A security official told Yemen Monitor that the Houthis had kidnapped between June and early August “more than 85 organization employees, including at least 5 women.”
On August 3, the Houthis raided the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and returned it days later.
A source told Yemen Monitor that the Houthi group immediately confiscated documents and UN property within the compound, seizing most of the electronic storage units, which contain most of the data, correspondence, and documents of the Commission.
