Yemen Monitor/ Newsroom:
The Deputy Spokesman for the United Nations, Farhan Haq, announced on Monday that the international organization has halted all its operations in the Yemeni governorate of Saada, following the detention of more of its staff by the Houthis.
Farhan Haq added: “This exceptional and temporary measure seeks to balance the need to remain and carry out (tasks) with the need to ensure the safety and security of United Nations personnel and partners.”
Earlier the office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Yemen said that “the de facto authorities in Sana’a detained more UN staff working in the areas under their control yesterday,” without mentioning their number.
Haq pointed out that the continuation of these practices “threatens the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen and impedes the delivery of necessary aid to the most vulnerable people.”
He concluded by calling on the international community to take urgent and firm action to pressure the Houthis to release the detainees, protect humanitarian workers, and take strict measures to prevent the recurrence of these violations, stressing “the need to intensify efforts to end the conflict and achieve a more stable and humane future for the Yemeni people.”
Aid workers face great difficulties in Yemen, where the ongoing conflict for more than ten years between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government has caused a humanitarian crisis that is considered one of the most severe in the world.
