In a joint statement, international organizations call on the Houthis to immediately release UN employees in Sana’a

CARE International, Oxfam and Save the Children called on the Houthi group to immediately and unconditionally release UN staff in the capital, Sana’a.

“At least 18 staff from UN agencies, international NGOs, and many others associated with civil society organizations, national and international NGOs, and other entities supporting humanitarian activities were detained two months ago in Houthi-controlled areas,” the organizations said in a joint statement.

According to the statement, "The whereabouts of the detained employees remain unknown, and their families and organizations have not been able to speak to or see them. Some of the detainees suffer from pre-existing medical conditions."

He stressed that these types of arrests are unprecedented and directly hinder the ability of organizations to reach 18.2 million people in Yemen who need humanitarian assistance and protection, which is nearly half the population and includes 14 million women and children.

The organizations said all of the detained staff were working as part of the agencies’ life-saving responses to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, which continues to deteriorate after nearly a decade of conflict. Rising violence and extreme weather events have displaced 75,600 people since the start of 2024.

She said Yemen still has one of the highest numbers of internally displaced people in the world - at least 4.5 million people - many of whom have been displaced multiple times.

In early June, the Houthi militia kidnapped dozens of UN employees and workers in international organizations and agencies. On the tenth of the same month, it broadcast video clips of some of the detainees, which it said were “confessions of them carrying out espionage in Yemen.”