By Newspot Nigeria Global Desk
🕊️ New York— Marking a grim anniversary, the heads of leading United Nations agencies and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) have renewed urgent calls for the immediate and unconditional release of humanitarian workers arbitrarily detained by Houthi authorities in northern Yemen.
According to a joint statement issued this week, 23 UN staff and five workers from INGOs remain behind bars, many of whom have now spent over a year in confinement. Some have been imprisoned for more than 1,000 days. Among the detained were workers simply fulfilling their humanitarian duties in one of the world’s worst crises. Disturbingly, two detainees — one from the UN and one from Save the Children — have died in custody, underscoring the severity of the situation.
👩🏾⚕️ “Nothing can justify their ordeal,” the statement read. “They were doing their jobs, helping people in desperate need: people without food, shelter, or adequate health care.”
Yemen, which has faced over a decade of conflict and instability, now has more than 19 million people in need of life-saving assistance. The prolonged detention of aid workers is not only a violation of international law but is also hampering humanitarian access and undermining efforts toward sustainable peace in the region.
📉 The statement also highlighted the psychological and emotional toll on the detainees’ families — many of whom have been denied the chance to mourn loved ones lost during this period of uncertainty. This year’s Eid celebrations, once again, will be marked by absence and unanswered questions for those left behind.
The organizations welcomed the recent release of one UN staffer, two NGO personnel, and a member of an embassy team, but stressed that these steps were not enough. The de facto Houthi authorities were urged to fulfill commitments made during a December 2024 visit by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to Sana’a.
🚨 “Humanitarian workers should never be targeted or detained while carrying out their mandates,” the statement emphasized. “The ongoing detentions create a chilling effect across the humanitarian space and obstruct support for Yemen’s most vulnerable.”
Signatories to the statement include top leadership from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNDP, OXFAM, CARE, Save the Children, UNESCO, WFP, and the UN Special Envoy to Yemen.
As the world watches, the international humanitarian community remains steadfast in its pursuit of justice, calling on all actors to respect humanitarian law and protect those who work to alleviate suffering.
📰 This report was compiled and published by Newspot Nigeria, committed to highlighting global justice and human dignity.
