Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, said today that the head of the UN “demands” the “immediate and unconditional release” of those being detained by Yemen’s Houthis.
In June this year, Dujarric announced that Houthi security forces had detained 11 UN personnel in Yemen. At that time, he said the two women and nine men work for five different UN agencies and the UN envoy for Yemen. During today’s briefing, Dujarric said the Secretary-General “also strongly condemns the recent forced entry by the Houthis into the premises of the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights” in Sanaa.The Houthis, who are aligned to Iran, have attacked shipping in the Red Sea, drawing airstrikes from the United States and Britain. They have held around 20 Yemeni employees of the US Embassy in Sanaa for the past three years.