The UN has suspended all staff movement in Houthi-held areas of Yemen after the Iran-backed rebels detained another seven UN employees.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of all aid staff held in Yemen, which is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“Their continued arbitrary detention is unacceptable,” Guterres said in a statement on Friday, adding that the UN was working to secure the release of those being held.
The Houthis have detained dozens of staff from the UN and other humanitarian organisations, most since the middle of last year.
Following the latest swoop, the UN has suspended “all official movements into and within” areas held by the Houthis, the office of the resident UN coordinator for Yemen said.
The detentions come after the US president, Donald Trump, ordered the Houthis placed back on the US list of foreign terrorist organisations.
Relisting the group will trigger a review of UN agencies and other NGOs working in Yemen that receive US funding, according to the executive order signed on Wednesday.
No immediate comment was available from the Houthis, who seized the capital Sana’a in 2014 and rule large parts of the impoverished country.
In June, the rebels detained 13 UN personnel, including six employees of the Human Rights Office, and more than 50 NGO staff, plus an embassy staff member.
Two other UN human rights staff had already been detained since November 2021 and August 2023 respectively.
In early August, the Houthis stormed the UNHCR office, forced staff to hand over the keys, and seized documents and property, before returning it later that month.
Guterres said the “continued targeting of UN personnel and its partners negatively impacts our ability to assist millions of people in need in Yemen”.
