AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s government has said that the Houthis have limited the mobility of Yemenis and foreigners working for international aid organizations in areas under their control by ordering them to obtain prior permission before travelling between Yemeni cities.
It said the Yemeni militia has kidnapped dozens of officers and public workers for unknown reasons.
The Yemeni government has repeated its appeal for UN agencies and other aid organizations to relocate their offices from Houthi-held areas to the city of Aden.
Human Rights Minister of Yemen Ahmed Arman told media that the Houthis have asked Yemeni and foreigners working with international organizations, including some UN agencies, in Amran, Hajjah, Sanaa, Hodeidah, and other Houthi-controlled provinces to notify them in advance if they wanted to commute between Yemeni cities.
The Houthis waived permission for aid workers who wanted to travel outside of Yemen, which was seen as an attempt to force them to leave the country.
The Yemeni minister said that the UN should completely shut its offices in Sanaa to put pressure on the Houthis to return the abducted workers and stop harassing humanitarian workers in Yemen.
In late May, the Houthi militia abducted around 70 Yemeni personnel from UN agencies, other aid organizations, and Western embassies in Sanaa and other Yemeni areas under their control.
According to reports, the Houthis ransacked the workers’ residences, took away personal papers and belongings, as well as electrical appliances.
The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk on Tuesday lambasted the Houthis for seizing a UN human rights agency office in Sanaa and taking papers and other items.
In a press release, Turk said: “It is crucial that the authorities respect the United Nations and its independence, release all detained UN staff immediately, and create conditions in which my Office and other UN agencies can continue their critical work for the people of Yemen without threats or hindrance.”
Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani in a post on social media platform X, on Tuesday made the same call for the UN and other international organizations to relocate their offices from Sanaa to Aden to protect their personnel from the Houthi crackdown.
Meanwhile, the US Central Command on Wednesday said that its forces had destroyed two Houthi ships in the Red Sea as they were preparing to attack commercial and navy ships in the crucial trade channel.
