AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s human rights minister on Monday accused Houthis of abducting 70 Yemenis including some staff of the United Nations.
He demanded the UN to shut down its offices in Sanaa and move its workers to the southern city of Aden to protect them from the Houthis’ escalating crackdown.
Ahmed Arman told Arab News that the number of Yemeni citizens kidnapped by the Houthis during their crackdown has risen to 70, and the Houthis have widened their campaign to include employees of public institutions.
“We urge the United Nations to shut its Sanaa offices, boycott talks with the Houthis, and transfer humanitarian relief from Houthi-controlled regions to the legitimate government crossings and ports,” the Yemeni minister said.
Since late May, the Houthis have attacked the homes and offices of Yemenis working for the UN, the World Food Programme, the UN Development Programme, UNESCO, and other UN organizations.
They have also raided the residences of those Yemenis who work for the US-funded National Democratic Institute, Partners Yemen, the German-funded GIZ, and Resonate Yemen.
Arman said that the number of kidnapped persons has risen from 50 in the early days of the operation to 70 presently, including five women and 18 UN personnel.
International rights groups and UN officials have asked the Houthis to free the workers, saying that the militia’s persecution of foreign relief organizations is worsening Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
CARE International, Oxfam, and Save the Children repeated their request in a joint statement on Sunday asking Houthis to provide information about the abducted workers and release them.
“Humanitarian organizations and aid workers dedicate their efforts to support the people of Yemen and do so by abiding with humanitarian principles,” the three organizations that operate in Yemen said in the statement.
They said targeting of humanitarian, human rights, and development workers in Yemen must come to an end.
