International Staff Detained In Yemen's UN Complex By Houthis Since Saturday

Illustration of the United Nations. (Wikimedia Commons/Leif Jryptensen)

JAKARTA - Fifteen international staff of the United Nations have been detained in the UN complex in Yemen's capital Sanaa since the raid by the Houthi group on Saturday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

He said staff were now free to move around the complex and had contacted the UN families and agencies.

"We hope they can leave the compound soon," he said.

Dujarric further said five Yemeni staff who have also been detained at the compound since Saturday have been released.

In addition, 53 other UN staff are still being arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, some of whom have since 2021, he said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with Saudi Arabia's foreign ministers, Iran, and Oman on Monday about the detention, Dujarric said.

Iran's allied Houthis have taken control of much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since seizing power in 2014 and early 2015.

The United Nations has repeatedly rejected Houthi's accusations that the agency's staff or operations in Yemen were involved in spying activities. Dujarric last week described the allegations as "very worrying."

"And allegations that refer to UN staff as spies or, as we have seen in other contexts, call them terrorists - all of which only endanger the lives of UN staff everywhere, and that is unacceptable," he said.