UN Halts Operations in Yemen’s Saada After Houthis Detain Staff

The United Nations has announced a temporary suspension of all operations in Yemen’s Saada region, a Houthi stronghold in the north, after the detention of eight more UN personnel by Houthi authorities, Al Jazeera reports.

The move comes as the group’s detention of UN staff continues, with no releases reported and growing concerns for their safety and security.

“This extraordinary and temporary measure seeks to balance the imperative to stay and deliver with the need to have the safety and security of the UN personnel and its partners guaranteed,” said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq on Monday.

Seven UN agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF, currently operate in Saada. Haq did not specify the number of people in Yemen who would be affected by the suspension but reiterated the UN’s “fully committed to assist the millions of people in need” across the country.

The Houthis, who have yet to acknowledge the UN’s decision, have a history of detaining UN staff, with at least 24 people already held prior to the latest arrests. The group has been accused of parading detained individuals on television, falsely portraying them as collaborators with Western intelligence agencies and Israel.

This is not the first time the UN has taken such measures. On January 24, the organization suspended all travel into Houthi-controlled areas after an unspecified number of staff were detained. The continued presence of UN staff in Saada, despite previous detentions, remains unclear.

Since seizing control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and early 2015, the Iran-backed Houthis have controlled most of the country. The group has been locked in a protracted conflict with a Saudi-led coalition fighting on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government.

The decade-long war has resulted in over 150,000 deaths and plunged Yemen into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with the UN estimating that over 18 million people are in dire need of assistance.

The Houthi’s recent targeting of the UN coincides with a reported winding down of their campaign of attacks against targets in Israel and international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. These attacks, launched in solidarity with the people of Gaza in November 2023, were supposedly contingent on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The UN’s decision comes amidst a complex political backdrop. In January, United States President Donald Trump reinstated the Houthi’s designation as a “terrorist” organisation, a designation previously in place during his first term, before being revoked by former President Joe Biden.