After the United Nations confirmed, yesterday, Friday, that 11 of its employees were “detained” by the Houthis in Yemen, the Yemeni Minister of Human Rights, Ahmed Arman, revealed more details.

He explained that this Houthi kidnapping campaign began last Thursday in 5 Yemeni cities: Sanaa, Hodeidah, Saada, Ibb, and Hajjah, and is still continuing.

He pointed out that "there are employees in Sanaa who work duplicatively and within Iranian Houthi lobbies."

He also confirmed in statements to Al Arabiya/Al Hadath that 52 UN and international agency employees, including 4 women, were kidnapped by the Houthi militias.

He pointed out that among those kidnapped were 18 UN employees, including 6 former ones and 2 working in the office of the UN envoy.

Also, it was revealed that the Executive Director of the Civil Peace Coalition, Sarah Al-Faika, was also kidnapped along with her husband and children.

He stressed the need to move the United Nations headquarters to Aden, considering it a “non-negotiable issue.”

In addition, he considered that the United Nations had become unable to protect its employees, saying that “its role has become negative, especially as it turns a blind eye to what the Houthis are doing.” He concluded by saying: "We warned international organizations that turning a blind eye to Houthi violations would lead to the current situation."

The United Nations confirmed, yesterday, Friday, that 11 of its employees are “detained” by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, demanding their “unconditional” release.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters in New York, "I can confirm to you that the Houthis have arrested 11 local employees working in Yemen."

He also added that the employees, two women and nine men, were detained during the past three days in the governorates of Hajjah, Hodeidah, Saada, and Sanaa. He explained that six of them work for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the other five work for five different agencies: UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen.

While Mayon Organization for Human Rights confirmed that the Houthis on Thursday “raided homes and kidnapped employees of the United Nations and other international organizations working” in four areas under their control.

It also indicated that the arrests that took place in the governorates of Sana’a, Hodeidah, Saada, and Amran affected 10 employees of United Nations agencies, and eight workers with local and international non-governmental organizations.

In turn, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch confirmed that the husband of an employee in a civil society organization and her two children are among those detained.

It is noteworthy that relief workers are facing great difficulties in Yemen, where the conflict that has been going on for nearly ten years between the Iran-backed Houthis on the one hand, and the internationally recognized government, has caused a humanitarian crisis that is considered one of the most severe in the world.

Many of these people were killed or kidnapped during the conflict, which prompted international organizations to suspend their operations or withdraw their foreign employees for security reasons.

Last year, Save the Children announced the suspension of its operations for ten days in northern Yemen after one of its workers was killed while being detained in Sanaa.

Also, in July 2023, a United Nations World Food Program employee was killed in a shooting in Taiz Governorate.

Human rights organizations accuse the Houthi group, which controls Sanaa and other governorates, of carrying out kidnapping, arrest, and torture operations that have affected hundreds of civilians since the start of the conflict in 2014.