A member of the Presidential Command Council, Governor of Ma'rib, Major General Sultan Al-Arada, called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to play a greater role in completing the deal to exchange all prisoners and abductees according to the all-for-all rule.

During his meeting with the head of the mission's operations in Yemen, Freya Radi, he stressed the importance of a team from the committee visiting detainees in Houthi prisons, checking on their humanitarian and health conditions, providing them with the necessary support, and enabling them to communicate with their families.

He also praised its previous roles in the prisoner exchange operations that took place in our country during the past years.

Al-Arada welcomed the International Committee of the Red Cross's efforts to expand its humanitarian interventions in the liberated governorates in general, and in Marib Governorate in particular, as it accommodates more than sixty percent of the displaced people in the country.

Al-Arada stressed the need for humanitarian partners to focus on implementing sustainable projects of a developmental nature that alleviate the suffering of citizens and contribute to achieving recovery. 

For her part, the head of operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen, Freya Radi, appreciated the support provided by the member of the Presidential Command Council, Governor of Ma’rib, Major General Sultan Al-Arada, to the International Committee to facilitate the implementation of its interventions and humanitarian work, and his keenness to strengthen the humanitarian partnership with the Committee.

The office of the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced last July that the government and the Houthis had reached an understanding to release prisoners and abductees. 

The office of the UN envoy said at the time that “the parties reached an understanding on procedures for the release of detainees in connection with the conflict. C

In April 2023, the United Nations conducted the second prisoner and detainee exchange between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, which included more than 900 prisoners and abductees, and lasted for 3 days, and passed through 6 Yemeni and Saudi airports.

The United Nations sponsored the first prisoner exchange deal between the Yemeni government and the Houthis in October 2020, which included 1,065 detainees and prisoners, in the most prominent humanitarian breakthrough in the Yemeni crisis.