DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi militia have ordered all US and British staff of the United Nations and its agencies to leave the country within a month, a UN official told AFP.
In a letter dated January 20 and shared on social media, the authorities in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa told the UN resident coordinator that employees with British and US nationality had one month to “prepare to leave the country.”
“They must be ready to leave as soon as the deadline expires,” the document said, adding that 24 hours’ notice would be given by letter.
While they only control a fraction of Yemen’s territory, the Houthis hold sway over most of the country’s population centers.
A UN official confirmed to AFP that they had received the memo.
“The UN and its partners have taken note of this and are waiting to see what are the next steps,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Peter Hawkins, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, is himself British.
The expulsion followed joint strikes by the United States and Britain against the Houthis aimed at ending the group’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, threatening global trade.
The United States has launched multiple further strikes and on Tuesday carried out a second set of joint strikes with Britain.
Last week, Washington redesignated the Houthis a “global terrorist group,” having lifted it in 2021 to ease aid delivery to the impoverished country.
The Houthis have fought a nearly decade-long civil war against government forces, who are backed by Saudi Arabia.
The conflict plunged Yemen, by far the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, into a deep humanitarian crisis, labelled among the worst in the world by the UN.
Since mid-November, the Houthis have launched missiles and drones from Yemen’s coast aimed at shipping the group says is linked to Israel, in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Gaza is under siege by Israel, which aims to destroy Hamas after the militant group’s surprise attack of October 7.
The Houthis have reacted to the US and British strikes with defiance, targeting further ships.
The United States, Israel’s major ally and provider of military equipment, has created an international coalition to patrol the Red Sea and protect commercial traffic.
Houthis order all US, British UN staff to leave Yemen
https://arab.news/9by2h
Houthis order all US, British UN staff to leave Yemen
- Militia said British and American staff had one month to leave
- Since November, Houthis have launched missiles and drones from Yemen’s coast aimed at shipping
UN rights chief Shocked by ‘unbearable’ Darfur atrocities
- Mediation efforts have failed to produce a ceasefire, even after international outrage intensified last year with reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions during the RSF’s takeover of El-Fasher in Darfur
PORT SUDAN: Nearly three years of war have put the Sudanese people through “hell,” the UN’s rights chief said on Sunday, blasting the vast sums spent on advanced weaponry at the expense of humanitarian aid and the recruitment of child soldiers.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that has left tens of thousands of people dead and around 11 million displaced.
Speaking in Port Sudan during his first wartime visit, UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk said the population had endured “horror and hell,” calling it “despicable” that funds that “should be used to alleviate the suffering of the population” are instead spent on advanced weapons, particularly drones.
More than 21 million people are facing acute food insecurity, and two-thirds of Sudan’s population is in urgent need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN.
In addition to the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis, Sudan is also facing “the increasing militarization of society by all parties to the conflict, including through the arming of civilians and recruitment and use of children,” Turk added.
He said he had heard testimony of “unbearable” atrocities from survivors of attacks in Darfur, and warned of similar crimes unfolding in the Kordofan region — the current epicenter of the fighting.
Testimony of these atrocities must be heard by “the commanders of this conflict and those who are arming, funding and profiting from this war,” he said.
Mediation efforts have failed to produce a ceasefire, even after international outrage intensified last year with reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions during the RSF’s takeover of El-Fasher in Darfur.
“We must ensure that the perpetrators of these horrific violations face justice regardless of the affiliation,” Turk said on Sunday, adding that repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure could constitute “war crimes.”
He called on both sides to “cease intolerable attacks against civilian objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including markets, health facilities, schools and shelters.”
Turk again warned on Sunday that crimes similar to those seen in El-Fasher could recur in volatile Kordofan, where the RSF has advanced, besieging and attacking several key cities.
Hundreds of thousands face starvation across the region, where more than 65,000 people have been displaced since October, according to the latest UN figures.
