NEW YORK CITY: The UN said on Tuesday that extensive diplomatic efforts continue in an effort to secure the immediate release of dozens of UN staff arbitrarily detained by the Houthi militia in Yemen.
It came as the UN’s special envoy for the war-torn country, Hans Grundberg, held talks in the region aimed at reviving a political process to end the conflict.
He met senior Omani officials in Muscat on Tuesday to discuss recent developments in Yemen and the wider regional context, a UN spokesperson said. Oman has played a key mediation role during the conflict in Yemen.
Grundberg also met Mohammed Abdul Salam, chief negotiator for the Houthis, to discuss pathways for political dialogue.
The issue of detained UN staff featured prominently in the meetings. During the talks, the UN said, the envoy stressed the need to maintain momentum regarding the release of conflict-related detainees, building on discussions held in Muscat in December.
Grundberg and Muin Shreim, the UN official leading discussions about detainees, raised concerns about the continuing arbitrary detention of UN personnel and called for their immediate and unconditional release, stressing the need to respect the safety and security of all UN staff, both locals and foreigners.
“One of the main topics consistently raised in all our discussions, as you can imagine, remains the fate of 73 of our colleagues who continue to be arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, some since 2021,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
The UN demands the immediate and unconditional release of all detained members of staff from international and local nongovernmental organizations and civil society groups, and persons who had previously worked with diplomatic missions, he added.
The Houthis, who control much of northwestern Yemen including the capital, Sanaa, have detained UN employees and conducted raids on the organization’s premises in areas under their control.
In October last year, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi accused employees of the UN and humanitarian agencies of spying for Israel and the US. The UN denies the allegations. Following the accusations, the Houthis detained several members of UN staff and seized assets belonging to the organization.
During his meetings, Grundberg reaffirmed the UN’s continuing engagement with all parties in support of efforts to ensure a return to an inclusive political process that ends the near-decade-long war, which has devastated Yemen and triggered one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.