Barran Press
The internationally recognized Yemeni government has officially rejected a UN invitation to participate in talks scheduled for the end of June in Muscat, Oman, focusing on the prisoner exchange and economic files, according to Yemeni Minister of Human Rights and Legal Affairs Ahmed Arman.
In statements published by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Arman stated that the government insists on prioritizing the cessation of arrests, protection of aid workers, and the swift release of detained aid workers.
Arman accused the Houthi group, designated as a terrorist organization by the international community, of continuing a campaign of arrests against aid workers from international and local organizations in Sana'a, which began earlier this month. He confirmed that the number of detainees has exceeded 70, including staff from UN agencies, international and local organizations, among them five women.
Arman urged all international organizations in Sana'a to leave immediately to ensure the safety of their staff and protect humanitarian aid activities. He emphasized that Sana'a is not safe and there are no guarantees for their protection.
The Yemeni minister called on the UN and all its organizations operating in Yemen to move beyond the negative situation and immediately close their offices in Sana'a, even temporarily, until all employees detained by the Houthis are released.
The Houthi group has carried out widespread arrests, including the detention of approximately 20 staff members from international and Yemeni organizations in Sana'a last Friday. This is part of a continuous campaign launched in early June, during which they abducted around 50 humanitarian and aid workers, all Yemenis, bringing the total number of abducted UN workers since the beginning of the month to 70.
Families of those detained in Houthi prisons, including former employees of the US embassy, have reported being evicted from their homes by Houthis under the pretext of being families of spies. They are also subjected to insults and harassment in the streets and neighborhoods for the same accusation, according to Yemeni activists who relayed these accounts from the families.