Ten senior United Nations officials and heads of UN agencies on Wednesday, June 4, renewed their urgent call for the immediate release of UN and international aid workers held captive by the Houthi group for a year. The joint statement, published on the official UN website, underscores the growing international concern over the arbitrary detentions.

The statement, signed by nine heads of UN agencies and the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, emphasized the need for the urgent and unconditional release of dozens of staff from the UN, NGOs, civil society, and diplomatic missions. This week marks a full year since their initial detention.

Currently, 23 UN staff members and five international NGO employees remain arbitrarily detained. The statement expressed profound sorrow over the deaths of two detainees—one UN staffer and one Save the Children employee—while in custody. Others have tragically lost loved ones during their detention, denied the chance to say goodbye or attend funerals.

"Our arbitrarily detained colleagues have spent at least 365 days—some even over a thousand days—in complete isolation from their families, children, and spouses, in flagrant violation of international law," the statement read.


The UN officials highlighted the immense burden on the detainees' families, who continue to suffer from the agony of absence and uncertainty, preparing to spend another Eid without their loved ones. "Nothing can justify this suffering; they were doing their job, providing support to those in dire need of food, shelter, and basic healthcare," the statement asserted.
The prolonged detention has significantly impacted the international community's ability to provide support to Yemen, limiting the effectiveness of humanitarian response efforts and weakening mediation efforts aimed at achieving lasting peace.
While acknowledging the Houthis' release of four detainees—one UN staff member, two NGO workers, and one diplomatic mission staffer—the statement urged the group to honor its prior commitments, including those made to the Director-General of the World Health Organization during his December 2024 visit to Sanaa.