Houthis detain nine more UN workers as crackdown deepens in Yemen

# Houthis detain nine more UN workers as crackdown deepens in Yemen

Event date: 2025-10-07

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have detained nine more United Nations workers, bringing the total number of UN personnel held in Houthi-controlled territory to 53 since 2021, according to the UN.

The latest detentions are the newest sign of a long-running crackdown on international organisations operating in rebel-held parts of the country. U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the arrests had further damaged the organisation’s ability to operate and deliver humanitarian assistance in Yemen, one of the world’s poorest countries.

The UN did not give details on where or when the nine workers were taken, and Houthi officials did not respond to requests for comment. That lack of detail is consistent with earlier episodes in which the rebels have acted first and explained later, if at all.

The report says the detainees are all Yemeni nationals. Alessandra Vellucci, the UN’s chief spokesperson in Geneva, said their work is to support fellow citizens and save lives, and that they should not be punished for doing so. The UN has also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained staff as well as workers from other international organisations and diplomatic missions.

The new detentions follow earlier raids. In August, Houthi forces raided UN offices in Sanaa and detained 19 employees, later releasing the UNICEF deputy director in Yemen. In January, the UN suspended operations in the rebel stronghold of Saada after eight staff were detained there. The UN also moved its top humanitarian coordinator in Yemen from Sanaa to Aden.

That sequence shows how the crackdown has steadily constrained aid operations. The World Food Program and UNICEF still work in the northern half of the country, but the environment has become more difficult and more dangerous for local staff. Dujarric said the crackdown is impeding the UN’s ability to deliver critical assistance.

The wider conflict helps explain the pressure. Yemen’s civil war has dragged on since 2014, with the Houthis controlling Sanaa and much of the north. The rebels have also become entangled in regional escalation, trading attacks with Israel over the Gaza war and striking ships in the Red Sea.

The latest detentions are therefore not an isolated incident but part of a pattern. For aid workers and the communities they serve, the practical result is fewer options, greater risk and less reliable access to humanitarian support.