Since August 31, 2025, 21 UN staff members and 23 NGO workers have been detained in Yemen, the UN reports.
Armed tribesmen loyal to Houthi rebels brandish their weapons during a rally in the capital Sanaa to mobilize more fighters to the battle fronts to fight pro-government forces in several Yemeni cities, June 20, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
The UN office in Yemen said on Sunday that 20 of its staff were still detained by Houthi rebels following a raid on their building in Sanaa the day before.
On Saturday, the UN office said Houthi security forces had made an “unauthorized entry” into their compound, adding that staff there were “safe and identified”.
“Five national staff and fifteen international staff are still detained in the compound,” Jean Alam, spokesperson for the United Nations resident coordinator, said on Sunday.
“The United Nations is in contact with the authorities in Sanaa and with relevant Member States as well as the Government of Yemen to resolve this serious situation as quickly as possible, end the detention of all personnel and restore full control of its facilities in Sanaa.”
Learn more: Senior Houthi military official killed
Rebels had already stormed the UN offices in Sanaa on August 31, arresting more than 11 employees, according to the UN.
These employees were suspected of spying on behalf of the United States and Israel, a senior Houthi official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
In a statement on Saturday, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, Stéphane Dujarric, said: “We will continue to call for an end to the arbitrary detention of 53 of our colleagues.”
He was responding to a televised speech by rebel leader Abdelmalek al-Huthi on Thursday, during which he said his forces had dismantled “one of the most dangerous spy cells”, which he said was “linked to humanitarian organizations such as the World Food Program and UNICEF”.
Dujarric called the accusations “dangerous and unacceptable.”
Saturday’s raid came as dozens of UN staff had already been arrested in recent months in areas controlled by the Iran-backed group.
In mid-September, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen was officially transferred from Sanaa, the capital held by the Houthi rebels, to Aden, the interim capital of the internationally recognized government.
Since August 31, 2025, 21 UN staff members have been arrested, adding to the 23 current and former members of international NGOs already detained, according to the UN.
Ten years of civil war have plunged Yemen, one of the poorest countries on the Arabian Peninsula, into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the UN.
