Yemeni Houthi rebels are still holding over a dozen kidnapped aid workers, including eleven United Nations staffers, according to a Yemeni NGO.
Last month, the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, kidnapped seven UN employees in the country's capital Sanaa, while releasing on Jan. 23 the 25 crewmembers of the Galaxy Leader, a merchant vessel they had seized in Nov. 2023 off the coast of Yemen.
The latest detentions represent a significant escalation and have only served to worsen the humanitarian emergency by endangering the remaining aid presence in Yemen.
"To ensure the security and safety of all its staff, the United Nations has suspended all official movements into and within areas under the de facto authorities' control," Julien Harneis, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said in January.
"The detentions mark a troubling escalation for humanitarian operations in Yemen, where access and security remain critical concerns," said Harneis.
The United Nations has already called on the Houthis for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained staff workers and arbitrarily detained civilians.
The Houthis have also been targeting Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea in their attempt to support Hamas over the conflict in Gaza.
Despite repeatedly promising to halt their actions once a ceasefire was in place, the Houthis are still attacking ships registered by or owned by Israelis, despite the recent truce between Israel and Hamas.
Within hours of his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump re-designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) over their attacks on Red Sea shipping and Israel.
Former president Joe Biden revoked their terrorist status in Feb. 2021, in the hope that it would reduce hostilities and improve the humanitarian conditions in the region.
The Houthis had previously detained several UN aid workers in June 2024, as they conducted a sweep across parts of the country that they controlled.
Yemeni workers working for NGOs were rounded up in Sanaa, Hodeida, Amran, and Saada by Houthi militiamen, causing the United Nations to suspend all official movements under the de facto control of the rebels to ensure the security and safety of its staff.
The Yemeni Mayyun Organization for Human Rights announced that at least 18 Yemeni aid workers were being held hostage.
"The Houthis picked up the UN staff because they are more valuable for negotiating a deal," Abdulghani Al-Iryani, senior researcher at the Yemeni think tank Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies, told German news broadcaster, DW.
The Iranian backed rebels have kidnapped, detained, and tortured hundreds of civilians and international aid workers since the start of the civil war in Yemen in 2014.
The civil war has since caused the deaths of about 150,000 Yemenis and has displaced 4.8 million civilians.
Millions of Yemenis are in need of aid and assistance since the country dissolved into chaos, as rival factions backed by regional powers like Iran and Saudi Arabia fight for control.
Meanwhile, the Houthis let 153 prisoners of war go on Jan. 25, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
"This step comes in support of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza," Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Houthi leader, told SABA, the pro-rebel press agency in Yemen.
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