The fate of two relief employees in Yemen remains unknown, with the UN refusing to announce the kidnapping incident, reveal the names of those abducted or name the responsible parties.
Since Sep. 8, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper has been trying to contact Yemeni UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande to comment on the kidnapping. However, no response was made until the moment of preparing this report.
Yemen's human rights minister Mohamed Askar said to Asharq Al-Awsat that he sends a plea to the world to intervene to rescue the UN staff from the hands of Houthi militias.
He affirmed that the fact that Houthis have kidnapped employees providing humanitarian aid is a huge violation of the international and humanitarian law.
Askar stressed that the UN should raise the voice to defend its employees – the Yemeni government will cooperate with international partners on all levels to release them.
Yemeni politician Najeeb Ghallab said that all sorts of pressure are being made on the organizations to respond to the Houthi needs even if they contradict with the goals of the organizations – this is considered a danger that is threatening the restoration of legitimacy.
Yemeni civil rights activist Baraa Shaiban said that kidnapping UN staff and storming passages are both enough pieces of evidence that the militias should leave Hodeida to the official and legit state institutions.
