Yemeni Minister of Technical Education and Vocational Training Abdulrazzaq al-Ashwal arrived at the temporary capital Aden after he managed to escape a three-year house arrest imposed on him by Houthi militias in Sanaa.
Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi received the Minister on Sunday, during which Ashwal confirmed his adherence to the Yemeni legitimacy. He is expected to resume the duties of his ministerial post, which remained vacant despite successive government amendments President.
The President congratulated the Minister for his safe arrival to Aden, according to Saba News Agency. In turn, Ashwal expressed pleasure for meeting with the President, reaffirming his firm position denouncing the coup and its repercussions on the Yemeni people.
Ashwal was the Minister of Education during the government of Mohammed Salem Basindwa, from 2011 to 2014 before being appointed as Minister of Technical Education and Vocational Training in the government of Khalid Bahah. Following their coup, Houthis imposed house arrest on most of Bahah’s ministers before forcing the President himself into house arrest.
Houthis had arrested Ashwal from his house before releasing him in early 2016 and forcing him into house arrest. It is still unknown whether the militias allowed Ashwal to leave Sanaa, or he managed to escape like other Yemeni leaders, members of Parliament, and military officials who had resorted to various methods to escape to areas under legitimate government's control.
In a phone call with Minister Ashwal, Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr stressed that the government is striving hard to protect Yemeni citizens from Houthi militias and establish the new federal Yemen, which the Yemenis agreed upon in the outcomes of the national dialogue.
In the meantime, the newly-appointed Minister of Civil Service and Insurance, Nabil Hassan al-Faqih, has been sworn in before President Hadi. The President held a meeting with Faqih after the oath and discussed the role and tasks of the ministry as one of administrative bodies and steps and measures must be followed to promote its work.
In light of Houthi violations, the Yemeni government has called on the Director of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Yemen, Elobaid Ahmed Elobaid, to transfer offices and staff of OHCHR from Sanaa to the temporary capital Aden.
The government issued a statement to the Ministry of Human Rights indicating that the request was done after Houthis prevented OHCHR staff from entering Sanaa.
The ministry noted that OHCHR and other international organizations’ insistence on remaining in the historic capital Sanaa was a serious mistake that damages humanitarian work and affects the neutrality and professionalism of these organizations.
"Militias commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and serious crimes against Yemenis in a systematic manner, not to mention that the militia controls areas considered the most dangerous, which endanger the lives of human rights workers and observers," added the statement.
The Ministry confirmed that transferring OHCHR office to Aden will give workers the opportunity to better monitor the situation, without restrictions, and will limit Houthis’ violations.
