[22/07/2024 08:21]

ADEN - SABA
Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Muammar al-Eryani has called upon UN agencies and international organizations to relocate their headquarters into the transitional capital of Aden.

He said that the terrorist Houthi militia affiliated with Iran, by forcing the United Nations and international organizations operating in the areas under their control to obtain their approval before employing any Yemeni or foreign cadre and handing over the functional structure of each organization, including the job title and the name of the employee, is a continuation of the militia's approach to exerting pressure on these organizations, tightening control over them, and harnessing their activities to serve their goals by imposing adherence to their lists of beneficiaries of humanitarian aid, and financing their criminal activities.

Moammar Al-Eryani explained in a press statement that this step comes amid the continued campaigns of kidnapping and arbitrary detention carried out by the Houthi militia against employees of the United Nations and its affiliated agencies, as well as international and local organizations, accusing them of "treason and espionage", and giving them a one-month deadline to surrender if they had worked with those organizations in the past periods, which embodied the level of risks faced by workers in these organizations.

Al-Eryani pointed out that the lenient stance of the international community in dealing with the Houthi militia over the past years, and turning a blind eye to its horrific crimes and violations against workers in international organizations, contributed to reaching this dangerous stage where the militia deals with employees of international organizations as "spies and agents", arresting them by the dozens and issuing death sentences against them, and using them in the manner of "ISIS and Al-Qaeda" as tools for propaganda, pressure, extortion and bargaining.

He added: The Houthi militia has considered the hesitant international positions as a green light to continue their crimes and violations, and to further escalate their repressive measures against international and humanitarian organizations operating in the areas under their control, and local employees working in them, without any concern for the disastrous consequences of these practices on the dire economic and humanitarian conditions in the areas under their control.

The statement emphasized that the time has come to take this action to preserve the lives of personnel in those offices first and foremost, and to ensure the appropriate environment for them to carry out their humanitarian tasks, where they can work safely and more effectively to serve those in need and provide humanitarian assistance without exposing them to such risks.

The statement also called on the international community, the United Nations, and international organizations and agencies to break their silence in the face of these practices, which constitute a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.

It also called to exert real pressure on the Houthi militia to release all forcibly detained in their prisons, and to take strong and deterrent measures commensurate with the crimes they are committing, and to immediately proceed to designate them as a terrorist organization.

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