Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoSecurity Council
The situation in the Middle East - Security Council, 9654th meeting
There is an urgent need to address recent concerning developments in Yemen, which compound existing obstacles to lasting peace in the country, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, pointing to the detention of UN colleagues and a slew of stringent banking directives expected to worsen the already dire humanitarian emergency gripping the country.
Outlining the “worrisome circumstances” surrounding the arbitrary detention by Ansar Allah, last week, of 13 UN personnel, in addition to five staff members of international non-governmental organizations, and representatives of Yemeni civil society, Hans Grundberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for that country, stated that this situation needed to be addressed before tackling the economic escalation, fragile military situation and constricted mediation space, as well as protecting the path to a ceasefire and a political process.
Also concerning were Ansar Allah’s judgements, issued on 1 June, sentencing 45 individuals to death, he said, recalling the UN’s moratorium on the death penalty. Moreover, a retaliatory sequence of actions by Ansar Allah and the Central Bank of Yemen risked cutting off all banks in Sana’a from international financial transactions, severely impacting the economy and opening the door to a potential military escalation, he warned, outlining his Office’s engagements to resolve the crisis.
On the military front, he cautioned that, while the April 2022 truce was holding along the front lines, it would not be sustainable if parties continued their escalatory trajectory, marked by an uptick in fighting and Ansar Allah’s increasing efforts to strike commercial and military ships in the Red Sea. “I am frustrated because we have seen the progress the Yemenis so desperately need overtaken by a regional situation that is beyond our control,” he added.
Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, urging the immediate release of the detained UN colleagues, all Yemeni nationals, as well as the four UN personnel in detention since 2021 and 2023, said: “We still do not know their exact whereabouts or the conditions in which they are being held.”
Further, she pointed out that the Houthis and the Government of Yemen have issued “competing and increasingly stringent” directives, including a potentially imminent decision to exclude Sana’a-based banks from using the SWIFT banking system for international financial transactions, which threatens to weaken Yemen’s already struggling economy.
Several members reiterated the value of the United Nations Inspection Mechanism for Yemen (UNIM-YEMEN) which already in place, still holds monitoring and preventive value.
Briefer: Mr. Hans Grundberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (via video-teleconference)
Briefer: Ms. Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Statements: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, China, France, Ecuador, Switzerland, Japan, Malta
Statement: Sierra Leone (on behalf of: Algeria, Guyana, Mozambique, Sierra Leone)
Statements: Russian Federation, Slovenia, United States of America, Republic of Korea
Statement: Yemen
Download
There is no media available to download.
Related Content
The situation in the Middle East - Security Council, 9723rd meeting…
The situation in the Middle East (Yemen) - Security Council,…
