The United Nations said it remained extremely worried about the fate of UN and NGO staff seized by Yemen's Houthi rebels, urging their immediate release.
"We remain extremely worried about the well-being of 13 UN staff and a number of NGO employees who have been detained for over a month now. We continue to be refused access to them," UN human rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence told a media briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
"We also remain particularly concerned by the situation of two other UN staff members who were already in prolonged detention — one since November 2021 and the other since August 2023."
Last month the Iran-backed Houthis detained more than a dozen people from UN agencies and non-governmental organisations in what appeared to be a coordinated move.
“Further targeting of human rights and humanitarian workers in Yemen must cease immediately,” the UN official insisted.