Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) strongly condemns the escalating and systematic violations committed by the Houthi militia against international organizations and humanitarian personnel operating in areas under its control.

These acts represent a deliberate and egregious breach of international humanitarian law and pose a direct threat to the safety, neutrality, and operational integrity of humanitarian missions.

The organization emphasizes that this escalation reflects a deliberate and organized policy by the Houthi militia aimed at intimidating humanitarian staff, obstructing relief efforts, and undermining the independence and effectiveness of international organizations. Such actions have deepened the suffering of civilians and exposed them to further humanitarian risks.

WJWC expresses grave concern over recent incidents, including the armed raid on the United Nations Compound (UNCAF) in Sana’a on October 18, 2025, where twenty staff members—five Yemeni and fifteen international—were detained following a forceful entry by Houthi security forces. The compound was besieged, electricity and communications were severed, and computers, servers, phones, documents, and surveillance recordings were confiscated. Staff were forced into outdoor courtyards, subjected to arbitrary interrogations, and treated in a degrading and humiliating manner. Yemeni employees were detained in the basement for three days before being released under harsh conditions.

This assault was preceded by inflammatory statements from the Houthi leadership accusing UN personnel of espionage—an incitement that marks a dangerous escalation and deliberate effort to instill fear among humanitarian workers. WJWC warns that such rhetoric fuels hostility against aid personnel and directly endangers their lives.

Just three days later, on October 21, Houthi forces stormed the offices of Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Hajjah Governorate, conducting invasive searches and seizing critical equipment and data servers.

These incidents are part of a broader, long-running campaign targeting humanitarian and diplomatic staff, including the August 2025 raids on UN, World Food Programme (WFP), and UNICEF offices in Sana’a and Hodeidah, during which 24 UN employees were abducted. Many of those detained remain forcibly disappeared—some since 2021.

WJWC underscores that these acts are not isolated incidents but elements of a systematic campaign designed to intimidate international staff, compromise humanitarian neutrality, and obstruct aid delivery across Yemen. The organization highlights the severe psychological toll inflicted on humanitarian personnel as a result of this continuous persecution, with devastating human consequences.

A tragic example is the recent death of Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah Shamsan Al-Akhaly, a UNHCR staff member in Sana’a, who reportedly suffered a fatal heart attack caused by psychological stress and fear of arrest amid the militia’s intensified campaign against his colleagues. His death reflects the broader mental and emotional trauma endured by many humanitarian workers in Houthi-controlled areas.

WJWC affirms that the repeated targeting of humanitarian personnel, abductions, raids on offices, and confiscation of assets constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and violate the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. These actions strike at the heart of humanitarian principles, undermine the neutrality and independence of aid work, and endanger the lives of those dedicated to alleviating human suffering.

The organization strongly condemns this systematic assault and calls for:

·       An urgent, independent international investigation into all related violations;

·       The immediate and unconditional release of all detained humanitarian and UN personnel;

·       And the prosecution of all those responsible in accordance with international law.

Women Journalists Without Chains urges the United Nations, international humanitarian agencies, and the wider international community to take a firm and unified stance against these escalating violations. It calls for concrete measures to ensure a safe, neutral, and protected environment for humanitarian operations and to end the ongoing policy of silence and appeasement that has emboldened the Houthi militia to continue its crimes with impunity.

The organization concludes that continued silence in the face of such systematic abuses is both morally indefensible and legally untenable. Protecting humanitarian workers is not a political choice—it is a binding legal and ethical obligation. WJWC reiterates its call for urgent global action to halt these violations, uphold the dignity of Yemeni civilians, and safeguard those working courageously to serve them.