Yemen Monitor / Sana’a / Exclusive:
A UN official stated that UNICEF’s Representative in Yemen, Peter Hawkins, is among the twenty UN staff members detained by the Houthis in the capital, Sana’a.
The official, who requested anonymity, added that “Peter Hawkins is among 15 international staff detained in the compound” that the Houthis raided on Saturday, along with approximately nine Yemeni staff in the same compound.
Peter Hawkins had met with Houthi officials just days before his detention.
This brings the total number of detained UN staff to over 70, in an ongoing campaign that began in 2021 and has escalated in recent weeks.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi accused the detained UN staff of spying for Israel and being behind Israeli attacks in Yemen and the assassination of the head of the movement’s government and ten other ministers.
Last month, the Houthis detained his Jordanian deputy, Lana Shukri Katao, for several days in Sana’a before releasing her.
Two Houthi security sources in Sana’a confirmed to AFP that Hawkins is among 15 foreign staff members, officials of UN agencies and organizations, who have been detained inside the compound since Saturday.
The 64-year-old Hawkins was appointed as UNICEF’s Representative in Yemen in November 2022, having previously held the same position in Iraq (2015-2019) and Nigeria (2019-2022).
Before joining the UN in 2015, he had worked on governmental and non-governmental relief projects in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka.
Last month, Hawkins spoke about the challenges of working in Yemen in an interview with the UN website, particularly the detention of the organization’s staff.
He said, “This creates uncertainty about the safety and security of our staff.”
Jaan Alim, spokesperson for the UN Resident Coordinator in Yemen, stated that the Houthis “are detaining five local staff and 15 international staff inside the UN compound” that the Houthis stormed on Saturday.
Alim indicated that the UN is in “contact with the authorities in Sana’a, relevant member states, and the Yemeni government to resolve this dangerous situation as soon as possible, end the detention of all staff, and restore full control of its facilities in Sana’a.”
This UN spokesperson in Yemen had reported to AFP on Saturday that Houthi security forces entered the UN compound in Sana’a “without authorization.”
The Houthi rebels had previously stormed UN offices in Sana’a on August 31 and detained more than 11 staff members, according to the UN.
