UN a willing hostage of the Houthis: Criticism of treating the lives of Yemeni employees as less important

US reports have criticised what they described as the UN’s “timid response” to the death of an aid worker held by the Houthis in Yemen, calling on the world’s largest international organisation to stop being a “voluntary hostage” of the Houthis and to consider Yemeni employees less important than foreigners.

The United Nations expressed "sadness and outrage" over the death of a veteran aid worker on February 10 after he was taken hostage in Yemen, but its statements did not criticize the Houthi rebel forces that held the victim captive.

In an article published by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) , writer Michael Rubin said that the United Nations must stop being a willing hostage to the Houthis in Yemen, holding Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, responsible for the death of the aid worker in Houthi prisons.

“The investigation should have been easy with the death of that worker, a Yemeni national known publicly by his first name Ahmed, who would still be alive today had Guterres not shown deadly cowardice and incompetence,” the writer said.

Kidnappings without response

Although the Houthis have maintained their stranglehold and terror rule over Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, they have not gained legitimacy, according to the author, as the internationally recognized Yemeni government moved to Aden in southern Yemen after the Houthis occupied Sanaa, where Aden was declared the temporary capital of Yemen.

While Iran operates an embassy in Sanaa, most other countries have either closed their embassies, moved their missions to Riyadh, or set up temporary headquarters in Aden. Yet Guterres has refused to move UN operations to Aden, even as Houthi leaders have begun kidnapping UN staff, most of whom are local citizens working for UN agencies, according to the US Institute article.

In 2021, the Houthis kidnapped two Yemeni employees of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as Yemeni employees of the US Embassy. This number rose dramatically last summer, between May and July 2024, when the Houthis kidnapped up to 72 aid workers.

According to the writer, Guterres and World Food Program Director Cindy McCain have not only put UN staff at risk, but they are also undermining UN programs by allowing UN agencies and staff to become hostages of the Houthi authorities.

“The Houthis know that if they hold UN staff hostage, and kill men like Ahmed every now and then, the UN will refuse to speak out about Houthi abuses or divert aid for fear of Houthi retaliation,” he added.

On the other hand, the writer believes that if the UN offices move to Aden, they may operate freely, as working in Aden does not necessarily mean cutting off services in areas controlled by the Houthis.

The lives of Yemeni employees are less important.

The article considered that Guterres' actions are more harmful, as while foreign workers move to Aden, Yemeni employees are left to be exploited by the Houthis. Rubin considered this to indicate that "the lives of Yemeni employees are less valuable to the United Nations than the lives of those of European or American origin."

He said: “The real response and zero tolerance for Houthi tactics is for Guterres to cut off all aid to the Houthis the moment an employee is detained, in addition to linking the management of UN operations and its employees to the internationally recognized government.”

“Decisions have consequences and the UN should move all its offices in Yemen to Aden and parts of the country under the control of the recognised government, as feeding the Houthis’ blackmail is neither efficient nor necessary, it is cowardice,” the writer continued.

The Houthis alone are responsible for Ahmed’s death, but the negligence of Guterres and McCain made the Houthi move possible, and the only statements that the leaders of the United Nations and the World Food Program should issue are their resignations, according to the writer.

Shy international response

In turn, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) considered that the timid UN response to the death of the aid worker in Houthi prisons "confirms the extent to which the UN has adapted to the ongoing violations by the Iranian-backed Houthis, who are also stealing huge amounts of aid intended for those facing deprivation as a result of the decade-long war in Yemen."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the "arbitrary detention" of dozens of aid workers and diplomats was "unacceptable" but stopped short of saying he would impose any consequences on the Houthis for their continued violations.

UN Failure to Hold Houthis Accountable

In 2019, the World Food Programme briefly suspended aid operations in Yemen due to the scale of the diversion. The previous year, after aid was discovered being stolen and sold in Yemeni markets, then-WFP Executive Director David Beasley said: “At a time when children are dying in Yemen because they don’t have enough to eat, this is an outrage. This criminal behaviour must stop immediately.”

However, according to a June 2024 report by the Counter Extremism Project, the situation remains as bad as ever: “The Houthis oversee and control every aspect of humanitarian work in areas under their control, from determining beneficiary lists, issuing permits for any movement of aid workers, and determining which local entities are qualified to serve as contractors, local implementing partners, or third-party monitors for humanitarian projects.”

By using funding as leverage, the United States can demand that the UN hold the Houthis accountable, as the UN relies on Western donors to fund its humanitarian operations.

As the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to Yemen, the United States has provided nearly $6 billion in aid since the war began in 2014. Last month, the United Nations released its annual humanitarian needs and response plan for Yemen, which included a funding request of $2.47 billion.

According to the American foundation, “Any additional US funding must be conditional on a radical reform of the UN’s operations in Yemen. First, the UN must insist on the immediate and unconditional release of all aid workers as a precondition for its continued work.”

If the death of a WFP worker this week was the result of negligence or abuse, those responsible must be held accountable. And in general, the UN must work to break the Houthi stranglehold on aid operations so that they reach those in need rather than enriching the regime.