Yemenis protest in New York to condemn the Houthi escalation

The Yemeni American Youth Voice (YAYV) organized, in conjunction with the high-level week of the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, a solidarity stand in front of the UN headquarters in New York, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of humanitarian workers, human rights activists, and opinion writers detained by the Houthis, urgent international action regarding the military escalation in Yemen, support for state institutions, and the protection of civilians and displaced persons.

According to a statement a copy of which was seen by Nashwan News, the group’s president, Amr Ali, opened the stand with a speech in which he said: “The issue of humanitarian workers is our first cause. Some of them have been in Houthi prisons since 2021. We want their immediate and unconditional release, and the accountability of those responsible for their detention by name. Humanitarian work is not a crime.”

The group’s vice president, Abdulrahman Al-Babid, delivered the keynote speech of the stand and said: “The Houthis displaced Yemenis from their homes, then seized them and looted their property. A displaced person cannot be asked to wait for peace in a tent while someone else lives in his house by force of arms. Every displaced person has the right to return to his home safely and to recover what was taken from him.”

Then the participants observed a minute of silence for the souls of the war’s victims. The writer Najla Al-Omari also took part with a speech in which she said that the Yemeni bloodshed has continued for more than ten years, and demanded that the United Nations stand with the displaced and halt any support provided to the Houthi militia. Group member Khaled Siddiq spoke about Tihama, saying that its people paid a heavy price in a war ignited by the Houthis, and that the group exploited the suffering of civilians to impose its control.

Group member Yahya Al-Faqih read the stand’s statement addressed to the UN Secretary-General, the Security Council, and the UN Special Envoy to Yemen. The statement demanded the immediate and unconditional release of humanitarian workers, and noted that, according to the latest UN briefing, 73 UN staff members and 5 former UN staff members are still detained by the Houthis, some of them since 2021. It also demanded the release of all arbitrarily detained rights activists and opinion writers.

The statement renewed the group’s support for the internationally recognized Yemeni government in its confrontation with the Houthis, calling on the Security Council and the international community to enable it to protect citizens, territory, coasts, islands, and Yemeni waters, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2216, affirming its complete rejection of imposing any political or military reality by force of arms.

The statement expressed deep concern over military developments on the western coast, in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and on Mayun Island, warning against turning Yemeni coasts and islands into platforms for threatening international navigation, and stressing that the security of the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab cannot be separated from Yemen’s security and stability.

The statement demanded the protection of civilians and displaced persons and an investigation into the violations they face, including killing, arbitrary detention, and child recruitment. It also called for revealing the fate of those forcibly disappeared and enabling the displaced to return to their areas. Participants also demanded that those responsible for the kidnapping and assassination of the director of the Social Fund for Development, Wissam Qaid, in Aden be brought to trial.

On the arms dossier, the statement called on the Security Council to tighten the implementation of the arms embargo and investigate smuggling networks and external support reaching the Houthis, including that related to Iran. It demanded an end to targeting oil facilities in Hadramout and the opening of roads between governorates.

Participants concluded their stand by calling on the United Nations to move from condemnations to practical steps that end the war and preserve Yemen’s unity and territorial integrity, stressing that “humanitarian work is not a crime, civilians are not targets, and children are not soldiers.”