Yemeni Houthi rebels have directed all American and British personnel working for the United Nations to leave the country within a month, a UN agency official disclosed to the AFP news agency on Tuesday.
A letter, dated January 20 and shared on social media, conveyed the Houthi authorities’ message to the UN coordinator in Sanaa, instructing all US and British nationals among its employees to “prepare to leave the country” within the next month. The letter emphasized the need to depart promptly once the deadline expires.
An anonymous UN official acknowledged the memorandum to AFP, stating, “The UN and its partners have taken note of this and are awaiting the next steps.”
The directive from the Houthis comes in the wake of recent joint strikes by US and British forces targeting the Iran-aligned rebel group’s munitions and missile launcher infrastructure. Since initiating military action against the Houthis to curb their attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the US-led coalition has reportedly destroyed 25 launch sites and 20 missiles, according to the Pentagon.
Last week, the Biden Administration officially designated Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Terrorist Group, with the reclassification slated to take effect 30 days from the January 17 announcement.
Peter Hawkings, the UN’s lead humanitarian official in Yemen, is raising questions about the potential need for a comprehensive personnel restructuring within the intergovernmental organization in a country already grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis. Yemen, one of the poorest nations in the Middle East, has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014.
The Houthis, followers of the Yazidi sect of Shia Islam, faced an extensive bombing campaign by Sunni power Saudi Arabia while simultaneously engaging in a war of attrition against the internationally recognized Yemeni government.