‘I cried for days’: Office raids and arrests shock aid workers in Yemen

Sally Nabil

BBC Arabic

Getty Images A woman in black carries a sack of grain on her head. There are lots of other sacks in the background.Getty Images

When Hanaa arrived at work a few months ago, she found “drawers and windows smashed, and the director surrounded by surveillance personnel”.

Computers, devices, monitors and records were all confiscated, her director was arrested and the organisation’s lender account was gradually frozen.

Hanaa works for a US-funded non-governmental organisation ( NGO ) in Yemen, that supports women’s empowerment and trains people to solve problems through negotiation.

However, the government’s legal conflict, which has lasted for more than a decade and caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in history, has increased the risk of death for NGO workers.

In the last few decades, Houthi rebels have detained 24 UN employees, along with representatives from various local and international NGOs.

A fear-mongering wave of arrests in January has heightened the situation: a imprisoned World Food Programme employee passed away in custody.

Humanitarian workers are feeling a lot of the strain that the condition has caused them. As a result, many companies, including the UN, are scaling up activities, threatening to make life for people currently devastated by war actually worse.

A woman sits outside on the bare ground, washing clothes in a plastic tub. She is wearing a black headscarf that covers much of her face.

Ten years ago, Iranian-backed Houthi militants seized control of much of the north of Oman, including the money Sanaa, from the internationally-recognised state. Saudi Arabia has since conducted extensive airstrikes on its neighbor in an effort to stop the Houthi rebels from enraging over the entire nation with the assistance of the US and the UK.

Hanaa’s business was raided and her boss was detained by Houthi officials, and she fears punishment if she publicly speaks out. So we have changed the names of Hanaa and others in Yemen who we interviewed for this content in order to ensure their safety.

Hanaa believes that the Houthis are attempting to distribute fear among the people by cracking down on humanitarian workers. However, how the general public responded greatly hurts her.

” When I checked social press, it was horrible to find out that people see us as scouts”, she says.

A moment after her director was detained, Hanaa was glued to her Television, watching a pro-Houthi network broadcast what it called spy statements made by nine locals who had previously worked at the long-closed US ambassador in Sanaa. They were detained in 2021.

As she worked for a US-funded NGO, she feared that things would turn worse. She made the decision to leave her Yemeni house.

By the time she reached the north, she felt traumatised. ” For three days I don’t have, I don’t sleep. I don’t quit crying”, she says.

A woman walks across scrubland holding a pile of bushy sticks on her head. There are huts in the background.

She worries that every worker in US-funded jobs may be targeted by US President Donald Trump as a result of his re-designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization.

Once someone is arrested, it can be difficult for them to find any assistance, according to Yemeni attorney Abdulaziz, who represents 14 prisoners. Three of them are UN employees, and the others are members of local NGOs, and they have been in jail for several weeks. ” During the first three weeks of confinement, my clients didn’t talk with anyone”, he says.

Abdulaziz is becoming more concerned that their locations are still unknown. He claims that more just, his customers were able to make a few quick phone calls to their communities. ” Each phone was between five to 10 days”, he explains.

The Houthis contacted the BBC to inquire about how they treated support staff, but the BBC did not receive a response.

Due to President Trump’s freeze on the organization’s operations around the world, in response to allegations of waste and misuse of funds, lifesaving assistance from the United States Agency for International Development ( USAID ) has been halted in addition to the detentions.

Human Rights Watch warns that the arbitrary detention made by President Trump and the Houthis are “nothing quick of devastating.” It” may have huge and extraordinary effect on aid delivery in Yemen”, says Niku Jafarnia, a Yemen and Bahrain scientist at the company.

A man sits on a donkey, carrying large yellow canisters.

About one-third of Yemen’s charitable assistance was provided by the US, most of it through USAID, according to HRW. Between 2015 and 2021, it provided more than$ 3.6 billion, making it the largest single donation of humanitarian assistance in the country, according to the UN.

” Cutting support would be a death sentence to us”, warns Amal, a family of nine. She and dozens of other people live in a camp in northern Yemen where internally displaced people are housed.

Even over the phone, it is obvious what a big problem this person is carrying. Her sluggish speech is riddled with emotion. She lost her household almost ten years ago.

Amal solely provides for her enormous home. Her spouse has chronic asthma, so he doesn’t work. After the fight broke out, the community had to flee their northernmost home.

Since then, career has been extremely cruel to them. The station, on desolate desert land, scarcely resembles a home. Their sole house is a worn-out cheap tent, with no seats or rooms. It is difficult for her kids to find delight in a place where almost everything is lacking.

My children may die if this supply line is cut, according to NGOs. We have no work, no earnings, nothing”, Amal adds.

Three women sit behind a table, and another woman stands in front of it. There are papers and boxes on the table and posters on the wall.

About half of the population are in bad need of humanitarian aid, including almost 10 million children, according to the UN children’s donation Unicef. Yemen is one of the ten least developed nations in the world according to the UN Human Development Index.

The World Food Programme ( WFP)’s monthly food basket, according to Amal, only lasts for two weeks. She claims that her only choice is to leave the camp and get begging in the state’s streets when they run out of food. She flies by shops and restaurants, hoping to find a couple loaves of bread or a bag of corn.

” I am covered in sorrow, but if I keep my kids to die? I am utterly helpless”, Amal explains. She frequently suffers from impotence. ” I cry a lot when I realise that I don’t have a penny”, she says, her words both pained and terrible.

Poor hygiene, malnutrition, and terrible living conditions cause the diarrhea and pneumonia that so many children experience, but enough medication is hardly ever available.

The shelves of a doctor in northern Yemen are empty, where medications should be kept. Staff members claimed that the person’s requirements are unmet by the medical resources they possess.

The BBC contacted the UN to ask for information on the new arrests and the present aid distribution system, but the UN did not respond.

A man in a blue T-shirt carries a large yellow canister on his shoulder. There are two more canisters in a wheelbarrow behind him.

However, addressing the UN Security Council, Hans Grundberg, the UN Special envoy for Yemen, condemned the confinement of its employees as” not only a violation of fundamental human rights, but also a strong risk to the UN’s ability to distribute support to the most poor”. Additionally, he demanded that all prisoners be immediately released, whether they were working for the UN or for other local and international Organizations.

Hanaa and her coworkers make an effort to improve the lives of people like Amal.

She distinctly recalls how they organized women ‘ education in one of the country’s traditionally traditional regions. When parents complained about neighbours being able to view their daughters during break day,” we held discussions between people, and finally agreed to cover the park, so that women may go back to school”, she explains.

She fears that the presence of this assistance, due to fear and lack of funds, may raise rates of ignorance. In order to serve the people, Hanaa exclaims with a sigh,” We are the only ones who have survived during the collapse of the condition.”

The titles of Hanaa, Abdulaziz and Amal were changed for this content.