After more than a year of suspending most of its humanitarian activities in areas controlled by the Houthi movement, amid the arrest of dozens of local staff and the seizure of assets and property, the United Nations has declared that its relationship with the group has reached a dead end, according to a report publishe by Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
Reflecting the depth of the crisis, the World Food Program has decided to halt its operations entirely in Houthi-held Sanaa and dismiss all its staff, after exhausting efforts to end repeated violations against humanitarian workers and to secure minimum conditions for safe operations.
Sources working with the United Nations and the aid sector told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decision to end the WFP’s presence in Houthi-controlled areas was driven by systematic practices aimed at undermining the independence of humanitarian work. These included direct interference in operations, tight restrictions on staff movement, the seizure of offices and warehouses, and repeated attempts to impose beneficiaries based on political and security considerations.
Despite this, WFP maintained limited operations through local partners to deliver emergency aid to the most vulnerable, particularly during natural disasters and floods that struck several governorates over the past two years. This continued until security and administrative conditions deteriorated to unprecedented levels.
Despite the flexibility shown by the United Nations in dealing with restrictions and its efforts to overcome violations of the rules governing UN missions, the Houthis responded with escalating measures.
These included raids on the offices of several UN agencies, including the World Food Program, the arrest of dozens of local employees, accusations that they were spying for the United States and Israel, and the seizure of assets and property belonging to UN agencies and other organizations.
According to the sources, WFP continued for more than a year to pay salaries to its staff, including those detained or barred from work after Houthi rebels took control of UN premises.
It also maintained paying rent on buildings, while engaging in difficult negotiations aimed at securing the release of detained staff, ending the takeover of offices, and recovering confiscated assets.
With around 12 million people living in Houthi-controlled areas, the UN has warned that these measures, most recently the raid on the offices of six UN agencies in Sanaa and the seizure of their assets, will lead to an unprecedented deterioration of the humanitarian situation, in the absence of acceptable arrangements to ensure aid reaches those in need.
The UN Security Council adopted resolutions in 2025 and this year calling on the Houthis to provide a safe working environment and to immediately and unconditionally release all detained staff from the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and diplomatic missions.
The rebels have ignored the calls and demanded a review of the UN presence agreement in Yemen, which dates back to the 1960s.