August 15, 2024
Mr. President,
We are grateful to Mr. Hans Grundberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen, and Ms. Lisa Doughten, Director of OCHA’s Humanitarian Financing and Resource Mobilization Division, for their briefings.
The situation in this Middle East country remains extremely challenging. The Yemeni settlement has been teetering “on the brink of life and death” for more than six months. Despite the absence of large-scale hostilities, the situation on the contact line is still unsettled, with localized clashes taking place almost every day. Obviously, the patience of the parties to the conflict may run out at any moment. In the current circumstances, even a tiny spark can trigger a full-blown conflagration that would be extremely difficult to put out. The deteriorating situation in the region confirms the urgent need to reach agreements and wrap up the Yemeni dossier as soon as possible. Otherwise, all efforts undertaken by the Yemeni parties themselves and by international and regional mediators since last April will come to naught.
Against this background, any steps, even minor ones, by the Yemeni protagonists towards each other take on special significance. We welcome the agreements reached between the Yemeni parties on de-escalation measures in the financial and economic spheres, as well as on the resumption of commercial flights to Sanaa. We commend the contribution made by the countries of the region to facilitate this process.
At the same time, the situation in Yemen gives more than enough reasons for concern. Thus, we are alarmed by reports of Ansar Allah seizing the OHCHR country office in Sanaa on August 3, and confiscating some documents and vehicles. Still unresolved is the situation with the 13 UN staff detained earlier. We call for, at least, immediate humanitarian access to be provided to them. Actions that violate the privileges and immunities of the UN structures and its staff are unacceptable not only in Yemen, but also in any other country, and the UN Security Council should not have “double standards” in this regard. In this context, we can’t but remind you about the more than two hundred UNRWA staff killed and dozens of the Agency’s facilities destroyed in Gaza. We also want to recall the disturbing information concerning the arbitrary detentions of UNRWA staff by the Israeli security forces, and the use of torture and violence against them. We hope that those who criticize the actions of the Houthis today will be just as principled with regard to Israel’s actions.
Mr. President,
It is regrettable to note that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is steadily deteriorating, and the country is suffering from food and energy crises. Two-thirds of its population – more than 18 million people – are in need of humanitarian assistance, and millions continue to suffer from the shortage of food. The UN humanitarian plan for Yemen for this year has not received even 25% of funding needed. On top of that, this long-suffering Middle Eastern country has been hit by torrential rains causing flush flooding. The provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz and Marib were affected the most. At least 57 people have died and tens of thousands of families have been displaced. The final damage is yet to be assessed.
In the current circumstances, it seems that Council members and the entire international community should mobilize all available resources to help ordinary Yemenis who are fighting for their lives now. They should be provided with unfettered access to food, medicine and other essentials regardless of where they live.
We believe that the only way to achieve broad national consensus and come up with a joint vision of the country’s future is to launch an inclusive inter-Yemeni dialog under the auspices of the UN. We continue to support the efforts by Special Envoy Hans Grundberg, including those aimed at formalizing a sustained ceasefire regime and launching a full-fledged inclusive national dialog with UN support. For our part, we continue to coordinate approaches with all of the major political forces in Yemen, as well as regional partners. The ultimate goal is to achieve long-term stabilization. We recall once again the need to update the international legal framework for a settlement in Yemen.
Mr. President,
I think hardly anyone would deny today that the overall steady escalation in the Middle East is having a direct impact on the situation in Yemen. The country, unfortunately, is becoming increasingly involved in regional turbulence. Attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea continue to pose a serious threat. We call on the Houthis to cease all actions that may affect the freedom of international navigation and free the Galaxy Leader and its crew. At the same time, we demand that all international actors respect Yemen’s sovereignty. Aggressive actions against objects on the territory of that country, such as the strikes by the Western “coalition” from the Red Sea basin, not only flagrantly violate international law, including the UN Charter, but also drive a spiraling escalation with the most unpredictable consequences.
It is obvious that Ansar Allah is acting not in a vacuum. Its actions, rather, reflect the level of frustration in the region at Israel’s policy that is literally trying to raze the Gaza Strip to the ground, seriously jeopardizing the lives of its nearly two million inhabitants. And the inaction of the UN Security Council only ignites the sentiment in the Arab “street” that supports the policy of the Houthis. The July escalation as the result of the exchange of strikes between them and Israel demonstrated once again that normalization both in the Middle East and the Red Sea is not possible without de-escalation in Gaza. Moreover, that cannot take place without an immediate full-fledged ceasefire, which the UN Security Council has been unable to achieve for 10 months now due to Washington’s pro-Israeli stance.
Colleagues,
This vicious circle can only be broken by collective decisive action, which would bring the Middle East settlement back under the auspices of the UN and into the well-known legal framework set by the decisions of the UN Security Council. All the other “murky schemes”, which benefit certain players but do not allow the Palestinians to get what they are entitled to have, are only distancing us from achieving a durable and just peace in the region. Let us finally focus on this urgent task, which will greatly facilitate our efforts to resolve other conflicts, including the Yemeni one.
Thank you.