Houthi war captives released and returned to Yemen

The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen freed 163 Houthi prisoners of war on Friday and assisted in their return to Aden and Sanaa as part of its initiative to prepare the way for the country’s conflict to be resolved.

A total of 108 people were moved to Aden, Yemen’s temporary capital, while nine were sent to Houthi-held Sanaa. Nine foreign fighters apprehended while fighting alongside the Houthis were handed over to their respective embassies. In addition, the coalition transported 37 injured fighters by land to their home districts in Yemen.

The coalition confirmed the departure of the first flight bringing dozens of Houthi prisoners from Saudi Arabia to Yemen on Friday morning, the first of three stages in the process to transfer the captives to Sanaa and Aden.

In three flights, the International Committee of the Red Cross is aiding the transport of over 100 inmates from Saudi Arabia to Yemen.

According to Basheer Omar, the spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Yemen, the destinations of released prisoners were determined by their place of origin, current homes, personal wishes, and security concerns to help them arrive safely at their homes, adding that around 80 detainees arrived in Aden by Friday afternoon.

Yemeni government authorities in charge of detainees said convicts arriving in Aden will be transported by bus and vehicle to respective villages and cities after the Houthis refused to accept them in Sanaa.

Majed Fadhail, Yemen’s deputy minister of human rights and a member of a government team engaging in prisoner swap discussions with the militia, commended Saudi Arabia for the humanitarian move, adding the Houthis wanted the coalition to release their military commanders.

“The Houthis were seeking the release of big heads and some Hashemite fighters,” Fadhail said, urging the Houthis to reciprocate the coalition’s move by releasing thousands of Yemenis held inside their prisons. “I hope that this initiative will accelerate the completion of the prisoner exchange deal,” he added.

The current efforts to accomplish another significant prisoner swap between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government came to a halt when the militia proposed exchanging their militants jailed by the government for civilians kidnapped from Sanaa’s streets.

In October 2020, warring groups in Yemen exchanged more than 1,000 captives in the first significant prisoner exchange since the conflict began.

The coalition’s prisoner move comes as international pressure mounts on Yemeni sides to uphold the current two-month UN-brokered cease-fire, despite claims of hundreds of violations, including a Houthi drone strike near Taiz.

Richard Oppenheim, UK ambassador to Yemen, said the UN-brokered truce was helping ease the aggravating humanitarian crisis in Yemen and was opening doors to achieving peace, urging the Yemeni parties to honor their commitments to end the fighting.

“We join international calls for all parties to uphold their truce commitments, including by relieving years of siege-like conditions that have created a humanitarian catastrophe for hundreds of thousands of people in and around Taiz and by re-opening Sanaa airport,” he tweeted.

The French Embassy in Yemen expressed its concerns over delays in opening the airport in Sanaa, and the Houthi siege of the Taiz, urging the various factions to work in good faith to alleviate the suffering of Yemenis across the country by supporting the truce.

“After more than seven years of war, everything must be done to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, whether in Taiz or elsewhere in the country. This requires upholding the truce by all parties for the good of all Yemenis,” the embassy tweeted.

The Yemeni government said the Houthis had committed 341 violations of the truce from April 30 to May 4, during the Eid break, by attacking and firing missiles at government-controlled cities and army locations in Taiz, Marib, Jouf, Dhale, Saada, Abyan, and Hodeidah.

On Wednesday, at least 10 civilians were wounded when an explosive-laden drone launch by the Houthis hit a security center for government forces in the southern city of Taiz.

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