The Secretary-General welcomes the deal reached between the parties to the conflict in Yemen to release more than 1,600 conflict-related detainees, the largest such release agreed upon since the start of the conflict in Yemen. This achievement is the result of weeks of direct negotiations in Amman, Jordan, under the auspices of the United Nations.
The Secretary-General calls on the parties to move swiftly toward implementing the deal in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), so that families can be reunited as soon as possible. He also calls on them to work toward further releases, in line with their obligations under the 2018 Stockholm Agreement to release all conflict-related detainees for all.
He is grateful to the ICRC for its partnership with the UN as co-chair of the Supervisory Committee on the implementation of the detainee release agreement established under the 2018 Stockholm Agreement.
He also expresses his gratitude to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for hosting and supporting this round of negotiations, and to the Sultanate of Oman and Switzerland for hosting earlier rounds of talks on this file.
He calls on the Government of Yemen and the Houthis to build on the positive momentum generated by Thursday’s deal and engage constructively with his Special Envoy on Yemen towards an inclusive political process for a just and lasting peace in Yemen.
The Secretary-General further urges the Houthis to immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained personnel from the United Nations, NGOs, civil society and diplomatic missions. He reiterates that United Nations personnel including those who are nationals of Yemen, enjoy immunity from legal process in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed by them in their official capacity and must be allowed to independently perform their functions without hindrance, consistently with the Charter and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. He reaffirms that the United Nations system is determined to work through all possible channels to secure their safe release.
Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
New York, 14 May 2026
