Yemen’s Government And Houthis Agree To Exchange 1,700 Houthi Prisoners For 1,200 Detainees

The Yemeni government recognized by the international community and the Houthis agreed to a prisoner exchange negotiated over several days in Oman, with the UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg welcoming the accord as a “positive and significant measure.”

“The agreement was negotiated over several days in Oman, a key mediator in this conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels”

African Manager

The agreement provides for the release of 1,700 Houthi prisoners and 1,200 people on the government side, including seven Saudis and 23 Sudanese, and for now “no information has leaked about the date of the exchange.”

African Manager

The RTS.ch report said the exchange was announced as involving “thousands” of prisoners, while also quoting the head of the Houthi delegation for detainees saying “1,700 of our prisoners in exchange for 1,200 of theirs.”

Both sides’ officials did not indicate when the exchange would take place, and the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “ready to organize the release, transfer, and repatriation of detainees.”

Grundberg warned that implementation would require “the ongoing commitment and cooperation of the parties,” and he said the agreement should be coordinated with regional support and sustained efforts toward further releases.

The RTS.ch report added that dozens of UN staff members are among those detained by the Houthis, and it quoted UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urging on X to “release them immediately and unconditionally.”

Africanews

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “ready to proceed with the release, transfer and repatriation of detainees so that people separated from their families can be reunited in safe and dignified conditions.”

African Manager also said among those detained by the Houthis are “dozens of UN staff members,” while noting that prisoner exchanges remain rare in this war and that the last one dated back to 2023.

The Le Soir report framed the agreement as involving nearly 3,000 people, quoting Abdelkader al-Mourtada saying “We signed today an agreement with the other side to implement a large-scale prisoner exchange involving 1,700 of our prisoners in exchange for 1,200 theirs.”

“Yemeni press and social media platforms in the past couple of days have reacted to what they described as a notable development in the file of prisoner and detainee exchanges between the Yemeni government and the Houthi movement”

Al-Jazeera Net

Africanews said the deal would free 2,900 detainees held since the start of the civil war 11 years ago, and it described it as the largest prisoner exchange between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government of Yemen since the start of the civil war.

Al Jazeera Net described the same file as suspended between optimism and uncertainty because of “the absence of any official announcement confirming that the agreement has been concluded now,” even as it said sources indicated a deal to exchange around 3,000 prisoners and detainees was near.

In that account, the stakes extend to families of prisoners and abductees and to the risk that the humanitarian file could be used as “a political lever,” with the outcome hinging on whether announced understandings translate into an official agreement that is implemented on the ground.