Muscat, Oman (ICRC) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) welcomes the preliminary agreement reached between the parties to the conflict in Yemen to release, transfer and repatriate conflict-related detainees, and calls on all sides to translate these commitments into action.
"We are ready and determined to carry out the release, transfer and repatriation of detainees so that people separated from their families can be reunited in a safe and dignified manner," said Christine Cipolla, the ICRC's head of delegation in Yemen.
"We are counting on the cooperation of the parties to the conflict. It is essential that they uphold their commitments under the agreement and swiftly identify the detainees who are to be released," Cipolla said.
The ICRC's role as a neutral intermediary in these transfers is set out in the December 2018 Stockholm Agreement and stems from its neutral, impartial and humanitarian mandate, which is grounded in international humanitarian law. The ICRC carried out the release, transfer and repatriation of more than 900 detainees in Yemen in 2020 and more than 1,000 detainees in 2023 under this framework.
