Thirty-seven United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) workers, including some employed by the U.S. government, are being held captive by Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen, the agency's new executive director told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. Many have been detained for two years. Lindberg's remarks come as WFP workers face growing threats in some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones, where hundreds have died risking their lives to save others, he said.
"Right now in Yemen, we have 37 colleagues of ours who are currently detained," Lindberg said. IRAN-BACKED TERROR PROXY HOUTHIS THREATEN FRESH ATTACKS AFTER YEMEN AIRPORT STRIKE "These folks are out there to provide basic humanitarian services. They're not there to influence the political outcomes of a conflict.
And so we need to protect them, and we need to get our detained colleagues released." "All detainees are Yemeni nationals employed locally by the WFP, Lindberg clarified, before stating that some have been separated from their families for "nearly two years," he clarified. "It's a really complex political environment," Lindberg continued before adding that there are no current Americans in that pool. "They are all locally employed Yemenis.
But the U.S. government does have some locally employed staff, again, not American citizens, but employed by the US government, also in the detained population there in Yemen." Just three days into his tenure, Lindberg raised the detentions with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, underscoring the urgency of securing the workers' release. "Ambassador Waltz is aware, and the State Department team has done a great job of taking this seriously and also, it's a priority for them as it is for us to get these folks released." TRUMP OFFICIALS UNVEIL PRIVATE SECTOR BLUEPRINT FOR LIFE AFTER USAID "It's been almost two years," Lindberg said.
"Away from their families. It breaks my heart." The detentions come amid Yemen’s crippling civil war between the internationally recognized government and Iran-backed Houthis, which has devastated the economy and left millions dependent on humanitarian aid. More than 18 million people face acute food insecurity, including more than two million children under age five suffering from acute malnutrition.
"Our team operates in the most impossible and challenging conditions you can imagine around the world," Lindberg said. "People like me, we're not out in the field, literally handing food to people and literally cooking food for people so that they get the nourishment. It's the wonderful people, the people that choose to go out and do this work that are the real heroes of this equation." Lindberg said the WFP must now balance reaching vulnerable populations with protecting employees from unacceptable risks.
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