“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.

About the ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.

For more information, please contact:

ICRC Geneva, +41 22 730 34 43, press@icrc.org
Hachem Osseiran, ICRC Dubai, +971 50 425 4091, hosseiran@icrc.org