The ICRC will have 10 days to arrange transfers of the prisoners under the deal signed by Houthi rebels and Yemeni government. The exchange is likely to include detainees held outside the country.
Image: Reuters/A. Zeyad
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The Yemen government and the Houthi rebels have agreed to release 16,000 detainees under the deal signed last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Wednesday.
The government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Shiite Houthi rebels, which are supported by Iran, exchanged lists with the names of detainees.
The lists will be subject to a four-week review to verify the identities of individuals named. Starting from January 21, the ICRC will have 10 days to arrange transfers of those released.
It is "highly probable" that they will include people detained outside Yemen, as well as some foreigners held in the country, Fabrizio Carboni, the regional director for the Near and Middle East for the ICRC, told a briefing.
The ICRC is to act "as a neutral intermediary and provides technical support" to facilitate the transfer. The organization has been in direct contact with the respective detention authorities and has had access to some of the detained individuals.
Representatives of the Red Cross have verified the conditions of detention and helped establish contacts between the detainees and their families.
Although the deal reached on December 11 marks a big step for the Yemen peace talks, both sides have warned that an agreement on a ceasefire is not likely to happen during this round.
"We hope this agreement helps build the confidence needed for a political solution to the conflict in Yemen," Fabrizio Carboni said.
Direct talks took place previously in 2015 and 2016, but both attempts were unsuccessful. The UN special envoy Martin Griffiths had attempted to bring the two sides together for UN-sponsored talks in Geneva in September of this year, but the rebels failed to appear.
International aid group Oxfam said Wednesday that more than half a million displaced people in Yemen face the "double threat" of famine and low temperatures. Some 530,000 people are in mountainous areas, many of them living in makeshift shelters with no insulation or weatherproofing.
Yemen's war has left at least 10,000 people dead and generated the world's worst humanitarian crisis. International pressure has mounted for the two sides to end the conflict. The United States has called for a ceasefire and reduced some of its logistical aid for the Saudi coalition, while Iran has also signaled support for the talks.
ev/rc (Reuters, AP)
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
Yemen has struggled to cope with crises prompted by its atrocious civil war, including catastrophic hunger and devastating cholera outbreaks. DW examines the conflict and how it affects the country's civilian population.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
War: The 'root cause' of Yemen's disasters
The UN has identified conflict as the "root cause" of Yemen's crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war erupted in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the capital, Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a deadly campaign against the rebels, one that has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its high civilian death toll.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Fighting keeps food from the famished
The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in more than two-thirds of the country's 28 million people being classified as "food insecure." Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or nursing women are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Displacement: Converging crises
More than 3 million people have been displaced by conflict, including marginalized communities such as the "Muhammasheen," a minority tribe that originally migrated from Africa. Despite the civil war, many flee conflict in Somalia and head to Yemen, marking the convergence of two major migration crises in the Middle East nation. Yemen hosts around 250,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Cholera: A deadly epidemic
The number of suspected cholera cases has exceeded more than 2 million and least 3,700 people have died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen since October 2019, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
Unsuspecting victims of the'war on terror'
In Yemen, violence goes beyond civil conflict: It is considered a strategic front in the war on terrorism. The country serves as the operational base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, dubbed the "most dangerous" terrorist group before the rise of the "Islamic State." The US routinely uses drones to target al-Qaida leadership. However, civilians have often been killed in the operations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Arhab
Children's fate: Future marred by tragedy
In a country paralyzed by conflict, children are one of the most at-risk groups in Yemen. More than 12 million children require humanitarian aid, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency. The country's education system is "on the brink of collapse," while children are dying of "preventable causes like malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections," according to the agency.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Peace: An elusive future
Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. A peace deal, however, remains elusive.
