As of 25 March 2026, 118 United Nations personnel are being held in detention worldwide, more than double the 52 recorded at the same point last year, according to a statement by Secretary-General António Guterres marking the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members.

The sharpest concentration is in Yemen, where 73 UN staff remain in the custody of de facto Houthi authorities, some for as long as five years. The UN Human Rights chief, Volker Türk, described their continued detention as an intolerable injustice compounded daily, and called for unconditional and immediate release. Last year alone, 179 UN staff were arrested or detained, a figure that reflects a broad and alarming pattern of impunity.

UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock was unequivocal: “UN staff should never be a target.” Their detention not only violates international law and humanitarian immunities, but it also directly obstructs the delivery of life-saving assistance to millions of civilians in some of the world’s most fragile settings, from Gaza and Sudan to Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The day itself commemorates Alec Collett, a journalist working for UNRWA who was abducted in 1985 and whose body was recovered in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley only in 2009.

Source: UN Secretary-General Statement, International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, 25 March 2026; UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) statement by Volker Türk, 25 March 2026.