Yemeni Aid Worker Details Years of Houthi Detention and Forced Media Labor

Ezzadin Al Awadhi, a former employee of the Anhar Al-Firdaws Foundation, has detailed the conditions of his multi-year detention by Houthi forces in Yemen. Now residing in Germany, Al Awadhi stated that the group seized his organization’s complex in Sanaa less than two weeks after the launch of Operation Decisive Storm in 2015. The takeover halted the construction of an orphanage, hospital, and community kitchen. He accused Houthi officials of looting the charity and converting its land for residential and commercial use.

After initially evading arrest, Al Awadhi surrendered to avoid being hunted. His captors forced him to sign statements admitting to charges against him. They made his release conditional on his assistance with their media operations. Citing his journalism background, the group assigned him to support cultural-awareness and mobilization programs designed to recruit fighters. He identified Houthi officials Ibrahim Al-Sharafi and Ibrahim Al-Mahtouri as the primary drivers of this pressure. The Houthis confirmed that Al-Sharafi died in a Saudi strike near the end of October 2026.

In early 2017, the demands on Al Awadhi intensified to include presenting public events that promoted the conflict. At a gathering in Al-Sabeen Square aimed at recruiting fighters against Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, he requested to speak only on themes of patriotism and solidarity. He said threats of accusations supporting the opposition compelled him to present the entire program. Later, when armed men arrived to arrest him at work, he hid in a facility used for preparing bodies for burial for nearly three months.

Al Awadhi eventually surrendered again and faced all-night questioning. The Houthis alleged that he supplied coordinates for Saudi airstrikes and acted on behalf of Israel. They also claimed he used youth-training programs to organize opposition fighters. He denied these claims but signed admissions after being threatened with transfer to the Habrah detention center. A community figure secured his release by acting as a guarantor.

Three days after his release, Al Awadhi received a warning that another arrest was planned. He changed his appearance, obtained false identification, and passed through checkpoints to reach Seiyun in Hadhramaut. From there, he traveled to Malaysia, where Yemenis could more easily obtain visas. He reported years of nightmares and suicidal thoughts during his time in Malaysia. Immigration-law changes that raised deportation fears pushed him toward Europe.

Without a legal route, Al Awadhi traveled through forests in Belarus, enduring extreme hunger and thirst on a journey he described as nearly fatal. Psychological care and emergency intervention in Germany helped him begin to recover. He cited the death of one of his former interrogators as a factor in his decision to speak publicly. Many of his relatives had disowned him after he left Yemen. He expressed gratitude for German support and called for a Yemen where humanitarian work is protected and people are not forced into war.