NEW YORK: The head of the UN mission at Hodeidah in Yemen, which is monitoring the ceasefire there, has called for its mandate to be extended.

Maj. Gen. Michael Beary emphasized the strategic and humanitarian significance of the coastal city to the future of Yemen, and said there is no 鈥渆asy substitute鈥� for its ports.

鈥淭he ports serve as a lifeline for Yemen,鈥� he told Arab News. 鈥淭hey supply up to 70 percent of the country鈥檚 population with humanitarian aid and essential food supplies.

鈥淭here is no viable substitute for Hodeidah鈥檚 ports, both in terms of location and infrastructure, and the governorate remains an indispensable pathway to the country鈥檚 social economic recovery.鈥�

However, Beary said that his team, formally known as the UN Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement, remains dogged by restrictions on the movement of personnel imposed by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who have, from the beginning, prevented them from carrying out patrols in Hodeidah city and accessing hot spots and the locations of significant 鈥渃easefire incidents.鈥�

鈥淲e are very much in touch with Houthis,鈥� he said. But although the current truce between the Yemeni government and the militia seems largely to be holding and has led to 鈥渟ome relaxations鈥� on the part of the Houthis, he added: 鈥淲e are still confined.鈥�
Speaking at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday, where he was having private consultations with members of the Security Council ahead of a vote on the renewal of his mission鈥檚 mandate, which is scheduled for July, he said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e been trying to push back against (the restrictions on freedom of movement) and I have been trying to get acquiescence from the Houthis to expand our patrolling format.

鈥淚 would like to be patrolling to the ports unannounced at any time and visit every area and that鈥檚 what I want to get to, but I am not quite there yet. But we have increased the frequencies of our patrols to ensure that the ports and the civilian nature of the ports is maintained.鈥�
The UNMHA was born from the 2018 Stockholm Agreement, a voluntary accord between the parties to Yemen鈥檚 conflict. It includes three main undertakings, including a prisoner-swap deal and an agreement on addressing the situation in besieged Taiz governorate.
Regarding Hodeidah, and the ports there and at Salif and Ras Issa, the signatories agreed to an immediate ceasefire in the city, the securing of the ports and the establishment of a committee to coordinate the redeployment of forces. The agreement also provided for a strengthened UN presence in the city and ports.

The UNMHA is tasked with maintaining the civilian status of the ports amid the continuing regional and international outcry against the use of them by the Houthis for war-related activities and reports of Iran using the ports to smuggle arms into the country.
Beary said that his mission has not been able to independently verify the claims of arms smuggling through the ports, nor has it witnessed any war-related activities there, but he again noted the limits on his team鈥檚 ability to move about freely and carry out 鈥渦nannounced鈥� inspections.

鈥淚 lead a small, political mission; it鈥檚 120-strong, it is not a big peacekeeping mission,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have small number of military monitors and we do have challenges in terms of freedom of movement in Hodeidah.
鈥淲e work through those challenges as best we can. We patrol as regularly as we can into the port鈥檚 environment.鈥�
Beary explained that there are also geographical issues to overcome.

鈥淭here鈥檚 quite a separation between these ports,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you go from Hodeida to (Salif), it is a three-hour-long trip. They鈥檙e not all nicely tied together.

鈥淪o we go out there, we look for any changes in the immediate nature of the ports. And 鈥� from the periods that we have been doing this, and we鈥檝e been doing this since Stockholm was agreed, we haven鈥檛 seen any major military movements or military manifestations.鈥�

Despite the issues that his mission continues to face, he said it continues to perform a vital task.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important for the international community that we continue to do this and I certainly will keep advocating to get greater freedom of movement in order to allow us to be out there more frequently and unannounced, and therefore we can reliably inform the international community that the ports are civilian in nature,鈥� Beary said.

鈥淭he ports are (strategically) so important. There is no easy substitute for them on the coast. The ports are incredibly important for the delivery of humanitarian aid. We must keep them open.鈥�

He added that action to reduce the threat posed by mines remains one of the most important elements of his mission鈥檚 work. He said the devices continue to claim innocent lives and described them as 鈥渁 curse on the population of Yemen.鈥�

鈥淭he mission is sparing no effort to mobilize support to respond to this tragic problem within our immediate environment,鈥� he said.

Beary said he is building a good relationship with the government of Yemen and hopes to develop a solid rapport with all parties to help the UN reap the benefits of what he called the 鈥減eace dividends鈥� resulting from the nationwide truce, which began in April, including the recent resumption of commercial international flights to and from Yemen, and fuel shipments to Hodeidah.

鈥淧eace must really come from the parties, it can鈥檛 be imposed upon them by the UN or by the UN missions, but we will be there, ready to help them,鈥� Beary said.