According to the United Nations, negotiations between Yemen's warring parties to carry out a prisoner exchange accord have started on Saturday.
The negotiations between the Houthi rebels and Yemen's officially recognised government are taking place in Switzerland. They are co-chaired by the International Committee of the Red Cross and U.N. envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg.
Grundberg urged all parties to "engage in serious and upcoming conversations to agree on releasing as many detainees as feasible," according to a U.N. statement.
In addition to the thousands of Yemeni families who have been waiting too long to be reunited with their loved ones, he urged the parties to uphold the promises they made to each other and to those families.
When the Houthis, who are backed by Iran, took control of Sanaa, the nation's capital, and a large portion of its north, the crisis in Yemen erupted. Months later, in an effort to reinstate the internationally recognised government to power, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened as a result of that.A spokeswoman for the ICRC located in Geneva named Jason Straziuso described the meeting as a chance to "decrease the humanitarian suffering linked with this conflict."
It will be good news for families to be reunited with loved ones if more captives are released, he said.
The negotiations will continue 11 days, according to Majed Fadail, Yemen's deputy minister for human rights and a member of the government delegation, according to the state-run SABA news agency.
He said they were eager to release all war prisoners to help achieve a “lasting and comprehensive peace” in Yemen.
Abdul-Qader el-Murtaza, the head of the Houthi delegation, said they hoped that this round of talks proves “decisive.”
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