07/01/2026
Statement Issued by
AWTAD Anti-Corruption Organization
Regarding the Destabilizing Role of Looted and Smuggled National Funds in the Recent Events in Yemen
We, at AWTAD Anti-Corruption Organization, as a Yemeni non-governmental civil society organization, have been closely monitoring the rapidly escalating developments in Yemen’s southern and eastern governorates since the beginning of last December, and their expansion into a regional conflict between the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These developments have clearly exposed the grave risks resulting from the Yemeni authorities’ and the international community’s disregard for the Yemeni people’s right to recover looted and smuggled national funds transferred abroad—particularly to the United Arab Emirates—which are being used to fuel conflicts and chaos, violate Yemen’s sovereignty, and commit human rights violations. AWTAD Anti-Corruption Organization has repeatedly warned of these risks since 2018, beginning with its campaign “Peace Without Corruption.”
The contents of the Panel of Experts’ reports on Yemen over the past years—based on which UN Security Council resolutions were issued to freeze funds and assets belonging to those obstructing the political settlement in Yemen—fall under the provisions of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), and the StAR Initiative for asset recovery. These funds should have been confiscated and recovered for the benefit of the Yemeni people.
When the Security Council issued its decision to lift these sanctions, it deliberately overlooked the contents of paragraphs (175) to (200) of the Panel of Experts’ report on Yemen (established pursuant to Article 21 of UN Security Council Resolution 2140 (2014), S/RES/2140 (2014)), submitted to the Security Council as document S/2015/125. These paragraphs contain explicit confirmations that the frozen funds and assets were acquired from illicit sources, particularly acts of corruption.
The decision to lift international sanctions on these funds in 2023 was a grave mistake, the consequences of which are not borne by Yemen alone today. Undoubtedly, the states that played a primary role in lifting these sanctions have now realized the seriousness of this error, which requires urgent reconsideration.
Over the past ten years, the United Arab Emirates has failed to comply with Security Council resolutions regarding asset freezes and has repeatedly violated them, as confirmed by paragraphs 125–127 of document S/2022/90, paragraphs 85–89 of S/2021/79, and paragraphs 103–107 of S/2020/70 from the Panel of Experts’ reports on Yemen. This clearly reflects its early efforts to use Yemen’s looted and smuggled wealth transferred to its territory to destabilize the country and expand conflicts, culminating in the events of December 2025, which were widely rejected and condemned regionally and internationally.
The confiscation of looted funds is no longer merely an issue of financial justice; it has become a security and political necessity to protect Yemen and the region, fully consistent with the Kingdom’s leading role in supporting legitimacy and stability.
Accordingly, while AWTAD Anti-Corruption Organization continues to warn of the dangers posed by the failure to confiscate and recover looted and smuggled national funds on peace, stability, development, and human rights in Yemen, we call upon the Yemeni authorities, regional states, and the international community to take serious and urgent measures to confiscate and recover all Yemeni looted and smuggled funds and assets abroad—primarily in the United Arab Emirates—and to pursue and prosecute all those involved, including individuals not subject to international sanctions.
We also call upon civil society organizations inside and outside Yemen, as well as regional and international organizations, to stand with the Yemeni people and support their legitimate right to recover their national wealth and direct it toward sustainable development.
Issued by
AWTAD Anti-Corruption Organization
Sana’a, 18 Rajab 1447 AH
Corresponding to 7 January 2026
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11yQN9QCtRvtel-gAH5qnpCTlSYWhhD58/view
