The United Nations has called for the urgent evacuation and repatriation of about 6,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz as tensions in the Middle East continue to disrupt one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.
The appeal came on Friday as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warned of what he described as a worsening humanitarian and human rights crisis affecting sailors trapped aboard hundreds of vessels.
According to UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo, the International Maritime Organization estimates that at least 6,000 seafarers remain stranded in the strategic waterway and have been unable to disembark despite the ceasefire.
“Parties to the conflict should urgently work to facilitate safe passage for stranded seafarers to safely evacuate and disembark, as well as ensure the delivery of critical supplies,” Mantoo said during a press briefing in Geneva.
She stressed that attacks on civilian vessels violate international humanitarian law.
“Attacks against civilian vessels are unacceptable and must stop. They are protected under international humanitarian law,” she said.
Mantoo added that Türk has urged governments, shipowners and other stakeholders to take immediate steps to protect stranded seafarers by providing consular assistance, essential supplies and facilitating their evacuation and repatriation.
The humanitarian appeal comes as the conflict escalated further on Friday, with the United States launching fresh strikes on Iran after Tehran-backed Houthi rebels attacked oil tankers in the Red Sea.
The renewed hostilities pushed global crude oil prices above $100 per barrel.
Despite the attacks, the US military maintained that the Strait of Hormuz remains open for maritime transit, even as Iran continued targeting commercial tankers in what Washington said was an attempt to force ships to pay for safe passage.
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