Geneva, July 24 (SANA)The United Nations on Friday called on key countries in the Middle East to help evacuate and repatriate around 6,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz due to the war in the Middle East and the closure of the strategic waterway.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson forU.N. High Commissioner for Human RightsVolker Türk, told reporters in Geneva that Türk had urged governments, shipowners and all relevant parties to act urgently to protect stranded seafarers facing a serious humanitarian and human rights crisis by providing consular assistance, delivering essential supplies and facilitating their safe evacuation and return home.

Mantoo said attacks on civilian vessels are unacceptable and must stop, stressing that ships are protected under international humanitarian law. She warned that seafarers remain exposed to hostilities as deadly attacks continue in the strait and face the risk of death or injury, noting that 17 seafarers have been reported killed since the outbreak of the war in late February.

The U.N. human rights office said some shipowners had abandoned stranded crews at sea, leaving them without support, repatriation or wages, including at least 93 people aboard nine vessels.

TheInternational Maritime Organization(IMO) has said that at least 6,000 seafarers remain stranded aboard hundreds of ships in the strait and have been unable to evacuate despite the ceasefire, while the fate of many other seafarers remains unknown.

The U.S.-Israeli-Iranian war, which erupted in late February, resumed this month after a ceasefire that lasted only a few weeks.F.J.