UAE establishes huge factories in Socotra to drain Yemen’s fish wealth

The UAE is preparing to open the largest factories to plunder Yemen’s fish wealth on the occupied island of Socotra, in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

“Yemen Press Agency” learned, from private sources, that the UAE is about to open the largest factories to transport fish and tuna to Abu Dhabi in the coming days, in a flagrant encroachment on the natural resources of the people of Yemen.

The sources stated that the two factories belong to the so-called “Khalifa Foundation” and are supervised by the Emirati delegate, Khalfan Al-Mazrouei.

According to the sources, the Emirati forces and their militias practice various harassment against the island fishermen and cut off their livelihoods, which they depend on to support their families.

The UAE monopolized fishing for its own benefit and buying fish cheaply from fishermen, which led to the disruption of the interests of Yemeni fish suppliers, with the complicity of the government loyal to Saudi-led coalition, the sources added.

The industrial facilities set up by Abu Dhabi on the island of Socotra are carried out in contravention of the investment laws in Yemen. The status of Socotra Island as a nature reserve according to the classification of the United Nations, makes the investment in the island takes on a character of unique privacy, not like the rest of the provinces.

The UAE began to establish two factories for canning fish and another factory for dates on the Yemeni island of Socotra at the beginning of 2020, ignoring the protests of the people of Socotra demanding the closure of a factory supervised by Al-Mazrouei for canning fish early last April.

It is noteworthy that the UAE and Saudi Arabia loot approximately one million tons of Yemeni marine wealth, valued at more than 5 billion dollars annually, and they are sold in the Saudi and Emirati local markets and European markets without the Yemeni people benefiting from them.

YPA