Emirati Occupation Is Tampering with Natural Environment on Socotra Island

On Oct 16, 2022

Activists warned of the continued death of the rare dragon blood tree, on the island of Socotra, which is under the control of the UAE occupation.

Activists pointed out that among the reasons that led to this matter is that the Emirati aggression and occupation turned the island into a military barracks, and caused great damage to the island, its environment and its reputation as a nature reserve.

The Environmental Protection Authority in Socotra said that the dragon blood tree fell as a result of repeated attacks in Dixum Park.

The phenomenon of the death of the dragon blood tree continues, along with other species, despite the appeals made by the residents of Socotra Island from time to time to save the unique diversity of the island from extinction.

It should be noted that foreign reports have confirmed, in recent years, that the UAE state has placed the dragon blood trees in exhibitions for sale in Abu Dhabi, after looting and transporting them from the Yemeni island of Socotra.

The dragon blood tree has a unique and strange appearance, with an “upturned, densely packed crown having the shape of an uprightly held umbrella”. This evergreen species is named after its dark red resin, which is known as “dragon’s blood”.

On September, local sources on the Yemeni island of Socotra said that UAE has registered 400 young men from the island in the statements of its militias, noting that arrangements are being made to transfer the new recruits to the Security Belt Camp in Hadibo to receive training under the supervision of Emirati officers.

The sources pointed out that the move to recruit more of Socotra residents comes within the framework of Abu Dhabi’s efforts to occupy the island.

The UAE campaign to recruit people Socotra comes after the recruitment of about 150 girls and young women from Socotra at the end of last August, aged between 15 and 22 years, and transporting them to Abu Dhabi to receive training with the aim of serving Abu Dhabi’s tendencies in the acquisition of the Yemeni island of Socotra.

The United Arab Emirates arrived on Socotra in 2015 and, despite protests from nearly all Yemeni factions, have slowly expanded their influence since. Today, calls to the island are made using the UAE’s country code, and tourists fly from Abu Dhabi without a Yemeni visa — a situation that some argue amounts to annexation.

According to an article in Breaking Defense, the Emiratis have also established a military presence on Socotra. They are considering expanding that presence by putting missile defense sensors on the island, which would support a nascent, US-led alliance made up of the Israeli enemy and several Arab states.

The UAE state, which is implicated in the aggression against Yemen, began preparations for the establishment of a new military camp for its invading forces on the island of Socotra, in conjunction with a campaign to displace the island’s residents.

Local sources indicated that dozens of Emirati officers and a number of Israeli engineers began planning to create a new camp in Hadibo, the administrative center of the island. The sources added that the creation of the new camp comes with the purpose of absorbing the new military batches of the forces of the Saudi-led aggression that have flowed to the island during the recent period.

The sources indicated that the camp will be equipped with modern surveillance and intelligence equipment. An Emirati-Israeli military ship has arrived at the port of Socotra, carrying military equipment.

The Emirati regime continues its aggressive efforts to militarize and occupy the island, as part of a plan to isolate it from the rest of the Yemeni governorates, in conjunction with its continued forcible displacement of the local population on the island.

Local sources confirmed that, during the past days, Emirati forces expelled dozens of families from their homes on Abd al-Kuri Island, at gunpoint.

The sources pointed out that the new displacement comes after the start of construction work to build military runways and warehouses belonging to the joint Emirati and Israeli forces stationed in the archipelago.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor had accused the UAE forces and their factions of expelling dozens of families from their homes in the Socotra archipelago, at the beginning of this year. The evacuation of residents on the island of Abd al-Kuri coincides with the establishment of an Emirati-Israeli military base on the island, with the aim of strengthening control over maritime navigation routes in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.