The UAE occupation is preparing to open the largest factories yet to plunder Yemen’s fish wealth on the occupied island of Socotra, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Yemen Press Agency reported on Tuesday, citing well-informed sources.
According to the source, the UAE is about to open these factories in order to transport fish to Abu Dhabi in the coming days, in an act of flagrant encroachment on Yemen’s natural resources.
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 engage in various forms of harassment against the island fishermen and have cut off their livelihoods, and subsequently the livelihoods of their families.
The UAE has monopolized fishing for its own benefit, buying fish cheaply from fishermen, disrupting the interests of Yemeni fish suppliers with the complicity of the government loyal to the 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 Yemeni investment laws. The United Nations’ classification of Socotra as a nature reserve makes investment in the Island uniquely exclusive, unlike 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, who demanded 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, which is sold in local Saudi and Emirati markets, as well as European markets without the Yemeni people benefiting from it
