{"id":5354,"date":"2018-05-18T12:24:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T12:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/who-knows-socotra\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T19:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:00:12","slug":"who-knows-socotra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/en\/who-knows-socotra\/","title":{"rendered":"Who knows Socotra?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United Arab Emirates have occupied several strategically important points in the recent past. Most recently, the island of Socotra, which belongs to Yemen. International politics remains silent. A commentary by Karl von Habsburg<\/a>. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There is no doubt that in a state governed by the rule of law, the state holds the monopoly on the use of force. Until now, this was relatively clearly structured: there were the police, the military, and perhaps in the shadows, yet still protected by the rule of law, a few intelligence services. With the changes in the field of conflict and warfare, this has changed. The state is resorting to means that one would normally only expect from criminal organisations. Terrorism is met with asymmetric warfare; cybercriminals are fought by cyber warfare specialists to whom the concept of privacy is foreign. <\/p>\n

The attitude towards violations of international law has also changed. Quite rightly, Russia was criticised and subjected to sanctions for the illegal occupation of Crimea by the ‘little green men’<\/a> \u2013 Russian soldiers in uniform but without insignia. But hardly anyone in Europe takes offence at the occupation of the Yemeni island of Socotra by soldiers from the United Arab Emirates. Although this is an adventurous violation of sovereignty, it is lost in the general ignorance of the Yemen war<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The European and international media hardly take notice anymore of the war unleashed by Saudi Arabia and the accompanying genocide of the Shia Houthi population. Only when images of children starving and tormented by cholera epidemics reach the media are we reminded once again that there, through Saudi Arabia and with the active support of the West, a population group like the Houthis is being denied the most basic necessities such as medicine, food, and water. True to the motto: if they die of disease, we no longer need to fight them by military means. <\/p>\n

In this chaotic situation, the United Arab Emirates<\/a> are now playing a very peculiar role. On the one hand, they are water carriers for the Saudis, training soldiers for Saudi Arabia in Yemen<\/a>. On the other hand, in the course of this action, they are increasingly seizing places of great strategic importance in the shipping lanes around the Horn of Africa. In Yemen, they control the port city of Aden, the city of Hadramawt, and several military training centres. In Somaliland, they control the port of Berbera. In Puntland, part of Somalia, the port city of Boosaaso is controlled by the Emirates. Added to this is the control of ports and an island off Eritrea, and now the occupation of Socotra. <\/p>\n

Socotra is no small fish. The entire island is a World Heritage site. With a population of over 60,000 people, a large airport, and a strategically superior importance directly on the Horn of Africa, it is a substantial occupation. Furthermore, contrary to the claims of the Emirates, there are no Shia Houthis there. The argument that the occupation is taking place with the consent of the Yemeni government is also pure mockery. After all, the Prime Minister of Yemen was in Socotra at the time of the occupation. He was immediately detained by the troops and refused permission to leave. <\/p>\n

With the violent occupation of Socotra, the Emirates are not only turning this natural and archaeological paradise into a legitimate target of the Yemen war\u2014militarisation automatically revokes the protection of international law. They are also exposing the free world, which accepts this military act of force almost without comment. <\/p>\n

The article originally appeared on the website of Karl von Habsburg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photo: Adobe Stock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United Arab Emirates have occupied several strategically important points in the recent past. Most recently, the island of Socotra, which belongs to Yemen. International politics remains silent. 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