Yemen has long been in a humanitarian crisis and the unrest in the Red Sea risks worsening the situation.
– We don’t have jobs anymore, the attacks on merchant ships hurt us, not Israel, says port worker Ayman to TV4, who is riding his boat around the port of Aden.
In the port of Aden in southern Yemen, most of the dock workers sit idly looking out over the harbor. Some chew the indigenous drug khat, others scroll on their mobile phones.
A single container ship is in the cargo port and since they are going under the radar they don’t want flags or help with food and drink.
– In the past, we helped with everything and several ships arrived per day. Now we have no more jobs. I help a little in the fleet but they have no boats because most have sunk due to wear and tear, says dock worker Ayman.
TV4 meets him in the port of Aden and gets to go out on his boat where he shows the port, where discotheques used to be, where the Red Sea begins and all the sunken boats around.
He points to the cargo ship and says that it is said to belong to Israel and that it has already been attacked on its way to Aden. Parts of the waterway have received or will receive military escort.
– It’s clear they don’t want our help. They don’t really exist here, says Ayman.
Lots for many years
He has worked as a pilot for many years and has seen various periods of unrest in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
– But it has been related to our situation, now it has to do with Gaza, he says.
After the war between Israel and Hamas began, the Iran-backed Houthi movement – which controls northern Yemen – launched attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea. According to the movement, they attack ships that in any way support Israel and they will continue as long as Gaza is under attack.
In response, the United States and Great Britain, among others, have attacked targets in Yemen. The unrest has affected global trade as many choose to now take the longer route around Africa instead.
For the Yemenis, it has not only meant less work but also fewer goods coming to Yemen.
– It affects our economy, which was already extremely bad, says Ayman.
Over at the fish market, different prices are being raised for freshly caught crab, prawns and all kinds of fish.
No fish to buy
The fish sellers say that they cannot meet the demand by a long shot. The fishermen can no longer go far out to sea because it is dangerous. Instead, they fish near the coast and their catch is small. But despite the Houthis’ attacks in the Red Sea affecting their business, there are some who support them. The fish seller Samih believes that the Houthis’ support for Palestine is right and that their attacks remove corruption from the sea.
– The wrong people are trying to control the sea, so it is good that the Houthi movement is trying to remove that corruption, he says.
The seller, who has a stall a little way away, disagrees.
– No, the Houthis are barbarians and do not want to help Gaza. They are just Iran’s hand and causing problems among the Arab countries, says Mohammed.
Ayman is also against the attacks. He says he also supports Gaza but attacking commercial ships has nothing to do with Gaza.
– Then you probably have to go to Gaza and fight there.
Before he drives the boat back to the harbor, where Aden’s women have begun to gather at dusk for a picnic, he says longingly that he wants the sea back.
– The sea is our everything. We live in it. It’s like the fish: if you take it out of the water, it dies. That’s how it is with us now, we are picked up from the sea and in the end we die, he says.