A Yemeni man living in Derry says if western governments are serious about peace then they need to stop selling arms to the Middle East.
Ala Alsygaly left his native city of Aden in southern Yemen seven years ago when his country was in the grip of what Human Rights Watch described as “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world”.
After arriving in Northern Ireland the journalist and television presenter initially sought safety in Belfast before being moved to Derry where he now volunteers regularly with the North West Migrants Forum.
In 2022, in recognition of the worsening situation in his country, the Home Office granted the 28-year-old the right to remain in Northern Ireland.
With Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west and the Indian Ocean to the south, Yemen is in a uniquely geostrategic position, one that has made it the subject of countless conflicts, both in ancient times and modern.
As Ala Alsygaly puts it, “It is really complicated to explain”.
Up until 1990 Yemen was split into two countries – North Yemen (Yemen Arab Republic) and South Yemen (The People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen).
South Yemen’s origins can be traced to 1874 with the creation of the British colony of Aden and the Aden Protectorate which consisted of two-thirds of present-day Yemen.
Prior to 1937, what was to become the colony of Aden had been governed as a part of British India, originally as the Aden Settlement, subordinate to the Bombay presidency and then as a Chief Commissioner’s province.
After the collapse of the Aden Protectorate, a state of emergency was declared in 1963, when the National Liberation Front and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen rebelled against British rule. The Federation of South Arabia and the Protectorate of South Arabia were overthrown to become the People’s Republic of Southern Yemen on November 30 1967.
Talks over the unification of north and south Yemen began following the fall of the Soviet Union. The historic handshake between respective heads of state Ali Abdullah Saleh and Ali Salim al-Beidh took place on May 22 1990.
Sana’a became the capital of the world’s newest country and its people enjoyed four years of an uneasy peace.
But a growing suspicion that the north was trying to exert superiority over the south led to a break down in relations and civil war ensued.
The conflict, while brutal and fiercely fought, was relatively short-lived with the south eventually ceding power to the north.
The next serious eruption of unrest was in 2007 and the Arab Spring – a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions across Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen.
In Yemen the Arab Spring gave root to the Southern Movement, a political grouping and paramilitary organisation demanding a return to the former independent state of South Yemen.
Always in the background of unfolding political developments were the Houthis, an Iranian-backed rebel group, formed under the Zaidi religious leadership of Hussein al-Houthi.
Similar to the Iranian regime, the Houthis’ ideology is grounded in Islamic fundamentalism.
“Going right back, Yemen was a kingdom and that is what the Houthis want, a return to a kingdom where democracy doesn’t exist,” said Ala Alsygaly.
“Their religion is Zaidi and its like Sharia which is the law in Iran. The Iranian Government doesn’t want peace in the Middle East because it hungers for a Persian Empire again.
“Iran and the Houthis want to rule the world with a religious ideology but I personally don’t believe that is the way any country should be ruled. Democracy is the only way to go.”
In 2015 war broke out between the Houthis and the Southern Movement, the latter eventually pushing the former out of Aden.
According to Ala Alsygaly, support for the Houthis, at least within Yemen, waned at that point and continues to do so. But the years of in-fighting have taken a massive toll on a country all too familiar with war, destruction and instability.
“My family moved to Saudi Arabia two years ago because in Yemen you don’t have running water, food is scarce and there hasn’t been a reliable electricity supply for at least nine years,” said Ala.
In October of last year, the Houthis drew the ire of the USA when they launched missiles at Israel, a key ally of the Americans.
In the 12 months since, Benjamin Netanyahu’s troops have retaliated, raining airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Unrest without end is how it seems to those on the outside. Inside the country, life goes on.
“We get used to this drama,” said Ala Alsygaly.
“In 2015 I was in Yemen when the Saudis bombed the Houthis. We were able to see the missiles going over our homes.”
With the Middle East seemingly teetering on the brink of a major war, Ala says the longer the conflict goes on, the more innocent civilians will suffer and die.
The Houthis, he says, are not a huge threat. Their military moves are more about making a statement, letting other countries know that they exist.
Benjamin Netanyahu on the other hand has a much bigger point to prove.
“Right now Netanyahu is in a very weak position inside his own country. The war in Gaza has drained his government and left the country’s economy in a very poor state.
“The way Netanyahu sees it, he needs a victory to prove he is still a strong leader. And that is why he is creating this drama in Lebanon.
“Isreal has had intelligence on Lebanon and Iran for many years, they know everything about them. They know where Iran’s nuclear arms are and I do expect Israel will bomb those locations in the future.”
The big question then: Will the Middle East ever know lasting peace?
“It is a hard question,” according to Ala Alsygaly.
“If the USA, the UK and other European countries stop supporting some of the countries with weapons, there might be peace.
“Right now Israel is very weak and is depending heavily on the support of the west. If the US and the UK were to withdraw their support, Israel would not be able to continue what it is doing in Palestine, in Lebanon, in Yemen and elsewhere.”
As to whether he will return home, Ala says he would like to. But it is unlikely to happen in the near future.
“I hope that security and safety prevail in my beloved country but at the moment I can’t go home. I would like to but home is where you feel safe and at the moment I feel safe here in Derry.
“This is a wonderful city and I would like to thank the local community for helping people like me integrate and for giving us the opportunity to live safely.”