Socotra, Yemen: A strategic paradise
Opinion report by Michael Maalouf, Staff Writer
June 30th, 2020
Our perception of the world is usually shaped by the media and what we learn in school, where we assimilate basic interpretations of areas and cultures. When we think of Yemen our minds go to a land rich in architecture, history, tribal life, desert land, and the ongoing war in which its landscape is full of desert warfare.
What if I told you that there exists an exotic island in Yemen that isn’t like any other island in the world, with wildlife and plants solely unique to it. This island is Socotra, the biggest in the Socotra archipelago, which is made up of four islands: Abd el kuri, Samhah, Darash, and Socotra. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, eastwards to the Horn of Africa, and is 3,600 square km in size.
The island recently rose to popularity after the solo female traveler, Eva Zu Beck, documented her experience while the island was under lockdown due to COVID-19. Her story caught the world’s attention as she was one of the very few quarantining in an isolated part of the world. Crystal clear beaches, the famous dragon blood trees, Egyptian vultures, Ghost crabs, and many other unique aspects of the island make it an alien like land, almost as if it's out of the world. With all this beauty and being a safe place its labeled as paradise iit faces regional conflict
However, what is left unsaid is the strategic importance of Socotra and how it was of interest for world powers. The islands are in dispute with Somalia, while there isn’t and hasn’t been any conflict between them; however, the island has gained the attention of international powers. Socotra’s recorded history dates back to 52 AD when the apostle St. Thomas preached Christianity on the island while on his way to evangelize India. The island was converted to Islam after the arrival of the Mahra Sultunate. Throughout its history, Socotra has been invaded by various major powers, which include Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the USSR.
This seems to be due to the proved extremely advantageous nature of the islands for whoever was in control of it as it granted the power an edge in regards to the Indian Ocean trade route. According to old CIA documents, the USSR Navy began establishing their presence around 1968 and formed a base in the island during the 1970s.
Yemen was suffering from a civil war at the time and the USSR saw this as an opportunity to work with the Yemeni communists who eventually took over the south of the country. The base prompted major concerns within the free world; however, after the USSR disassembled in the 1990s, the base was dismantled and the presence of the USSR became prominent on the island, especially since Islam had to be reintroduced to the islanders as the USSR had an atheist model of states.
Unfortunately, the struggle over the island remained unremitting as on April 30, 2018, the UAE Army invaded the island with hundreds of soldiers and armored vehicles to push out Yemeni troops who had established a base on it. They claimed that it was of supporting the Arab Coalition’s efforts in helping the Yemeni government in the war with the Houthi’s. This consequently sparked outrage amongst the islanders and the Yemeni government called it an attack on sovereignty. The feud finally ended when the UAE left. This comes as the UAE is establishing its presence in the region by forming bases in the coasts of Somalia in the breakaway states of Somaliland and Puntland, along with the formation of a base in Eretria.
Establishing a presence in the Horn of Africa is essential for exerting power on the trade routes from the Indian Ocean to the Suez canal, a location that many countries use in order to set military bases. Nowadays, the island remains calm while the rest of the world continues to deal with a pandemic and other series of problems. Socotra has become a place that many people wish they could isolate at and hopefully the Yemeni war doesn’t make its way there.