31st Anniversary of the Yemen Unification Day

Ambassador Ahmed Hassan, Chargé D’ Affairs of the Republic of Yemen in Pretoria

22 May 2021

Statement of Chargé D’ Affairs of the Republic of Yemen in Pretoria, Ambassador Ahmed Hassan on the occasion of the 31st Anniversary of the Yemen Unification Day of 22 May 1990 - Yemen's National Day

Your Excellencies, Esteemed friends in South African Government and institutions, and honourable members of the Diplomatic Corps.
First of all, please accept my sincerest warm greetings to you all at the beginning of the winter season. I trust that you and your loved ones are in good health and spirit amid the dreadful Covid-19 pandemic. For this reason, I extend my statement to you this way.

On the occasion of the 31st anniversary of Yemeni unity on May 22, 1990, the country's national day, the embassy extends its warmest congratulations and blessings to the political leadership in our country, represented by His Excellency President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, President of the Republic, and the Yemeni people and their heroic army, who lay down epic acts of heroism and steadfastness in their noble battles against the Houthi coup group backed by a well-known regional power.

Which is the one who set off the destructive and futile war that Yemen is going through for the sixth year in a row, which rejections in all peace initiatives, the last of which is the initiative that it presented to the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented in the ceasefire, the opening of Sanaa airport for humanitarian aid, and sitting at the table for discussions on the basis of the three references. As follow: 
-The Gulf Initiative and its implementation mechanism.
- Outcomes of the National Dialogue.
-International resolutions, particularly the United Nations Council Resolution 2216.

Which is the basis for the solution to all Yemen's problems, according to which a united federal Yemen will be realized, based on justice, equal citizenship, and the distribution of wealth with justice, under accountability, and law enforcement, and the country's new constitution that organizes a federal Yemen over all regions of a united Yemen.

The government tried to make concessions first after the other in all the meetings and discussion, which were held, whether in Kuwait, Amman, Geneva, and Sweden under the auspices of the United Nations, which until now had changed three special envoys of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and with all these attempts towards achieving security stability and peace for the country, this Houthi coup group evades from signing the commitments it had made during those talks, to gain time in order to achieve gains on the ground, the last of which is what it is doing at the present time and for a long time and repeated attack on Marib, which gains political and economic importance to the legitimacy of the country and its free republic, which the heroic Yemeni army and popular resistance are defending and have so far failed all their cowardly attacks. And with the continuous support of the Arab coalition led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia throughout the years of this devastating and futile Houthi war, through which the country has come to live under these matters - for example - the following: -
• Silencing of the tongues, confiscating public freedoms and abusive human rights practices.
• Recruiting more than 30 thousand children and changing educational curriculum with the aim of bulldozing the Yemeni identity.
• No free press and media, no culture, theatre, and art. For the Houthi group, all of them are forbidden.
• Kidnapping of journalists, political activists, and academics in Yemeni institutes and universities, and removing them from the homes they were granted by force.
• The return of the classic diseases that Yemen had eliminated and eradicated, such as cholera and polio.
• Returning the country to the dark and medieval ages and building many cemeteries in the various cities of Yemen as a slogan for death because it is their slogan.
• Cultivation of hundreds or even thousands of mines against humanity which constituted a nightmare for the people in all regions of Yemen, and caused the killing, wounding or amputation of hundreds of innocent men, women and children, which have been extracted and destroyed for many of them by regional and international organizations, foremost of which is the huge project For mine clearance in Yemen "Masam", which was launched by the King Salman Centre for Relief and Humanitarian Action on June 25, 2018.
• Destroying schools, mosques, places of worship, and the homes of their opponents.
• The contraction of the country's economy in general, the decline in the price of the local currency, the riyal, and the rise in the poverty rate to a very larger rate.
• Assaulting Yemen's neighbours with ballistic missiles and drones on Saudi civil and economic facilities, and planting mines and sea boats, with the aim of threatening the safety and security of shipping lines in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in the service of their biggest sponsor, who is destabilizing the security and stability of Yemen and the region as a whole.

In this year, this coincided with the 31st anniversary of the Yemeni unity on May 22, 1990, with the anniversary of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Yemeni / South African diplomatic relations, on January 3, 1996 (Silver Jubilee) and on this great occasion, the Yemeni Embassy in Pretoria extend its congratulations and blessings to the leaderships of the two friendly countries, represented by His Excellency Presidents Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Cyril Ramaphosa, wishing them good health, happiness, growth and prosperity for the bilateral relations between the two friendly Republics of South Africa and Yemen. And more joint cooperation to serve their common interests for the both of them.

According to our duty we do not hesitate to continue our tireless efforts to improve these Bilateral Relations, between the two friendly countries to forward to a prosperous future.

May God bless us all and asking Him for His mercy and protection from the dreadful Covid-19 pandemic.

Embassy of Yemen in South Africa