News - Yemen: The Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Affairs, Lieutenant-General Jalal Al-Rowaishan, affirmed that Yemen is ready for the international partnership in securing trade and navigation routes in international waters.

Lieutenant-General Al-Ruwaishan said, in a statement to Almasirah, that the national government in Sana’a is ready for the international partnership in securing trade and navigation routes in international waters, while at the same time exercising full sovereignty over Yemeni water, air and land territory.

He pointed out that Yemen is keen on the security of the Red Sea, waterways and freedom of international navigation, and the continuation of US-Saudi aggression and siege makes Sanaa's options multiple

He revealed that Sana'a is preparing for a national conference on maritime security, through which it assures that it is more worthy of the security of the Red Sea.

On the same regard, Minister of Fisheries Mohamed Al-Zubayri said, in a statement to Almasirah, that large numbers of Yemeni fishermen are still being arbitrarily detained in Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

He added: We have reports of the exploitation of Yemeni fishermen for forced labor on the island of Fatima, and the Eritreans are doing so under the orders of the Emiratis and the US-Saudi aggression.

Days ago, fishermen in Al-Hodeidah Governorate organized a protest to denounce the looting, the destruction of marine wealth, and the piracy carried out by the US-Saudi aggression in Yemen's territorial waters.

During the protest, they called for standing together to prevent such practices carried out by the US-Saudi aggression, to loot the marine wealth, which represents a right for the Yemeni people and a source of income for many workers.

On Thursday, The governor of Hodeidah, Mohammad Quhaim, warned fishing companies not to approach the coasts of Yemen, especially the West Coast.

Governor Quhaim said, in a tweet, that looting oil is like looting fisheries, all of which are wealth for the homeland.

Saudi Arabia and many of its allies have been waging a war on Yemen since 2015 to restore power to the country’s Riyadh-friendly former officials. The war and a simultaneous siege that the US-Saudi-led coalition has been enforcing on the country has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis.

The invasion has pushed entire Yemen close to the brink of outright famine, turning the country into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Coastal communities in Yemen have suffered greatly in the ongoing bloody war. Fishing boats, ports and processing sites have been destroyed or damaged, and many fishermen have lost their lives.

The US-Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes which hit fishing boats and markets, and mines were laid in the sea making the waters treacherous. To make matters worse, the exacerbation of piracy and attacks by the Eritrean authorities and the aggression forces against fishermen on the Yemeni coasts.

As of August 2019, at least 334 fishermen had been reported killed or injured since 2015, according to statistics from Yemen's fisheries authority. Others had been arrested and had their boats seized, while some were now detained in Saudi-run prisons in Yemen.

Local reports estimate that of Yemen's approximate 100,000 fishermen, since 2015 over a third (37,000) have quit and thus lost their income.fishermen and the fish sector in Yemen.