UAE takes control of only sea port to Socotra Island

SOCOTRA, March 13 (YPA) – The UAE is strangling the only sea port to Socotra Island after one of its officers took control of a large area of the territory of the port of Hulaf in the Yemeni Socotra archipelago, east of the Gulf of Aden.

“The Emirati delegate, Khalfan Al Mazrouei, took control of a large area of land for the expansion of Hulaf Port and fenced it during the past days,” sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The sources added that the pro-Emirati governor of Socotra, Raafat Al-Thaqli, granted Al Mazrouei these lands for the expansion of Hulaf port, even though they are state property.
The sources explained that the land is located close to the port gate, noting that construction work has begun near the gate to limit the expansion of the island’s only port.

Hulaf Port is considered the only sea port and an important artery of Socotra. However, according to the sources, Al-Thaqli gave it up to the UAE as part of efforts to control the lands adjacent to the port from all directions so that it would not be expanded and benefited from in the future.

AA