UAE forces kidnap members of Socotra Poet Committee

SOCOTRA, Feb. (YPA) – The Emirati factions kidnapped the organizing committee of a poetry competition in the Socotra Archipelago, located east of the Gulf of Aden, and took them to one of its prisons on the island.

Human rights sources in Al-Jazeera reported that the Emirati factions arrested the organizing committee of the so-called “Socotra Poet Competition” the day before yesterday, which is funded by the Sheikh of the Socotra tribes affiliated with Islah, Issa bin Yaqout.

The sources explained that the UAE has banned the holding of any local cultural and popular events and activities, while the Khalifa Foundation, Abu Dhabi’s intelligence arm, continues to erode the cultural and national identity of the people of Socotra through its own festivals.

The sources did not mention the number of detainees, their identities, or their fate until now, amid the silence of the coalition government regarding the Emirati violations, fuel monopoly, food imports and other basic needs in Socotra.