Socotra - The treasure island between Yemen and Somalia | DW Documentary

The road to the mountains is steep, rocky and spectacular like the

island

itself. Socotra is considered one of the most beautiful

island

s in the world. It's a show that really opens your heart. Slovak visitors head to a cave. Few tourists come here. The island is part of Yemen, so it's not that surprising, but the civil war that has raged for years on the mainland is a long way off. The United Arab Emirates launched the first direct flights here in 2021. It is a two-hour flight. Sococca is located right next to the horn. from Africa, about 400 kilometers from the Yemeni continent, Peter, our guide, has a travel agency and is doing some podcasts about travel, so he and his coworker talk about Socotra and when they prepared this trip I decided that I really wanted to go because It is a very strange destination and due to the war in Yemen, the possibility of you coming back here later is very low or if the situation will be better and more tourists will come, the country will definitely change, so to see it at this time is really amazing

socotra

is really far from almost everything while the war rages in

yemen

the island is a peaceful refuge a safe place to go on vacation the caves are not something completely new for slovak tourists slovakia has many of them but visitors However, I am deeply impressed.

It is the largest cave I have ever seen. It is really impressive. Beautiful. All Stalack knights and stalagmites. Honestly, very, very impressive. Hock Cave is 2.5 kilometers long. The numerous stalagmites and stalactites are not only beautiful, but are also of great scientific interest. an index for climate change uh of course it's even better, like in the photos we imagined before coming here, the drivers, guides and cooks are very happy that tourists have returned to the island for many years, Sokotra was practically isolated from the rest of the world due to the war in Yemen. We are proud that tourists are coming here again and that we have jobs.

We hope that more tourist groups will come. Much more surprisingly, nature conservationist Ahmed Adib agrees, That's fine, he says, as long as tourists camp outdoors which minimizes their ecological footprint. What he doesn't agree with are the holiday homes that Emiratis are building in the middle of protected areas, for example here on the coast. near the capital, Hadibu, and considers it fraudulent for two reasons: Yemeni law dictates that you cannot build within 300 meters of the coast and foreigners are not allowed to buy land. The buyer is originally from here and that's just one example. Ahmed Adib says all buyers follow the same pattern.

There is a lot of demand for real estate. here on the sea a whole holiday complex is emerging the faces of the Emirati rulers are represented at the entrance the real estate investors do not try to hide what they are doing the people who are building here come from abroad they are Emiratis or Sakotris with Emirati citizenship there are also Kuwaitis who buy through middlemen all these people have bought land through local people the environmental activist is concerned that the island is being bought he is particularly concerned about the growth of saudi arabia's influence in recent years hadibu is the capital of the main island of sokotra and the rest of the archipelago here you can see how the united arab emirates and saudi arabia are competing for influence fighting to become the dominant power with displays of generosity the emirates pay the salaries of municipal officials while saudi arabia builds a school after school all identical, this power play is even more evident on the coast outside Hadibu, on the right, a Yemeni school funded by the Khalifa Foundation of Abu Dhabi and directly opposite, on the left, Saudi Arabia as well has built a new school at this roadside checkpoint, there are three Emiratis. flags and only one Yemeni flag power relations are quite evident in the foothills of the Hajiya Mountains, which reach 1500 meters at their highest point.

Ahmed Adib runs a daycare here. The environmental activist tries to take care of the island's natural heritage. His son and his sister help. him, but it is a herculean task unique endemic species plants that are native only here are in danger since the 1990s there has been a drop in rainfall the climate here has changed this should be the rainy season september is already over october is coming to Its End But There Has Been No Rain Although the family receives no financial support for their efforts and is unlikely to do so in times of war, nature is not seen as a priority except for their relatives, the conservationist is alone in his fight. for saving the island's iconic dragon's blood tree. this is the dragon blood tree in the saquotri language we call it the two brothers blood tree here we have planted seven thousand dragon blood trees so that the saplings can be planted in the dixon region and reproduce so the Socotra's fine sandy beaches have a Caribbean touch.

The white sands are a magnet for tourists. The islanders say that if you haven't been to Calancia, you haven't seen Socotra. For the people here, the sea with its abundant fish populations is the source of most important nutrition the island's 80,000 inhabitants fish to meet their own needs international fishing fleets not many fishing boats come carry the inscription the saudi development and reconstruction program for

yemen

further proof of how rich neighboring states are trying to win influence fishing is closely linked to local identity instead of playing with toy cars children here play with homemade toy boats fishermen take turns going out to sea two boats go out for two hours and then they rotate the idea everyone should benefit equally from the riches of the sea the fish suleiman and muhammad go fishing halfway to the fishing In the place they find corn and salah.

He has left without his father. Muhammad is not surprised. The boy is known throughout the town. I like working at sea. I like fishing. I live here. I live in the sea. The boy is taking a big risk the waters here are treacherous a boat has already sunk here some even died we were able to save solemnly it takes just a few minutes to catch the first fish there is still enough for everyone even if Suleiman now faces more competition so I don't The Saudis have brought us ships, anyone who didn't have a ship, the Emiratis also helped us, they brought us electricity, water, natural gas and gasoline, and anyone who is sick is flown to the United Arab Emirates.

I love them both, but most of all. the emiratis because they work with us i have a message life is changing in

socotra

some people are worried about these new forms of dependency but no one is willing to talk openly about it for the last few days the sea has been stormy and the fishermen could not make it to the sea in a matter of seconds your catch was captured it was gone in an instant people took it out of my hands we fished they shop far from the beaches in the mountains here you can find the iconic dragon's blood trees of socotra the tree is located in the middle of a nameless village the houses are in good condition above the flag of the united arab emirates flies the village elder saad muhammad we thank you for these houses and we also thank you for the medical care you thank the people who do good yes not to do so would be an act of ingratitude towards god foreign life has improved says sad mohammed we used to live here with the sheep and cows we would sit and kill our animals here we did everything here it is no wonder that the United Arab Emirates has won the hearts of the locals by donating these houses.

He has met with his friend and fellow activist Mohamed El Cabani. The pastor sees a colleague in the distance but does not pick up the phone. The goats are very far away. They are on the other side. From the valley the goats are very, very far away. Let's have lunch and then go look. No, we don't have time. We're in a hurry. Send greetings to Mohammed the Quebani. His 60 goats and 10 cows have particular sounds. Other shepherds have their own specific calls. The animals would mix, otherwise. here on this plateau there are practically no dragon blood trees left before it looked very different our grandparents told us that there was a whole forest of dragon blood trees here but that no longer exists, they have died now there is only one tree here the other there there are only a few scattered they are in danger of extinction scientists have told us that goats are a problem in socotra they eat the young dragon's blood trees, causing them to die only the oldest ones survive because their leaves are out of the reach of the goats people here say that the trees can live a thousand years in April or the harvest begins the red resin from the trunks of the dragon blood tree is used to produce cosmetics in which the resin is used Enamel is urgently needed of nails and lipstick.

The dragon blood tree is endangered. Activist Ahmed Adeeb could use help, especially money, to help protect the trees, but he doesn't expect the UAE to be unaware of the issue. we need specialists business people are not like scientists and the emiratis are business they know that he and his goats are part of the problem that's why the shepherd is trying to grow dragon blood trees with his son ismail the goats are like chain smokers It's us built a wall to keep them out, but they just jump over it, get in and eat the plants in the future.

Ismail will no longer take care of the trees. He has received a stipend from the United Arab Emirates. He is going to study computer science in the Egyptian city. from alexandria your opinion on the emirates involvement here is widely shared before the emiratis came here sakotra was a forgotten island five years have passed and now we are in a quite different position we can study abroad which we couldn't before and now we have electricity things are developing there are roads and hospitals but he is an expert in the island's medicinal plants he is also concerned about endangered species in global comparison socotra is recognized as particularly rich in biodiversity also in terms of medicinal plants many are Endemic to the archipelago such as Euphorbia arbuscular, for example, is harvesting its valuable sap to create a medicine for digestive problems.

A knife would cut the arteries of the tree and create a problem, but a stone only creates a small wound which allows me to treat the tree sparingly for the sake of myself and others and to protect nature this is another popular plant the healer says that even can help couples have children this plant remedies infertility in men and women when men do not have enough sperm or their sperm is too weak and when women have a problem with their ovaries or hormones this plant is very effective a company of the United Arab Emirates offered me 63 percent of the profits with the rest going to them but they wanted the patent rights I also turned them down a gulf pharmaceutical company clearly has socotra on their sites he is accompanying his son asa to a soccer match in the island's youth league the 17 year old is the coach of the tigers both the players and the public are men, girls and women are not welcome the society here is conservative the field is typical of the island rocky and there is a lot of dust here For many children, football is the only thing they have in terms of free time or entertainment.

Socotra is still disconnected from the world at large. The internet here is not as good as other countries, but some people here are still as addicted as people abroad. The internet when it works is so bad that they can't even watch a football game on YouTube. No wonder even a youth league game is the highlight of the week. The island doesn't have some things. All those things are just basic. like internet and telephone network there are places that do not have internet it is different in the capital than in neighboring towns in remote places that is why teenagers practice sports you can only find internet in the capital here we do not have it so they practice sports saudi arabia and the emirates United Arabs are investing in the island but not in its internet infrastructure it is almost impossible for young people to access information or communicate through social networks is it an oversight on the part of the gulf states or intentionally Ahmed Adib believes that the Gulf states are acting out of strategic interests.

The activist has agreed to meet his son Asa for lunch on the beach. He says Abu Dhabi and Riyadh want to consolidate their influence in the East African waters under which he lies. He has no illusions, he knows that he must pursue his projects himself, but he sees no alternative to the current situation. The past and present governments in Yemen have done almost nothing in comparison, we are isolated from the rest of theworld, but thank God, the United Arab Emirates came to Sokotra in 2016. We had no government and God sent us Emiratis. First of all, they built a hospital and helped the people here.

My son was sick, something was wrong with his heart, he couldn't get up in the morning, so they took him to the hospital. emirates and he cured it thank god if the emiratis had not come here we would be worse than the Somalis for example no one can deny that things are better now especially here it is quiet says the environmentalist the war is far away and that is what matters most oh