Tourists on remote Yemeni island stranded after Saudi, UAE rift

When the United Arab Emirates withdrew its troops from Yemen last week under a deadline from Saudi Arabia, it also left behind the remote Yemeni island of Socotra and the roughly 600 tourists who had flown in but could no longer fly out.

Air traffic at the island's main airport came to a halt as a deepening crisis between the UAE and Saudi Arabia translated into fresh conflict on Yemen's mainland, where the two Gulf powers now back opposing groups in the country's civil war.

"If it is a delay of one day, two days, you can accept it. But now, it's becoming a problem for all of us because we must go back to work, and it will cause a lot of problems to all of us because we have activities, we have jobs that we cannot go back to,” said Italian tourist Tiziana Casonato.

Socotra, which lies more than 300 km (186 miles) south of Yemen's coast, and until recently was mainly accessible by air via the UAE, has been a haven of tranquility through the years of conflict on the mainland.

For tourists, it offers magical beaches and unique flora, such as its renowned Socotra dragon blood tree. It sits in the Gulf of Aden, alongside a shipping route leading to the Red Sea.

But Socotra came under effective UAE control in 2018 when Emirati military transport planes first landed on the island.

The tanks and troops that unloaded were part of the UAE's push to extend its sway over the region's waters, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

A major oil producer and business hub, the UAE has in the past decade pursued an assertive foreign policy, carving its own sphere of influence in the Middle East and beyond, often using its financial clout to serve its interests.

"Socotra functions like an unsinkable aircraft carrier sitting at the heart of the Bab al-Mandab system, in the middle of the trade corridor that links Europe, Asia and Africa," said Andreas Krieg, associate professor at King's College London.

"Even without firing a shot, an actor with reliable access to the island gains important leverage: to observe, to potentially intercept and project influence."

Less than eight years on, that plan is being derailed by the severest public rift the UAE has had with its fellow Gulf ally and oil-power Saudi Arabia.

The two Gulf countries have navigated many differences in the past, from geopolitcs to oil output, but this latest fallout has brought their disagreements out in the open.

Saudi Arabia has been carrying out airstrikes to aid Yemeni government troops against UAE-backed southern separatists, the same ones who run Socotra.

UAE troops were not initially welcome when they first landed in 2018, with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government accusing Abu Dhabi of seizing the island's ports and airports.

But the UAE exerted control through the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) which now finds itself in direct confrontation with the Saudi-backed government forces on mainland Yemen. The STC seeks autonomy for southern Yemen, and ultimately independence, from the more heavily populated north.

The STC is still in control of the island today but the airport is no longer under Emirati control, two airport sources told Reuters. The facility remains shut.

Yemeni airlines said late on Monday (January 5) it would operate a flight to Jeddah on January 7, a sure sign that control of the airport has shifted.

"On an island where air access often becomes the decisive gateway, influence over connectivity translates into influence over everything else, including security presence, local governance, and commercial life," Krieg said.

The UAE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether all of its troops had left the island. One source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters the troops left last month.

Saudi Arabia's government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on control of the airport.

With the Emirati presence since 2018 came money poured into infrastructure projects through the Sheikh Khalifa Foundation humanitarian organization, bringing electricity, safe water and cooking gas to Socotra.

The UAE also renovated the main airport, adding new buildings, two hangars and a modern navigation system for the control towers.

The once sleepy island turned into a niche tourist destination where travelers looking for terrain off the beaten track could book packages solely through Abu Dhabi to experience the island's beaches and wildlife.

Many did not factor in the risk of proximity to turmoil in Yemen, one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

Socotra, which is closer to Somalia than it is to Yemen, had so far been isolated from the civil war that has ravaged the mainland for over 10 years.

But this latest flare-up may not spare its peace.

Still, Italian visitor Casonato said her time on the island was well-spent.

"Socotra is a fantastic place, amazing island with extremely beautiful sites and different landscapes. We spent an amazing week, and also we have been treated very well," she said.

Production: Abulrhman al-Ansi, Khaled Abdullah/Reuters