A complete absence of law and order in Yemen has given rise to a black Suq market of human trafficking on a scale never before seen in the war-torn and war-weary nation. It has plunged a nation already struggling to provide basic services to its citizens into chaos, a nation now ruled by a ragtag consortium of different groups all thirsting for power. The result? A complete absence of law and order that has given rise to a black Suq market of human trafficking on a scale never before seen in Yemen.
Thirty-five-year-old Tawfiq hails from Amran, a small city in west-central Yemen famous for its ancient mud-brick high-rises dating back two millennia to the Sabean kingdom. Tawfiq was among 17 Yemeni victims of human trafficking who agreed to speak to MintPress about their harrowing ordeals. Today, Tawfiq suffers from complications arising from his kidney extraction and is now unable to carry heavy objects.
Yet thousands of Yemeni civilians who are living in abject poverty as a result of the ongoing war are willing to allow a part of themselves to be cut out and sold in order to be able to sustain their families. Over 20 million Yemenis are currently in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations. A Yemeni boy looks back while laying on the ground as he begs for money in an alley of the old city of Sanaa, Yemen. Muhammed Muheisen AP.
Although he lost one of his kidneys, Tawfiq was lucky. In addition to poverty and the absence of law enforcement, there are other reasons why human trafficking flourishes in Yemen, perhaps the most prominent being the blockade levied against the country by the Saudi Coalition since Before the war, Yemenis would regularly leave the country to seek better health care, employment opportunities and safety abroad β including, somewhat ironically, in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
The blockade has also left a large number of Yemenis stranded abroad, including some students and others who have managed to find a way out in hopes of receiving medical treatment. Many of the stranded are left in a state of legal limbo, unable to secure citizenship in neighboring countries and therefore unable to work, leaving them with no way to earn money short of begging on the street or agreeing to sell their organs. A Yemeni vendor sells coffee and in the old market in Najran, Saudi Arabia.
