Until the middle of the twentieth century, Yemenis suffered a lot - in addition to their external isolation - internal isolation due to the lack of a passable road network, in a country that is least described as mountainous and rugged nature. But after the Yemeni revolution, this field witnessed a good effort to reconstruct roads, most notably the experience of cooperative associations that flourished during the rule of the President Ibrahim Al-Hamdi. Therefore, observers see the road as the second priority, after education, to enhance development in the country. Therefore, cutting and sabotaging these roads as a result of war and lack of a sense of national responsibility which negatively affects development.
In the last ten years, which witnessed turmoil and then a fierce civil war, roadblocks were used as a tool of warrying if not a tool of collective punishment against civilians. Alive example of roadblock is the current siege of Taiz by the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), which is very known to all in terms of the impacts on the life of local citizens and travelers. Of course, Taiz was not the only affected, but it was the most severely impacted. There are other roads such as Damt-Aden and Al-Hodeidah-Al-Adeen roads, which people and merchants were severely affected by its closure which led to consequences on travel fares and commodity prices that were almost doubled as a result of the doubling of the distance and thus the suffering of the people.
Through this file, "Khuyut" attempts to contribute to shedding light on part of the tragedy that Yemenis are experiencing day after day which maximize their sufferings while they strive for living. It is a story of struggle, which reflects the extent of people's determination not to surrender to their catastrophic reality, rather than exceptional experiences in compensating the absence of the state system, order and laws. The negligence of the state developmental efforts led to the emerge of the social initiatives to construct and build roads, bringing to mind the story of the indomitable Yemeni, the Yemeni who is full of aspiration and undefeated will.
Cover photo by: Nashwan Sadek - Khuyut
