Huda Amin
The Muhamasheen community in Yemen:
The Muhamasheen (the Arabic term for marginalized) are a group of Yemenis known to the media and officially by this term, and to some they are also known as “African Yemenis” or “Afro-Yemenis” (1). They are Yemeni citizens who are distinguished from the majority of the country’s population by the dark color of their skin. However, it is not the color of their skin alone that distinguishes them, as they are an ethnically homogeneous group, and due to societal pressure have been made to live in isolated communities, often in areas isolated from the rest of the population. There is a common belief that the Muhamasheen are descendants of Abyssinian soldiers who occupied Yemen in the sixth century AD (2), and there are also those who say that they are a remnant of the ancient Himyarite kingdom, or descendants of the Najahi kingdom (3). They are generally referred to negatively and racially discriminately in Yemen as “Akhdam” (the Arabic term for Servants), and are considered to be the lowest social class in the country. They face discrimination, a lack of rights, and live in tragic conditions and isolation from the rest of Yemeni society, and work in occupations that society considers inferior, such as cleaning streets, washing cars, or practicing begging. The Muhamasheen community is exposed to brutal attacks and racial discrimination that amount to physical assaults, such as the rape case of a housemaid belonging to this group, and the use of firearms against her family when they demand justice (4). A negative stereotype about them is spread throughout Yemen that views them as “immoral”, with myths that they eat their dead. Their nomenclature differs from region to region, but they prefer the term “Muhamasheen” (marginalized) or blacks (5). Most of the African-Yemenis live in isolated slums. Many of them reside in the capital Sanaa, Aden, Taiz, Hodeidah (where the majority are found), Lahj, Mukalla, and Abyan. There are no official records on the size of this group, however, the United Nations reported that there are about 3.5 million marginalized people in Yemen (6).
The Muhamasheen in Mukalla:
There are no historical records that clearly date the existence of this community in Yemen. However, some historical sources suggest that the presence of this group was the aftermath of the ancient wars between Yemen and Abyssinia (7). However, when it comes to the Muhamasheen community in the city of Mukalla specifically, this group is relatively new, and their presence there dates back only into the later part of the previous century. During the oil boom in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s, many Yemenis – including a large number of Muhamasheen individuals – left their country in the hope of improving their economic situation. However, after the first Gulf War, these migrants were forced to return to Yemen. Since the Muhamasheen had no property or land to return to, many found refuge in makeshift isolated camps called “Mahwa” – a term often used to describe a dog shelter – where they lacked water and electricity (8). Many of them arrived to the city of Mukalla during the beginning of the nineties of the last century, and lived on the outskirts of the city. However, as their numbers increased, they were relocated to a farther location. As a result of internal migrations from Aden, Abyan, and Hodeidah, and the increase birthrates among them, their community grew to number in the thousands.
Dealing with this issue and the situation of the Muhamasheen in the city of Mukalla is fraught with difficulties and dangers. There is a lack of cooperation from the community there, in addition to the current circumstances that make it difficult to obtain important information in order to research the issue of the Muhamasheen community in Mukalla. However, several researchers specializing in social welfare and relief workers have been sought, as well as interviewing some Muhamasheen families themselves in order to reach more accurate results, especially with regard to the situation of the Muhamasheen community and the challenges they face in the city of Mukalla.
The Geographical Distribution of the Muhamasheen in the City of Mukalla:
The first gathering point for the Muhamasheen was on the outskirts of Mukalla, near a camp designated for patients affected by leprosy, which puts into perspective the view towards this group, as they were placed next to a camp filled with infectious diseases. However, they were later transferred to an area that is now the largest concentration of marginalized groups in an area known as “Gul Masha”.
“Gul Masha” is located to the east of Mukalla – about (12.1 km), 19 minutes on Al-Ghuwayzi Street. Within it is “Al-Harshiat” neighborhood, which contains no less than five hundred families (9), each family with an average of five members, the least of which number four, including the father, mother and children. The number of family members can sometimes reach ten or more, including the mother, father and children.
We then have the “Ibn Sina” area, which is home to around 450 Muhamasheen family, with the same rate of family member numbers found in the “Gul Masha” area. It is a 23 minutes’ drive away from Mukalla to the west, and is the second largest concentration of people in the area.
Then there is the area of “Ambikha”, located to the west of Mukalla, (9.7 km) through the 60th Street. This gathering comes in third, in terms of the number of families, which number fifty families, with an average of no less than four members, and ten or a little more per family. If we assume that the average of each family is five, then there will be at least 250 Individuals in this area. Most children in this area suffer from cases of Thalassemia, a genetic disorder in the blood, whereas the body produces abnormal Hemoglobin – the oxygen-carrying protein in the blood – thus making the number of normal red cells bellow the normal range. This in turn causes Anemia, which causes the patient to suffer from paleness, fatigue and slow growth (10).
And the last and latest gathering is located on the 60th Street, and is known locally as “Ba’ad Hyper” to the west of Mukalla, precisely behind the Shibam roundabout, opposite the Forty Apartments gas station. This gathering is about (3.4 km) from Mukalla. The families in it number about twenty-five families, with an average of about five members per family.
This makes the number of residential gatherings for marginalized groups in Mukalla four, where they live in different and distant areas covering Mukalla.
All of these gatherings have a similar standard of living, which lack electricity, water, and safety. Rather, their dwellings are built from scrap wood, rusty zinc, or worn rags, and with no carpets on the floor.
Attempts to Merge:
Despite the dire situation facing the Muhamasheen community, the local authorities have tried to provide them with some services, including the construction of a school and health center in the “Gul Masha” area, seeing that it is the first, oldest and largest concentration of the Muhamasheen. On the other hand, other Muhamasheen communities go to the nearest hospitals located near their areas.
Following many awareness campaigns, efforts have been made to facilitate educational services in order to accept children applying for school registration. However, most of the children do not have documents proving their birth due to different circumstances. Most of the families interviewed told us that their documents had been burned or destroyed by the torrents and rains, and that they were in the process of obtaining new birth certificates. However, the closure of immigration and passport authority offices due to the ongoing war prevented them from obtaining New birth documents. This led to the creation of youth initiatives to find alternative solutions that ensure the enrollment of children in school through a commitment paper and proof of residence from a neighborhood headman. The various youth initiatives also sought to provide school equipment and to encourage children to study. With the facilitation of child registration, the number of registered children reached nearly 600 during 5 years. There is also an endeavor to activate the health center in a continuous manner.
Slum Housing:
Calling their dwellings houses is a stretch, seeing that they are not suitable for human use. Their housing system does not contain privacy, safety, comfort nor stability, and lacks the most basic necessities of life that a person should have, such as a roof that protects that protects their heads and a dry floor to walk on.
Their houses are made of rusty zinc, worn wood and old rags that makeup the walls and ceiling. As for the floor, it is basically just the dirt and rocks the house was built on, meaning that there is no flat floor with nothing to protect children from insects or infants from dust.
The size varies from one house to the next, as does the number of families living there. Some houses are two by one meter, while others are five by six or ten by ten or a little more. Some of the larger houses house more than one family, separated only by a wall made out of rags.
There are no room divisions, but rather it is more like a nest inside a larger nest, with every nest being a room. At most, there are two nests per family.
A few clouds gathering or Rain can quickly become a threat to them. Rain can actually drown them while they are in their homes, not to mention being exposed to lightning and electrical shocks as a result of the random electrical wiring their houses have. These houses all lack proper electric wiring and a proper sewage system.
In addition to their living conditions, having them live in the form of close human masses and in poor health conditions make them vulnerable to infectious diseases, especially the ones prevalent in Hadramout now, viral diseases such as Chikungunya, Dengue fever and other diseases such as Tuberculosis, Leprosy, AIDS, Hepatitis, and Thalassemia – in children – and others.
When weather conditions are very bad, women and children resort to sheltering in the school building, as it is almost the only building in the area, and if the situation gets worse, then men then join them as well.
Females outnumber the males, and the number of children outnumbers the elderly. Underage marriage is common among them, and it is not limited to girls only! Even male children are married at the age of nine and ten. This exposes children to bearing the burdens of life at an early age, which in turn results in the death and imprisonment of many of them due to being forced into illegal or dangerous work by some gangs.
Difficulties and Challenges:
Like other members of the community, Muhamasheen go to hospitals and government and private facilities to receive treatment. They pay for treatment, medical examination and wait in long queues of patients. Hassan Khaled (45 years old) said, “Although we visit hospitals as patients and pay to get examined like other everyone else, the treatment we receive is barely comparable to that of other patients, not to mention the looks of inferiority and contempt we get, as if we are unclean creatures.” This is almost a model of ill-treatment they usually receive, as the stereotype sticks to them. Whereas, the exploitation of some of them to carry out illegal acts makes society in general deal with them as suspects. Not only that, but they consider them a source of diseases and other dangers.
Even though the percentage of beggary has somewhat decreased, they are still in need of financial support. Most of their economic activities are based on very simple tasks such as jobs at landfills, where workers collect damaged items (scrap) that require burning for a small amount of money. Others collect metal and copper, idle batteries, fans, or plastic cans and sell them. Young men work in cleaning and sanitation, collecting and selling plastic cans, while some are cobblers, and others work as carriers, construction workers and some simply sell Qat. Women also work in cleaning jobs, selling Qat, or begging.
This group has in general faced marginalization from both the authorities and society. There are some modest initiatives with limited resources that concern this group, however, they are far from enough from meeting their needs, and need help gaining their lost rights. They have isolated themselves because society does not accept them, and they were brainwashed to view themselves inferior to others who have the right to live a decent, clean and safe life. Which makes recruiting them by terrorist organizations very easy. These organization try to exploit their almost non-existent financial and social stability, which makes recruiting them into these terrorist organizations easy (11).
As a result of the special circumstances that the country and the world are going through, in light of the outbreak of the global epidemic – Corona – businesses in general have stopped, which shook their simple economy. Individuals working in the government sector were not given their salaries, which do not exceed $70 per person. This resulted in an increase in the percentage of crimes, violence and cases of theft in areas close to them. Cutting off roads to demonstrate against their low and late wages, also puts them in grave dangers in light of the current spread of the epidemic. They have no other work option available nor source of income. Even if jobs were available outside the hours of the curfew, they would not be sufficient enough to be able to obtain a decent livelihood.
Some well aware Muhamasheen families tried to develop and improve upon themselves, by changing their behaviors and inhabiting the city with the rest of Yemeni society. Some have even married into Hadhrami families. This is a simple example of the extent of change possible if they were to have their rights, and were pulled out of the miserable situation they live in. The number of children registered in schools is increasing every year, and the behavior of these children has been gradually improving over a period of only two years. Some of them come to school without knowing how to use the bathroom or in some cases, what a bathroom is, and within a short period of time they learn how to use it properly. The destruction of school property and tools has also subsided.
These are only simple examples that show us the possible changes that could happen if they had the means to live a proper and healthy life, and shows us the extent of their ability and eagerness to integrate with the surrounding society and form a single entity. The advancement of this society is not an easy task, and working to develop it and acquire their lost rights requires years of serious and continuous work, which will hopefully lift them from a state of non-existence and create a new identity for them.
Footnotes:
- Suad Joseph, (2000), Gender and Citizenship in the Middle East, Syracuse University Press, New York, P. 263
- Aisha Al-Warraq (2019), The Historical & Systematic Marginalization of the Muhamasheen Community in Yemen, Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, 6/10/2019, https://sanaacenter.org/ar/publications-all/analysis-ar/7532
- Mohammed Al-Mahfali & Eman Homaid (2019), Minorities in Yemen, Reality & Challenges, INSAF Center Publications, 2019, pp: 10-11.
- https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85#cite_note-8
- Robert F. Worth, (2008) ,Languishing at the Bottom of Yemen’s Ladder, New York Times, February 27,2008 , https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/world/middleeast/27yemen.html
- Report of the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, United Nations Human Rights Council Thirty-First Session, January 28, 2016.
- Lutf Al-Sarari (2019), The Muhamasheen in Yemen … Exile to the Bottom of the Margin, Al-Safir Al-Arabi website 3/10/2019, http://assafirarabi.com/ar/27321/2019/10/03/المهمشون-في-اليمن-اغتراب-في-أدنى-الهام/#note1
- Luca Nevola (2018),On colour and origin: the case of the akhdam in Yemen, 13 February 2018 https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/on-colour-and-origin-case-of-akhdam-in-yemen/
- Mohammed Hussain (2020), exclusive interview, 4/6/2020
- Everything you need to know about Thalassemia ,Medically reviewed by Shilpa Amin, MD, CAQ, FAAFP— Written by Gretchen Holm and Kristeen Cherney — Updated on November 13, 2019.
- Gretchen Holm ,Kristeen Cherney , Shilpa Amin (2019), Everything you need to know about Thalassemia, November 13, 2019, https://www.healthline.com/health/thalassemia.
- Fikriah Shahrah (2019), The Muhamasheen and the Myth of Dialogue, Al-Masdar Online 4/3/2019, https://mail.almasdaronline1.com/articles/98311/amp
