Queen Elizabeth II made a historic visit to Yemen in 1954. One of the busiest and most important ports in the world was located on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
After the death of the queen, some people in Yemen remembered a part of history that is rarely evoked.
Waves of grief and sympathy have come from all over the world. There are calls for a re-examination of the death and deprivation caused by Britain in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
There are calls for compensation for slavery in the Caribbean.
Many people remember colonial rule as a time of oppression in the city and the country, which has been ravaged by civil war since the beginning of the year.
British rule in the country has been credited with advances in the country. The queen and her husband passed by as people waved from the street.
He says his generation now knows a lot more.
He said that in the 21st century, such practices are seen as a reflection of contemporary global issues.
The people who wanted to end the occupation were cracked down on. Thousands of people were killed in the fight to rid the world of foreign rule. They should be held accountable for their actions.
A British colony was the only Arab territory to have existed. Mandates or protectors were the British outposts in the Middle East.
The British occupied the area in the 19th century. The Ottomans and Britain clashed over parts of southern Yemen as protectors.
The division of Yemen between north and south has existed throughout the country’s modern history and flared again in the current civil war.
In 1937, it was officially declared a crown colony. The city was a vital refueling and commercial port between Europe and Asia and the British colony of India.
Two years after she ascended to the throne, Elizabeth stopped by on the way back from Australia.
The British-Yemeni Society has photos of the visit on their website.
A large number of Yemens met them. The queen awarded a knighthood to the local leader. In order to receive it, al-Kaff refused to bow before the queen because of his Muslim faith.
The royals attended a military parade.
The uprising emerged after the visit, fueled by pan-Arab nationalism and supported by Egypt’s President, who was an archfoe of colonial powers in the 1950s and 1960s. The British were forced to stop fighting.
The People’s Republic of South Yemen was founded when the last British troops left in 1967. The only Marxist country in the Arab world would be unification with the north in 1990.
The death of Queen Elizabeth drew mixed reactions from British colonies in Africa.
British rule brought order to the area.
Many long for the past they lived during the days of British rule, as if they were living in Britain, according to a writer and researcher of the modern history of Aden.
He said that most of the basic services, such as health and education, were started in the colonial era.
He said that Britain laid the foundations of the civil administration in the beginning.
There are a few reminders left.
There is a statue of Queen Victoria in the main square that was grazed by bullets during the civil war. From a hilltop, you can see the city from a clocktower. The founding stone of a main hospital was laid byQueen Elizabeth.
There is a statue of Queen Victoria at a park. The photo was taken by Fawz Salman.
The current civil war in Yemen has torn the country into two parts, one in the north and one in the south. The government in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries has been supported by the Houthis. Yemen has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises as a result of the fighting.
Salem al Yamani, a teacher in the southern province of Abyan, said that nostalgia for colonial times is not relevant at the moment.
The colonizers were not good because of the idea of having good roads and services. He said that they were occupiers who wanted to serve their own interests.
He said that they don’t want them back again. If foreign powers stop interfering in our affairs, this will be solved.