Protests Surge Across Occupied Southern Yemen, Anger Against Saudi ‘Guardianship’ Intensifies

Over the past hours, massive popular marches were staged in several districts of Hadramout and Shabwa provinces, featuring large convoys of motorcycles and vehicles moving through main streets, raising banners rejecting Saudi guardianship and foreign presence, demanding an end to occupation and the restoration of independent national decision-making.

Participants chanted angry slogans denouncing Saudi policies and their local agents, affirming that the economic and service collapse in occupied provinces is no longer tolerable.

The Hura district in Hadramout witnessed a wide popular rally, with participants declaring their absolute rejection of Saudi guardianship, stating that continued Saudi intervention represents an extension of policies aimed at confiscating national will and keeping occupied provinces in a cycle of crises and chaos.

Residents of Al-Rawda district in Shabwa held a similar march, raising banners rejecting Saudi occupation, affirming that the people of the province will not accept continued foreign guardianship or allow their areas to become arenas for settling regional scores. They declared that the demand for liberation and restoration of sovereignty has become a national priority.

Activists on social media noted that the escalating protests are no longer linked solely to service collapse or economic deterioration, but have become expressions of comprehensive rejection of Saudi-imposed policies over the past years—including institutional dismantling, state weakening, deepening divisions, and continued plunder of national wealth.

Citizens in occupied provinces now view service crises, currency collapse, unpaid salaries, and deteriorating electricity and water services as direct results of continued foreign guardianship, which prioritized external interests over those of Yemenis.

The simultaneous and identical statements from officials of the pro-Saudi “government of traitors” have sparked widespread criticism, indicating the extent of Saudi guardianship over the puppet government. Journalists from the occupied provinces noted that repeated political statements in identical language from multiple sources confirms the absence of independent decision-making, revealing that many officials have become tools executing Riyadh’s dictates.

Observers pointed to the Saudi ambassador’s direct management of occupied provinces through a guardianship mentality, which has deepened divisions, weakened state institutions, and kept economic and service crises in a catastrophic state.

Continued Saudi plunder of oil, gas, and strategic ports has led to difficult living conditions, with the ongoing currency collapse, rising prices, service outages, and expanding unemployment and poverty.

A growing conviction has taken hold among residents of occupied provinces: that Saudi occupation is the root cause of all crises in Yemen, and that genuine solutions will remain impossible until Yemen restores its national decision-making free from Saudi intervention