Yemen: Bin Daghr Says Checkpoint Violations Against Citizens Need to Stop

A fighter loyal to Yemen’s government searches a car at a checkpoint in the country’s southern port city of Aden October 19, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer
A fighter loyal to Yemen’s government searches a car at a checkpoint in the country’s southern port city of Aden October 19, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer
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Yemen: Bin Daghr Says Checkpoint Violations Against Citizens Need to Stop

A fighter loyal to Yemen’s government searches a car at a checkpoint in the country’s southern port city of Aden October 19, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer
A fighter loyal to Yemen’s government searches a car at a checkpoint in the country’s southern port city of Aden October 19, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr called on Sunday for the immediate cessation of violations that occur at security checkpoints against citizens who come to the temporary capital Aden, warning against chaos spreading in “the city of unity and diversity.”

“We must never forget that we are at war with a brutal enemy, an enemy that does not differentiate between North and South, that does not know the meaning of patriotism, an enemy who seeks control,” Bin Daghr told a gathering of Yemeni interior ministry officials in Aden, in reference to Houthi militias.

The Yemeni premier vowed to defeat the Houthis “sooner or later” and promised that the national army would achieve victory soon and its salaries would be organized this year by the government.

Bin Daghr underlined the need to “give Aden the opportunity to catch its breath and regain its commercial and economic status.”

“Progress cannot be achieved in turmoil and chaos,” he stated, stressing the necessity to protect citizens’ rights, which he said were indivisible.

Commenting on repeated incidents at some security checkpoints against those who intend to enter the city of Aden from the northern governorates, Bin Daghr said: “Violations at the checkpoints must stop and the citizens should be treated with due respect. Such mistakes must stop immediately and unconditionally.”

“Aden is the city of unity and diversity… No one can rule Aden alone; we have experienced and studied this in our history,” he continued.

Yemeni activists and human rights organizations said that hundreds of people traveling to Aden from the northern regions to escape the repression of Houthis in Sanaa or to travel abroad for treatment were being exposed to security checks and violations of their rights, forcing many of them to return to their areas.



Türkiye Says Over 273,000 Syrian Refugees Have Returned Home

FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
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Türkiye Says Over 273,000 Syrian Refugees Have Returned Home

FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
FILE - Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Kassem and his family drive a truck loaded with their belongings from Türkiye, on the their way back to the family's home in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

More than 273,000 Syrians who fled their country's civil war to neighboring Türkiye have returned home since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad in December, Türkiye's vice-president said Friday.

"The number of people who have voluntarily returned to Syria since December 8, 2024 has exceeded 273,000," Cevdet Yilmaz was quoted as saying by the official Anadolu news agency.

Some 2.7 million Syrian refugees are still in Türkiye, according to interior ministry figures released in May.

The Turkish government, which supports Syria's new rulers, is hoping to accelerate the return of refugees to ease tensions generated by their presence in parts of the country.