The UAE is a major pillar in a Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, under the banner of restoring the authority of self-exiled Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The United Arab Emirates has denied allegations of overreaching in Yemen after it deployed forces and seized the airport on Yemen’s island of Socotra, listed by UNESCO as a world natural heritage site.
Yemeni political parties, including the General People's Congress, Al-Islah and the Southern Movement issue a joint statement calling on the United Arab Emirates to immediately withdraw its troops from Socotra in the Arabian Sea.