Yemeni terror victims still need government help

Marwan bin Ajlan, who still suffers severe medical problems, especially with his eyes, still awaits financial help.

The families of the two Yemeni drivers injured and the two killed in the July 2 terrorist attack in Mareb have so far received little help from the Yemeni government, so foreign and local travel agencies are working to raise funds on the families’ behalf. 

The men of the four affected Bedouin families have traditionally worked as drivers for various tour groups and agencies.  They use their own SUVs in their work, not cars owned by travel agencies.  Their livelihood depends entirely on their cars, which were destroyed after a car full of explosives drove into their convoy, killing eight Spanish tourists, two Yemeni drivers, and injuring about seven others. 

The impact of the loss of their cars has been devastating.  “I had lunch with the families last week and they told me that all the women have sold all their gold jewelry to pay for medical bills or food,” said Josette Llahi, a French travel agent for Acacia Tours, based in Sana’a and France.

Llahi and other tour agents understand that everyday without a car is a day without income for the families of the drivers.  She has decided to establish a fund to raise money donated by tour agencies in Yemen, France and Spain to purchase an SUV for each of the four families that lost their cars.  Each SUV costs about YR 4 million.

“How can these families live?  From where will they get money?  The government should pay for them,” she said.  The Ministry of Tourism has provided YR 200,000 to the families of the Yemenis injured in the attack and YR 500,000 to the families of the deceased. The families have received this money, but it has already been spent on medical bills or funeral costs.

“We haven’t gotten anything from the Ministry of the Interior,” said Hussein Bin Ajlan, the father of Marwan, one of the drivers who died, and the uncle of Marwan, who was injured by the blast. “We need cars to make money,” he said.

“Marwan has shrapnel in his right eye and in his left ear,” Hussein said. “His eardrum is destroyed.  He urgently needs an operation to remove the shrapnel…. I don’t know how much Marwan’s father has been able to afford, but I personally gave Marwan YR 250,000. I want my nephew to go abroad to get good medical services.  He was treated with neglect at Al-Thowra Hospital.”

Marwan hopes that he, his uncle, and his father will someday be able to resume their work, but they cannot do this without a car. “My father and I have only this car to make a living. My father and my uncles have spent a lot on my treatment, and the YR 200,000 that the Ministry of Tourism gave us was spent in three days on medical care.”

Najeeba Hadad, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Tourism, said that the families of the Yemeni drivers will be compensated by the government for their losses.  “This compensation will be given according to the law of the Ministry of Labor, which states that when someone dies, his children will be given a certain amount of money every month.  They will not get special compensation, this is the standard amount of money given to the families of people who die.”

“The tour agencies they work for should provide the drivers with insurance,” said Hadad.  But very few insurance companies cover damage or loss caused by terrorism.   

A representative of the Saba Yemen Insurance Company told the Yemen Observer that the Spanish tour group targeted in the Mareb attack was not insured by Saba, but that it is standard for insurance agencies to insure both the tourists and their drivers. “But since the September 11th attacks, most of the large insurance companies stopped covering terrorism.” Saba does not cover damages or deaths caused by terrorism.

BTA Travel was the Yemeni agency that organized the doomed trip to Mareb.  Muhammed Nuzaily, a BKA agent, said that the Spanish agency that collaborated with BKA to bring the Spanish tourists to Yemen will not give the drivers or their families compensation money, but they are trying to raise funds for the families through donations. 

“The Spanish travel agency tried to raise funds internally, but they could not succeed, so they are depending on charitable donations,” said Nuzaily.  “My agency [BKA Travel] will not give compensation either, but we are trying to help them with hospital bills, and funeral costs and other things.  We have given the families about $7,000 to $8,000 so far.”

“I have tried to meet with President Saleh, because the Ministry of Tourism is not helping the families enough,” he said.  “The president went on national television the other night and called the dead drivers ‘martyrs,’ so we expect him to give the victims new cars and to give the families of the dead monthly financial support.”

“I wish we could get the same treatment that the Spanish victims were shown by their government,” Nuzaily said. “The Spanish government has compensated the families of the Spanish victims, unlike the Yemeni government, which has ever even called the families of the Yemeni victims.”

President Saleh has offered a $75,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the perpetrators of the Mareb attack.

The Ministry of the Interior was unavailable for comment on this issue.

To inquire about contributing funds, please contact Josette Llahi via email at:  josllahi@wanadoo.fr

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