Her tears were enough to reignite the flames of my rage, a fragile soul made of roses and daisies in such pain, unable to connect the dots between this man and the dad she knows from worn out photographs her mother keeps in the top drawer of her dresser that is slowly falling apart, she gazes into her father's eyes and it finally clicks that this is her dad, the man in the picture is real, this is the very first time she set her big, brown eyes on her dad, and she breaks down into showers of tear turning her face from pale to scarlet, filling every inch of her body with inexperienced joy.
The mothers falling to their knees, eyes clouded with tears in complete denial that this day has finally shined upon them, the days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and she patiently waits holding on by her faith in God, she sees her son and breaks down, he might be injured and his legs are at the brink of being amputated, but in that moment nothing matters but him, he is here, her son who will always be the little boy running into her arms barely holding himself up, and is now the man barely holding himself up with his beaten up legs, using his crane to approach her as fast as he can. They finally meet and she falls onto her knees, and the world stops in that moment, happiness is everywhere.
Years spent behind bars imprisoned and tortured, yet they came home with so much pride, a vision of honor. Ready to sacrifice themselves all over again for these people, for this religion, for this country. I can't tell who is happier those who arrived or those awaiting their arrival, it is a scene out of an Oscar award winning drama movie, even I who was here the entirety of the struggle could not hold back the streams of my tears, they are almost flooding me in the sea of salty droplets falling from eyes. I cannot fathom or even begin to comprehend how these people the Saudi-led coalition and their mercenaries here in Yemen have such intense hatred, how they are filled to the brim with extreme brutality, these prisoners were held captive for years, beaten and tortured both mentally and physically and for no reason but defending their country that was under attack by this coalition. What surprises me is that some of the people captivated were not even in the battlefronts but rather unbiased Yemenis on their way to make a living in Saudi and they were held as prisoners for over 5 years tortured, hanged, and abused.
My heart aches and shatters into pieces once again, seeing families holding up photos of their lost children, they spent hours on the road from their villages miles aways to arrive at Sanaa International Airport in hopes of hearing any news of their children, their fathers, their husbands. They come from all over the country knowing their loved ones are not going to arrive but just in hopes that any one of the freed prisoners will have any information about them, are they okay, are they even alive? Questions I sometimes believe they would rather not hear the answers, but they spend hours under the sun from the peak of dawn till the very last freed prisoners sets foot in the airport asking them and pointing at the pictures, helplessly screaming, have you seen him? Do you know him? Such a tragedy, it is almost too tragic to process.
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This prisoner's exchange went on for three days in three phases the first phase were those imprisoned in Aden, the second from AlMakhaa and Khamees Moshayt in Saudi, and the final group were from Marib. Yesterday marked the final day of this prisoner exchange and held some heart-wrenching stories, a family of thirty from Al-Ameer family were captives in Marib while not being in the battlefronts and three generations have been held captive for over five years now including three little boys aged between ten and thirteen, yes, that is right, literal children have been imprisoned for five years by the Saudi led mercenaries in Marib. Another heartbreaking story is that of Sameera Maresh a mother who was captivated in Marib in 2018 for absolutely no crime and has been left in their prisons tortured and in pain and solitude for five years now. These stories of normal by-passers who were held captives with no crime but existing how is this allowed, accepted? The prisons in Marib have not allowed any committees to visit them which is against all laws, but in moments like these you cannot help but question what is the law? Who are the peacekeepers? The prisons in Marib are by far the worst and just reminiscing on what goes down there my blood turns cold.
How are we expected to be unbiased and unfazed by these captivations, these imprisonments, this unjust treatment towards the people of Yemen. How are we expected to adjust and accept having our people imprisoned and tortured, and are asked to just forgive and forget the Saudi coalition, after all they have done to the country and to the people.
After countless negotiations between the government and the Saudi led coalition and their mercenaries and going through round after round of negotiations for such a humanitarian file that should not be abused by them and meshed together with the political files, this inhumane treatment towards these captives infuriates me. In order for these 705 prisoners to be released the National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs went through nine rounds of negotiations both in Yemen and in countries like Switzerland, and although they endlessly stated their will to exchange "all for all" the other parties refused this offer which is unfortunate and saddening, considering the inhumane living situations our prisoners are going through. I once again question what is the point of the International Committees preaching for peace when they cannot seem to end a total humanitarian situation.
It is said that in the upcoming month of May another prisoner exchange will be executed and I pray the other parties agree to exchange all for all, because the joy engulfing the people of Yemen these past day is truly heartwarming and beautiful. It is beautiful to know that although this country is war-ridden there is always the hope of a better tomorrow, the hope of meeting again with her son, her husband, her father. The hope of the future is what keeps us going, knowing that there is always a possibility of unexpected happiness and families reuniting.
In the end, I pray for those behind bars and I send my warmest regards to all the families who are reunited. Welcome home you have all been deeply missed!
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