For nearly a decade, Yemen’s crisis has been shaped by a failed model: a government in exile and a humanitarian and advocacy industry focused on funding cycles, not outcomes.
This vacuum of accountability let solvable problems like the hijacked .YE domain fester. 🧵
#FreeDotYE
This vacuum of accountability let solvable problems like the hijacked .YE domain fester. 🧵
#FreeDotYE
When Yemen's legitimate government left the country, leaders continued to collect salaries abroad while accountability collapsed.
Yemenis at home paid the price as the state's most basic digital assets were neglected and ultimately lost.
Yemenis at home paid the price as the state's most basic digital assets were neglected and ultimately lost.
Simultaneously, much of the advocacy and humanitarian sector fell into a trap of "report-ism"; satisfying donors but changing little on the ground.
Critical infrastructure issues like digital state capture were ignored, deemed too technical or not fitting within a funding silo.
Critical infrastructure issues like digital state capture were ignored, deemed too technical or not fitting within a funding silo.
This inaction trapped everyone, including the UN. To operate, aid agencies must pay for telecom services in Houthi-controlled areas, where over 80% of the infrastructure is located.
This has created a multi-million dollar revenue stream flowing directly into the Houthi monopoly.
This has created a multi-million dollar revenue stream flowing directly into the Houthi monopoly.
This isn't theoretical. A reported $2.5M payment from the World Food Programme (@WFP) for telecom services in 2021 was highlighted money that, by structural necessity, flowed into the Houthi-run system.
Humanitarian aid has directly fueled the very conflict it was meant to relieve.
Humanitarian aid has directly fueled the very conflict it was meant to relieve.
This system of failure is why a straightforward problem like the hijacked .YE domain has been ignored since 2015.
Defending Yemen's digital sovereignty was sidelined in favor of a model focused on securing salaries and grants, not on achieving tangible results.
Defending Yemen's digital sovereignty was sidelined in favor of a model focused on securing salaries and grants, not on achieving tangible results.
#FreeDotYE is a rejection of this failed model.
We are volunteers, not a project seeking funding. Our work is for our home, for our generation, and for the future of a free and open internet in Yemen and beyond.
This is a test: are institutions here to serve the people, or just themselves?
We are volunteers, not a project seeking funding. Our work is for our home, for our generation, and for the future of a free and open internet in Yemen and beyond.
This is a test: are institutions here to serve the people, or just themselves?
Redelegating .YE to a neutral trustee is the first step to breaking the legitimacy of this monopoly and ending the cycle of failure.
It's time for focused, principled action. Help us prove it can achieve what a decade of inaction could not.
🔗 freethedotye.org
It's time for focused, principled action. Help us prove it can achieve what a decade of inaction could not.
🔗 freethedotye.org
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