Yemen's Akhdam Held Demonstrations
in front of Yemeni Cabinet
22 July, 2009 | By Yemen Post Staff
Yemen's Akhdam (African-descent) held a demonstration in front of
Yemeni Cabinet demanded the authorities to arrest murderers of seven
people in Jabal Ras district in Hodeida governorate.
The protesters denounced the incident and asked Yemeni government to
bring the murderers to justice.They also, demanded to compensate
Akhdam who their homes were blown out in Sana'a by local authorities,
in addition to build new houses for Akhdam in Taiz and the capital.
They asked in their rally to assign jobs for them who have proper
qualifications to join government jobs. Besides, they demanded allocating
them to occupy suitable positions in the country.
Meanwhile, twelve people were killed in Hodeida governorate and two
others injured, in clashes between Akhdam and tribesmen in Jabal Ras at
the beginning of July. However, Akhdam have lived in Yemen for well
over a thousand years. They are Arabic-speaking Muslims. And yet they
are Yemen's great outcasts.
They are almost always kept at arm's length, and any chance of social
integration is next to impossible. Their name, Akhdam, is the plural of the
Arabic term khadim, which literally means servant, a term far predating
their common occupation nowadays as sanitary workers and garbage
collectors, and is given to any Yemeni-born person with black skin,
especially in the north of the country. Courtesy
in front of Yemeni Cabinet
22 July, 2009 | By Yemen Post Staff
Yemen's Akhdam (African-descent) held a demonstration in front of
Yemeni Cabinet demanded the authorities to arrest murderers of seven
people in Jabal Ras district in Hodeida governorate.
The protesters denounced the incident and asked Yemeni government to
bring the murderers to justice.They also, demanded to compensate
Akhdam who their homes were blown out in Sana'a by local authorities,
in addition to build new houses for Akhdam in Taiz and the capital.
They asked in their rally to assign jobs for them who have proper
qualifications to join government jobs. Besides, they demanded allocating
them to occupy suitable positions in the country.
Meanwhile, twelve people were killed in Hodeida governorate and two
others injured, in clashes between Akhdam and tribesmen in Jabal Ras at
the beginning of July. However, Akhdam have lived in Yemen for well
over a thousand years. They are Arabic-speaking Muslims. And yet they
are Yemen's great outcasts.
- Legend has it that the Black
Yemenis, who do not belong
to any of the major Arab tribe
groups, descend from
Ethiopian invaders from the
sometime between 100-600 A.
D. When the Ethiopian
invasion failed, they became
slaves and servants. With the
abolition of slavery in Yemen
(in 1962!), the Akhdam are
They are almost always kept at arm's length, and any chance of social
integration is next to impossible. Their name, Akhdam, is the plural of the
Arabic term khadim, which literally means servant, a term far predating
their common occupation nowadays as sanitary workers and garbage
collectors, and is given to any Yemeni-born person with black skin,
especially in the north of the country. Courtesy
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