Victims of 305 [Archives:1999/52/Law & Diplomacy]

Yemenis living abroad must be ware! They better not fall in love and marry a foreigner. To do that they need the permission of the Minister of Interior of Yemen. In addition, the potential spouse will need to present authorization from her legal guardians, no matter what her age. 
It doesn’t matter that one is a civilian. It doesn’t matter that one does not have access to government secrets. 
The Minister of Interior’s Decree # (305) of 1995 concerning mixed-nationality marriages is out of touch with the world. It is out of touch with our constitution, and with basic human rights. It causes a lot of pain to many families. 
YESTERDAY 
In the past, millions of Yemenis had to emigrate because of hard times in Yemen. They went to safer and more prosperous lands. Many of them crossed the Red Sea to Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and other East African countries. Others crossed the ocean to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, etc. Still others travelled to the far shores of Europe and even to the New World. 
The holy Quran says, “O mankind! We created you from a single pair (male and female), and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other, not that ye may despise each other.” 
Our emigrants settled in foreign lands. They inter-married with local societies. Some of them now decided to come back. 
TODAY 
Today after they have come back to their beloved homeland, to help in building a strong nation (Yemen of the 21st century), they are faced with many difficulties. The most dangerous one is breaking up their families, because they did not ask for the permission of the Interior minister when they decided to marry their foreign wives. As a result, their wives will not be permitted to stay in the country. In this case, they have to choose either to keep them illegally or send their wives and kids back or divorce them, or whatever. 
Most of these people are educated and well qualified. They and their children should be welcomed and considered as valuable assets to the country. However, what happens is the opposite. They are harassed by absurd laws, such as the interior minister’s decree # 305 on mixed marriages. 
It is a painful and humiliating experience to watch a man begging for permission to keep his wife in the country. It is even more disturbing to see semi literate and arrogant officials pushing citizens around. 
EXCERPTS FROM DECREE NO. 305 
Article (3): Every Yemeni wanting to marry a foreigner should get the permission of the minister before he can conclude the marriage. 
This article gives the minister the right to interfere in a very private matter. I really wonder in today’s world, in which even close family members refrain from interfering in such private matters. But the minister of interior decrees a law giving himself the right to get involved in private matters. 
The stipulation of this article is not only stupid, it also violates article (16) of the human right covenant which Yemen has signed and ratified. It states: 
1- Men and women of full age, without any limitation because of race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and establish a family. They are entitled to equal rights to marry, during marriage and at its dissolution. 
2- Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. 
The minister’s decree also violates another article; namely, number (12), which states: 
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his/her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his/her honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. 
Article (5) paragraph (4) of the Minister’s Decree states: The foreign would-be-wife of a Yemeni shall obtain the approval of her parent and the approval of the concerned authority in her government. 
In civilized societies, an adult woman chooses her husband with no unsolicited interference from any person, let alone a politician. 
Imagine a woman in a democratic country wanting to marry a Yemeni. According to our minister, she needs to get the approval of her government. Now this is problematic, because no such office exists. If the poor woman does approach any office in search of an approval to marry someone, they may call the mental hospital to pick her up. 
TALKING TO VICTIMS 
I spoke to many Yemenis married to foreigners at the ministry and the passport office. They all have never heard of this law before. They were confronted with a bad situation as the ministry of interior does not recognize their marriage. 
“Our officials know that many Yemenis go to India to marry Indians of Yemeni origin. There is no mention of such law on the information board in the consulate in Bombay. Here while processing paperwork, we were told that we should have at least obtained the permission of the consul. If you try and approach the consulate, they tell you that the approval has to come from Sanaa, which of course takes forever, if it comes at all.” 
Another victim of this absurd decree said: “We are not against organizing these marriages. But I understand that to mean registering the spouse upon arrival in Yemen or other such formality. But not to get someone’s permission.”One Sudanese woman who is married to a Yemeni was in fits as the authorities refused to recognize her marriage. “I was married to this man 26 years ago. I have several children, some of whom are adults. Now this minister says he does not recognize my marriage.””On Tuesdays, the minister is supposed to meet the public, but we are not allowed to see him. They tell us our problem is small. The future of my whole family is not a small matter to me,” said Mr. H. B. holding a fat file full of papers. 
THE BOTTOM LINE: 
The world is getting smaller by the day. Higher mobility leads to more interaction among people of all races. It is only normal that people of different colors and religions will meet, fall in love, and establish families. That is increasingly going to be the order of the day. 
The minister’s decree has a racist tone because it is based on the belief that the Yemeni race is more pure or better or whatever. That is absurd. 
Yemen has signed and ratified the International Human Rights Covenant, and a number of other international agreements. The stipulations of Decree 305 are anathema to all our commitments in those conventions, and to all democratic values that we aspire for. Thus there is only one thing to do with decree 305 – Scrap it from the books! 
By: Hatem Bamehriz. 
Yemen Times. 

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