Yemen: Yemeni Researcher Reveals How Yemeni Antiquities are Smuggled

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special

**Arab Sea - Follow-ups:** **Yemeni researcher Abdullah Mohsen, who specializes in heritage and antiquities, has directed harsh criticism at the Ministry of Culture and the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums, accusing its employees of failing to confront the smuggling of Yemeni antiquities.** **This came in a post on his Facebook account, in which he questioned the role of those he described as "those affiliated with these entities from the dependents," in reference to employees who receive government salaries without performing actual tasks.** **He pointed out that a small number of these employees would be enough to recover thousands of artifacts, even by purchasing them, if their salaries were invested effectively.** **Mohsen added that media institutions have not played their role, despite the presence of more than 600 journalists who receive more than one million dollars a month, in addition to huge sums spent on news sites, without contributing to uncovering or combating the smuggling of Yemeni heritage.** **The researcher pointed out the continued display and sale of ancient Yemeni antiquities in many Arab and Western countries, stressing that government neglect and administrative failure are opening the door wide for the smuggling of precious Yemeni heritage.**