Aden (South24 Center)

Trade union, labor and administrative federations, along with civil society organizations in South Yemen, said the ongoing popular movement across Southern governorates constitutes a “legitimate exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under international conventions,” voicing support for what they described as the “popular will” seeking to restore the Southern state.

The statement was issued following a broad meeting held in the interim capital Aden on Wednesday December 17, where signatories said Southern squares are witnessing a “broad popular movement and unprecedented peaceful sit-ins” that have spread across “all squares and capitals of the governorates, cities, and villages of the South.”

The statement added that the movement represents “a sincere expression of mature collective awareness and a deeply rooted popular will seeking to restore the legitimate national rights of the people of the South, in accordance with the rules of public international law and the principles of justice and the rights of peoples.”

The federations and unions called on STC President and “Supreme Commander of the Southern Armed Forces, Aidarous Qassem Al-Zubaidi, to respond to the will of his people and take the historic decision to declare the State of "South Arabia" within its internationally recognized borders prior to 1990.”

They also reaffirmed their full support for the Southern Armed Forces, saying they “commend their national sacrifices in strengthening security and stability and defending land and people,” stressing that protecting civilians and combating terrorism are “in line with international commitments.”

The statement was issued by multiple Southern federations, unions, and civil society organizations, and was signed by representatives of more than 315 trade union and civil entities that took part in the meeting.