Restoring the South — A Movement Driven by the People

The push to restore South Yemen is not an abstract political maneuver by elites or a narrow faction—it is a popular, grassroots demand expressed over generations through protests, sacrifices, and collective civic action.

The Southern Movement (“Al-Harak al-Janoubi”) first emerged in 2007 as southerners organized mass protests against economic marginalization and political exclusion following Yemen’s 1990 unification and the 1994 civil war. 

These demonstrations were not occasional or elite-orchestrated events, but sustained public mobilisations demanding rights and addressing grievances rooted in daily lived experience. Human Rights Watch documented that thousands in the south repeatedly took to the streets for peaceful protest, often facing harsh government crackdowns, arrests, and violence for asserting their demands. Human Rights Watch report: Harsh Government Response to Southern Protests

The movement’s identity is broad and societal, not narrow or faction-specific. Analyses show that it includes ,tribal leaders, students, civil society activists, and professionals who collectively articulate demands for autonomy or restoration of statehood.

Public demonstrations as recently as last month show southerners renewing calls for separation and self-determination on symbolic dates like independence anniversaries, underlining the enduring popular breadth of support.

Intellectuals, writers, community elders, and local educators have repeatedly emphasized that southern unity reflects collective community will, not the ambitions of a single political faction. Statements from southern civic conferences assert the right of the South’s people to self-definition and restoration of their former state.

This sustained, multi-layered momentum across social groups underscores one reality: the southern cause is a collective popular movement, not a narrow elite project.