After merging the Yemeni Studies Center, the Houthis are further destroying state institutions to obliterate its cultural heritage

The Houthi militia continued to destroy state institutions and their historical symbolism, after merging a number of centers and institutions and attaching some of them to other institutions created by the militia, in an attempt to obliterate its cultural heritage.

In this regard, the Houthi militia issued a decision last September to merge the Yemeni Studies and Research Center with the Educational Development Center within a General Authority for Science, Research and Innovation that the militia recently established, under the supervision of the so-called Minister of Education.

Observers confirmed that this decision aims to destroy this ancient institution, which was founded in 1972 and was a center of cultural radiation in Yemen, amid fears of an attempt to erase its cultural heritage.

The Yemeni Studies Center is a scientific and cultural reference, linked to many prominent Yemeni figures such as Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Maqalih and others, and hosts a huge library that has provided its services to researchers for decades.

Yemenis fear that the Houthi decision will lead to the destruction of a great cultural heritage that played a prominent role in shaping Yemeni intellectual and enlightenment awareness, without any objection or protest from Yemeni cultural circles.

It is noteworthy that the militia issued a decision at the same time to merge the General Insurance Authority and the General Insurance Corporation, after they were two independent institutions, one of which was affiliated with the government sector and the other was affiliated with the private sector.

This comes within a series of decisions issued by the militia as part of what is called the radical change, which aimed to merge a number of ministries and institutions, as part of its approach to Houthi-ize the state and harness it to serve its sectarian project.