Al-Sabeen local council authority closed down 20 Chinese health clubs in the Hadda area in Sana’a today, said Abdul-Jabar al-Hashidi, a local council member of al-Sabeen district.
Al-Hashidi said that the local council of al-Sabeen decided to close these health clubs down after receiving many complaints from the residents of the Hadda area against the clubs, accusing them of soliciting prostitution.
He added that a follow up committee was sent to verify the truth and the committee found the complaints to be true. “Based on the findings of the committee and its recommendations, the local council headed by the General Director of al-Al-Sabeen district Abdullah Muharam and the Secretary General Mohammed al-Sadiq met and decided to close these Chinese health clubs down.”
Al-Hashidi said that the committee found out that none of the health clubs had a license or health certificate for their workers. In addition, the committee found out that the Chinese girls working in the clubs were barely clothed, in contradiction with Yemeni traditions and with the conditions for working in health clubs.
The local council instructed the public works office at al-Sabeen district to close down the Chinese health clubs in violation of the law. The office, along with members of the local council, responded to the instructions and closed down the health clubs immediately, even though no judiciary order was issued to close them down.
Member of the local council Abdul-Hamid al-Harazi said that the public works office has the right to close down any café, shop, or buffet for any health violations and that they are authorized to close these clubs for the aforementioned violations.
The Chinese girls working in the closed down clubs had nowhere to go because they used to work and live in the clubs. None of them could speak Arabic or English but they all appeared miserable and astonished for the sudden decision. None of their employers or the Chinese Embassy in Sana’a interfered or tried to help them.
The Chinese girls were noticed sitting along with their luggage at the gates of the closed clubs, some of them were crying but could not speak to express themselves.
Yemen Observer tried contact the investment authority and the committee of vice and virtue but none of them responded.
Several Chinese health clubs have opened in Sana’a over the past few years. Al-Hashidi said that all 20 clubs that they closed down had been opened in the past six months.
Al-Hashidi added that another campaign is to start its work to close all Chinese restaurants that sell alcohol on Tuesday. The closing of the Chinese health clubs was welcomed and hailed by the residents of the Hadda area.
“We approve this step by the local council particularly when the Chinese authorities closed down mosques in China of Uighur Muslims,” said Ahmad Aqlan, a Yemeni citizen. He added that these clubs have been spreading vice and AIDS among the youth.
Abdul-Hameed al-Harazi, a member of the al-Sabeen district’s local council, said that the council had received several complaints about the clubs. He said that, as a member of the follow-up committee chaired by Mr. Nashwan al-Tahish, he found out that the girls working in these clubs were barely clothed, possessing no work permits or even health certificates.
The committee also found that most of the clients of the clubs were teenagers.
Al-Harazi added that the health clubs were opened by either Yemeni or Ethiopian partners. He said that when they visited the Chinese restaurants they found that there were no kitchens in any of them. “We will close these restaurants down tomorrow because they only sell alcohol and no food,” said al-Harazi.
Al-Hashidi added that the Aqels or Sheriffs of the al-Sabeen zones complained about the Chinese health clubs and restaurants and demanded to close them down in response to closing down the Muslims mosques and mistreating Muslim Uighurs in China.
Imam of al-Qadisya mosque Sheikh Saleh al-Sewaidi welcomed the step taken by the local council and said that these clubs have been spreading vice. “We were concerned about our children and teenagers that were seduced by these health clubs,” said al-Sewaidi. “We have been following the recent events in China and mistreatment of the Muslim Uigurs while they are exporting vice to us in Yemen.”
However, both al-Hashidi and al-Harazi denied that the vice and virtue committee had any relation to the decision of closing down the Chinese facilities.
In a related context, 64 members of the Parliament signed a petition to summon the government and question it over what they claimed represents the spread of prostitution and moral vice in the country.
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