By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-04-14

ADEN -- After enduring more than 10 years of Houthi rule, journalists, activists and ordinary people in Yemen have taken to social media in a bid to expose the Iran-backed group's misdeeds and restore state authority.

The #Houthi_Last_Days campaign, launched April 8, aims to highlight the accelerating collapse within the group's ranks and the growing popular discontent with its practices, organizers say.

The campaign sheds light on the scale of the catastrophe that has befallen Yemen since the Houthis' September 2014 coup.

It offers a stark reminder that more than 80% of Yemenis now live below the poverty line, while the Houthis' plunder public revenues and deprive state employees of their salaries.

And it documents the Houthis' planting of more than a million mines that have claimed thousands of victims, and the disappearance of more than 1,700 journalists and activists.

It proclaims that "the moment of salvation is near," and that the people's will to restore their state and dignity is growing stronger by the day.

Wave of optimism

The campaign "expresses a societal sentiment that reflects the desire of all communities to rid themselves of the Houthis," said journalist and political analyst Ahmed al-Sabai, who is one of the campaign organizers.

The Houthis "have brought the world to Yemen and turned it into a battleground," he told Al-Fassel.

Campaign participants "believe the Houthis are the direct cause of all this destruction that has befallen the country, and that ridding themselves of them is a turning point toward peace and stability in Yemen," he said.

The campaign has seen significant popular engagement, especially in Houthi-held areas, he said.

With the Iranian regime's allies and proxies suffering severe setbacks there has been a "local wave of optimism" that things will move in the same direction as they did in Lebanon and Syria, al-Sabai noted.

Yemenis are 'fed up'

The campaign shows "the Yemeni people have been fed up with these Iran-backed militias for nearly 10 years," Deputy Minister of Justice Faisal al-Majeedi told Al-Fassel.

"The widespread participation in the campaign reflects the erosion of the Houthis' popular support," he said, adding that the group has torn apart the fabric of Yemeni society and rejected all calls for security and stability.

"The Yemeni people have experienced first-hand the militia's control over institutions and public employment, which it restricted to its members."

"It also has controlled and dominated civil society organizations, including through kidnapping and extortion, and has restricted their commercial and investment activities," he said.

With the campaign, people see "an opportunity for change," he said, adding that participants see this year as "the year of liberation from the Houthis."