In 2013 Oxford University surveyed people of Mehri. They
interviewed around 2,000 Mehris men and women, even ones living in tents
and caves. The results of almost every Mehri person surveyed were the
same. The evidence of the study showed that a little over 70% of Mehri
people want independence from Yemen and want their own independent
state. They do not believe that their rights are being defended. Also,
90% of Mehri people want the different Mehri tribes to unite. There are
many different Mehri tribes that are all lead by a sheik. They are all
seperate and do not bother each other. Mehri for the most part do not
interact with their neighbors, or even Mehri people from other tribes
for that matter. The Oxford University study showed that Mehri wanted to
unite with eachother to form a stronger Mehri, but they were unaware how to. A delegate from Oxford University went in front of some Mehri
people to speak to them about their findings and some steps towards
helping them unite. Hopefully the Mehri people could work together in
the future to form a stronger group and also make Yemen aware that they
are unhappy.
The Mehri population is 99.9% Muslim. This means that they are not easily influenced by missionaries that come to their tribe and try to convert them to a different religion such as Christian or Evangelical. Their language however is predicted to become extinct in the future due to their neighbors speaking Arabic. Around 70% of Mehri people speak Mehri as their first language but many now speak Arabic to better understand those around them. They do however only marry within their own tribal group, so hopefully they will still use the Mehri language with eachother and teach it to their children so that It never has a chance to go extinct.
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