Yemen deports 2,500 African refugees this year
Published on 1 April 2013 in <
http://www.yementimes.com/en/1664/news/> News
<javascript:void(0)> Ali Ibrahim Al-Moshki (author), <javascript:void(0)>
Ali Ibrahim Al-Moshki (photographer)
Illegal migrants complain about the lack of access to work in Yemen.
SANA'A, March 31 - The Deportation Department in the Immigration and
Passport Authority has extradited 2,500 illegal African migrants from Yemen
since the beginning of 2013, according to officials.
In March alone, 850 migrants have been detained and returned to their home
countries, Abdullah Ali Al-Zurka, the director of the Deportation
Department, said.
A majority of the migrants have been caught in the northern governorate of
Sada'a, Al-Zurka said. African migrants are often caught in the north
trying to cross the border to Saudi Arabia.
"The rich neighboring countries are the reason for this influx because the
African migrants use Yemen as the stepping stone towards these countries,"
said Saba Al-Mualimi, the coordinator for the voluntary return department in
the International Organization for Migration. "Only a few stay in Yemen.
Yemen is not their goal, given the economic situation in the country."
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) released a report
late last month, stating that an estimated 17,700 refugees entered Yemen
from January to February this year. Almost 15,000 of the refugees were
Ethiopian and 2,700 were from Somali. Very few were not from those two
countries.
Al-Mualimi says IOM's numbers are different but he said both figures present
a "catastrophic" situation.
Economic experts estimate African refugees cost Yemen YR2 billion, over $9
million a year in health care, education and transportation costs.
"This is a huge amount at a time when Yemen's economy is continuously
deteriorating," said Mustfa Nassr, an economist at the Studies and Economic
Media Center in Sana'a. "Yemen cannot accommodate this number."
Al-Zurka says the Yemeni government is stepping up its patrols at Yemen's
various border crossings to keep the influx of refugees from entering the
country.
Received on Mon Apr 01 2013 - 10:32:20 EDT
