Humanitarian agencies say thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa are
living in harrowing conditions along the Yemen-Saudi Arabia border. Many
have been robbed and tortured by traffickers.
Migrant workers from the Horn see Saudi Arabia as a place where they may
find jobs. But getting there often means traveling to and through Yemen and
becoming targets of smugglers and traffickers.
The routes to Yemen include long and dangerous boat trips from Somalia over
the Gulf of Aden - and the much shorter trip from Djibouti across the Red
Sea. But there, too, they are at the mercy of smugglers, who may rob them or
even throw them overboard.
The International Organization for Migration estimates there are at least
25,000 migrants along the Yemen-Saudi border.
"The majority are Ethiopian migrants, who undertake this really quite
dangerous journey. There's also a number of refugees who come across.
They're mostly Somalis, who are recognized as refugees automatically here in
Yemen because Yemen is a signatory to the refugee convention. But
three-quarters of the flows coming across from the Horn of Africa are indeed
Ethiopian migrants," said Nicoletta Giordano, IOM's Chief of Mission in
Yemen.
Yemen does not recognize the Ethiopians as refugees.
"They find themselves destitute and quite exhausted by the journey by the
time they get to the border with Saudi. And that's where they fall prey to
smugglers and traffickers with respect to the final leg of the journey over
to Saudi Arabia," she said.
To make matters worse, Saudi Arabia has tightened its foreign worker labor
laws. It means the border is essentially closed to the migrants. Saudi
Arabia has also resumed building a fence to eventually seal off the 1800
kilometer border with Yemen.
"Many of the foreign workers that were in Saudi up till now are no longer
considered regular workers. And therefore are obliged to leave the country
quite suddenly. And on the other hand, there are still thriving smuggling
and trafficking communities at the border with Saudi, who have these large
groups of migrants, who they are trying to get across. But they're also
trying to get money and possessions from [them] and that's why they're prey
to abuse," she said.
Recently, Yemen forces raided smuggler camps along the border at Haradh.
They are reported to have rescued nearly 2,000 migrants being held against
their will. Some had been sold from one smuggling group to another and some
were held for ransom.
But even after being freed from the camps, there's little humanitarian aid
available for them. Aid agencies said their resources are already stretched
very thin. The IOM is appealing for $1.2 million dollars to help Yemen
provide shelter, food and health care.
A delegation from humanitarian agencies visited the Yemen-Saudi border
Thursday. They describe conditions there as harrowing.
The stranded migrants are taken to the capital.
"The migrants are brought down to Sana'a. And, of course, they're being held
in the open, and the migrants would be free to actually walk off, but
they're not. They're not, because it's obvious that there's nothing for them
in Yemen. And so they're quite keen to go back to Ethiopia," said Giordano.
However, getting them back home is easier said than done. So far, only one
of three scheduled military flights has left Sana'a for Ethiopia. There were
318 Ethiopians on board, a fraction of those wanting to return.
While more flights are being planned, the IOM says many migrants have sought
shelter at the Ethiopian embassy and a Yemeni military base.
