http://www.voanews.com/a/migration-refugee-crisis-unfolding-yemen-djibouti/3551011.html
Migration Refugee Crisis Unfolding in Yemen, Djibouti
October 14, 2016 2:20 PM
Lisa Schlein
________________________________
FILE - An illegal immigrant from Ethiopia covers his face as he waits
with others for a boat to cross into Yemen outside the town of Obock,
north Djibouti.
GENEVA —
The International Organization for Migration warns a migration refugee
crisis unfolding in Yemen and Djibouti is having a serious impact
across the Horn of Africa.
The International Organization for Migration said about 10,000
migrants, mostly from Ethiopia, make the long, dangerous trek across
the blistering hot desert to Djibouti every month. From there they
transit through war-torn Yemen to Saudi Arabia in search of work.
The IOM said most of the migrants are young men. About 30 percent are
unaccompanied minors, some as young as 11. It said very few women are
to be seen.
Speaking by telephone from Obock, Djibouti, IOM Director for East and
Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Labovitz, said the women are largely invisible
because smugglers take them to Saudi Arabia by car to work as domestic
servants.
“It is much more clandestine and organized," he said. "And so we are
not seeing them. But, it also means in terms of protection, we do not
know what is going on at all.”
Labovitz said Yemen recently began deporting Ethiopian migrants to
Djibouti. He said it appears thousands are likely to be deported in
the near future and called such a prospect "very worrying" for a
"small country like Djibouti."
“What we are seeing right now, too, in Yemen is that in the government
areas, they are asking us urgently to provide food and services to
over 4,000 individuals in detention," he said. "And we also hear in
the coalition areas that there are several thousand who may be
deported soon. We do not know.”
Labovitz said the IOM will not be able to handle such a huge surge of
migrants. He said the Migration Response Center, the transit center
run by the IOM and the Ministry of the Interior in Obock can take care
of about 100 migrants at one time. Currently, the center is hosting
between 600 and 700 stranded Ethiopian migrants, he said.
Djibouti could soon be facing a massive surge of migrants, creating a
humanitarian crisis, added Labovitz. To make matters worse, he said
the IOM’s voluntary return program is largely on hold because most of
the Ethiopian migrants have no documents and the IOM is strapped for
cash.
Received on Fri Oct 14 2016 - 20:38:07 EDT