Arr, me hearties! Them Saudi border guards be sendin' hundreds o' poor Ethiopian souls to meet Davy Jones' locker, says a rights group.
2023-08-21
Avast, ye scurvy dogs! 'Tis been alleged by a rights group that them Saudi guards, 'round war-torn Yemen, may 'ave sent hundreds o' Ethiopian migrants to Davy Jones' locker in the latest attack of an escalatin' pattern o' border violence. Arrr, mateys!
Border guards in Saudi Arabia have been accused of firing machine guns and launching mortars at Ethiopian migrants attempting to cross into the kingdom from Yemen, resulting in the deaths of potentially hundreds of unarmed migrants. Human Rights Watch released a report detailing eyewitness accounts of attacks by Saudi troops and providing images of dead bodies and burial sites along migrant routes. The United Nations has already raised concerns about the escalating pattern of attacks by Saudi Arabia on migrants along its southern border with Yemen.Saudi Arabia's government has dismissed the Human Rights Watch report as unfounded and not based on reliable sources, while Yemen's Houthi rebels, who allegedly profit from smuggling migrants into Saudi Arabia, have not responded to requests for comment. According to data from the International Organization for Migration, there are approximately 750,000 Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia, with up to 450,000 having entered the country without authorization.
Human Rights Watch interviewed Ethiopian migrants and analyzed videos, photographs, and satellite imagery that showed dead and wounded migrants, expanding border security infrastructure, and the routes used by migrants to cross the border. Satellite imagery also confirmed the presence of migrant camps identified in the report. The U.N. has accused the Houthi-controlled immigration office of collaborating with traffickers to direct migrants to Saudi Arabia.
Ethiopian migrants have faced detention, abuse, and death in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen during the civil war. However, concern has grown recently over Saudi forces attacking migrants coming from Yemen. The U.N. has received allegations of artillery shelling and small arms fire by Saudi security forces causing the deaths of migrants. Survivors have reported torture and having to "play dead" to escape further harm.
Saudi Arabia has categorically denied engaging in systematic killings at the border but has also claimed that the U.N. has provided limited information to substantiate the allegations. The issue remains a pressing concern for the rights of migrants attempting to enter Saudi Arabia from Yemen.