Saudi Arabia’s border guards are said to have repeatedly killed migrants, including children, on the border with Yemen. This is according to a report by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch.
Saudi border guards have killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross the Saudi-Yemeni border, according to human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW). People are said to have been shot at close range, including children, the report published on Monday said. Accordingly, explosive weapons were also used against migrants. The report examined the period between March 2022 and June 2023. Recent investigations by HRW indicated that the killings are still taking place.
Eyewitnesses told the human rights activists about mountains of corpses along the migration route. “When Saudi security officials see a group (migrants), they keep shooting,” one of the survivors told aid workers. According to estimates by the human rights organization, the Saudi officials killed hundreds – “possibly thousands” – of migrants in the border area. Asylum seekers and migrants said the migration route between Yemen and Saudi Arabia was “riddled with abuse” and under the control of traffickers.
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The Foreign Office in Berlin has also expressed concern about the HRW report. “We are very concerned about the massive allegations made there,” said a spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry on Monday in Berlin. However, one has no own knowledge of the allegations made in the report. The Federal Foreign Office is trying to raise such concerns in talks with international partners, said the spokeswoman. She didn’t want to give any details, but added: “The Federal Foreign Office speaks very regularly with Saudi Arabia, including on human rights issues.”
Despite the civil war, migrants continue to come to Yemen with the aim of reaching neighboring Saudi Arabia. It is estimated that far more than 90 percent of the migrants on the “dangerous eastern route” – from the Horn of Africa via the Gulf of Aden through Yemen to Saudi Arabia – come from Ethiopia. The route is also used by migrants from Somalia, Eritrea and occasionally other East African countries, according to HRW. In recent years, the proportion of women and girls migrating on the eastern route has increased.
A devastating conflict has been raging in Yemen since the end of 2014 between the government, the Houthi rebels and their allies. Saudi Arabia is fighting in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis, who overran the country in 2014 and control large parts of the north. The United Nations regards the conflict in Yemen as a humanitarian catastrophe that has brought the country to the brink of famine.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
