According to a report by Human Rights Watch, Saudi border guards allegedly killed many Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers who were trying to cross the Yemen-Saudi border from March 2022 to June 2023.
The organization talked to 42 people from Ethiopia who moved to another country or asked for protection, and looked at more than 350 videos and pictures shared on social media. They also used pictures from satellites up in space. HRW said they found proof of people who were killed or injured on the migrant route, in camps and medical buildings. They also discovered burial sites and noticed that Saudi border security infrastructure was growing.
There are videos on TikTok and Facebook that claim to show dead bodies on the path where migrants go near the Yemen-Saudi border. The same videos also seem to show migrants who have injuries that look like they were caused by explosions or gunshots. A specialist in studying dead bodies and their causes of death, called a forensic pathologist, has said this. HRW said they found and checked the videos.
Some videos that were supposedly taken near a camp where migrants live show buildings where Saudi border guards work and fences that have recently been put up. HRW also mentioned that pictures taken from space by the nonprofit organization showed that graveyards were getting bigger near the area.
Saudi border guards have been using explosive weapons without caring about who gets hurt. They have also been shooting people from a close distance, even if they are women or children. This behavior is happening a lot and in an organized way. According to HRW’s report, if the Saudi government is intentionally killing migrants as part of their policy, it would be considered a crime against humanity. HRW also mentioned that the violence seems to be continuing.
A person from the Saudi government told CNN that the claims in the Human Rights Watch report about Saudi border guards shooting Ethiopians at the Saudi-Yemeni border are not true and are not from reliable sources. The person did not give more details and wanted to remain anonymous because of how the government communicates with the media.
For a long time, people from Ethiopia have been trying to travel through a dangerous path called the “Eastern Route”. This path goes from the Horn of Africa, across the Gulf of Aden, into Yemen, and finally to Saudi Arabia, according to HRW.
In November 2022, a peace agreement was signed between the fighting groups in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. This agreement stopped the conflict that caused the death of many people and made millions of people leave their homes. However, even though there have been fewer cases of mistreatment, organizations that protect human rights still report that violence has not stopped. Some migrants who were interviewed by HRW said that they had left their homes because of ongoing fighting. There is still violence and insecurity happening in different areas of the country, like in the Amhara and Oromia regions. This is making people leave their homes to find safety.
According to HRW, migrants from Djibouti get on dangerous and crowded boats to go to Yemen. In Yemen, smugglers separate them based on their ethnic group and keep them in camps. These camps are in Saada, near the border with Saudi Arabia, and have many other migrants who are waiting to be smuggled into the country.
The people who moved from one place to another had bad experiences, like being hit, being sexually attacked, and being asked for money by the people who illegally moved them. People who couldn’t give money to the smugglers were sent to small, overcrowded detention centers run by the Houthi group. These individuals have reported being mistreated and forced to give money. Human Rights Watch (HRW) provided this information.
Yemen has been in a civil war since 2014. Houthi forces took over the capital, Sanaa, and removed the internationally recognized and Saudi-supported government. In 2015, the situation became a bigger war when a group of countries led by Saudi Arabia stepped in to try and stop the Houthis.
The group of nations, led by the United States, has received a lot of criticism, including from Human Rights Watch, for attacking and damaging areas where regular people live in Yemen. After eight years, the coalition has been unsuccessful in removing the rebels. The Saudi military says that the rebels have fired more than 1,000 rockets and drones towards Saudi cities as revenge.
The war has caused a very bad humanitarian crisis in the world. Many people have died and some parts of the country are facing food shortage because Saudi Arabia has blocked the ports controlled by the Houthi rebels.
The latest report from HRW states that smugglers transport 200 migrants together from Yemen to Saudi Arabia. If someone cannot pay the full fee to the smuggler, they are often made to lead the group. HRW said that the migrants who were in the front of the group were the ones most likely to get hurt or killed in attacks with explosives or shootings.
The group interviewed 27 individuals who experienced 28 different attacks with explosive weapons. These incidents occurred on the Saudi side of the border after the individuals had crossed from Yemen into Saudi territory. Some of these attacks lasted for hours or even days. People who were interviewed talked about being attacked by Saudi border guards. They explained that the guards were wearing specific clothes, and they also mentioned that the weapons used in the attack were powerful, like bombs.
We were shot at many times. I witnessed something very shocking and horrific. People were being killed in a way that I never thought was possible. I saw 30 dead people right there. I crawled beneath a big stone and took a nap. I felt the presence of people sleeping near me. I noticed that the people I thought were asleep near me were actually dead. I opened my eyes and there was nobody else around me, said Hamdiya, a 14-year-old whose name was changed to hide who she really is, told HRW.
Ten people were asked questions and they said that there were 11 times when a group of more than 1,200 people tried to cross the border. Unfortunately, during these attempts, at least 655 of them died. Nine more people died during failed attempts to cross the border, according to migrants who were interviewed. They were too occupied with escaping or dealing with trauma, so they couldn’t count how many exactly died. However, they made an estimation based on the number of people who came back to the camps. One person being interviewed told HRW that out of 150 individuals, only 7 individuals managed to survive that day. There were body parts of people all over the place, scattered in different directions.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it spoke to survivors who were asked by Saudi border guards which body part they wanted to be shot in, before being shot up close.
One migrant who is 23 said that guards dressed in Saudi military clothing, which had different colors like green and brown, shot at our legs. A lot of people got shot in different parts of their bodies. The bullet went in my mouth and came out through my neck. I was attacked and shot.
The human rights organization said that the Houthi group in Yemen, which is supported by Iran, has been involved in mistreating migrants on the migration route. They have allowed smugglers and migrants to cross the border, held and made money from migrants, and also committed serious crimes like torture, unjust imprisonment, and trafficking.
HRW asked the United Nations to start an inquiry into the killing of migrants and asylum seekers.
The HRW report is released almost one year after a team of UN experts made claims that they had received information about Saudi security forces killing around 430 migrants and injuring 650 during cross-border attacks from January 1 to April 30, 2022. The experts said it seemed to be a repeated and organized way of killing many people across borders without choosing specific targets.