Saudi Arabia guards killed hundreds of Ethiopians along Yemen border, says report | CPT PPP Coverage

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Saudi Arabian forces have killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers on the border with Yemen, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). 

The killings are part of a “widespread and systematic pattern of attacks” recorded over one year and three months between March 2022 and June 2023. 

HRW said border guards shot people attempting to cross the Yemen-Saudi border at close range and used explosive weapons to kill many of them, including women and children.

People who attempted the journey described seeing “women, men, and children’s bodies strewn across the mountainous landscape severely injured, already dead and dismembered”, according to HRW.  

“First I was eating with people and then they were dying,” said one person interviewed for the report. 

“There are some people who you cannot identify because their bodies are thrown everywhere. Some people were torn in half.”

The 73-page report is based on dozens of interviews with people who attempted the journey, analysis of social media posts and satellite imagery. 

Last month, the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) said Ethiopian migrant workers were being “directly and deliberately” killed by Saudi security officials on a “daily basis.” 

Bram Frouws, the director of MMC, told Middle East Eye the situation is ongoing and critical.

‘There are some people who you cannot identify because their bodies are thrown everywhere. Some people were torn in half’

– Eyewitness 

“Sexual abuse, including rape, is widespread,” he said. 

“There is physical violence, torture, arbitrary detention – all speak of being shot at, with people dying around them at the northern border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.”

According to MMC, no effective investigations have been launched into the killings or abuses so far. 

“A formal and independent investigation is exactly what is needed,” says Frouws. 

“These are extremely worrying and serious reports… an investigation is needed to get to the bottom of this and hold the perpetrators accountable. We owe it to the victims.”

Saudi Arabia previously responded to the allegations by MMC through their permanent mission in Geneva, by refuting them and stating that they did not find any evidence which shows flagrant violations of the rights of life.  

HRW said it contacted several official Saudi bodies for the report, including the Ministry of Defense/ 

Transit point

The Saudi-Yemen border has become a major transit point for people between the Horn of Africa and Saudi Arabia, primarily from Ethiopia. 

Many refugees and migrants rely on networks of traffickers to help them travel along the route, leaving them vulnerable to violence. 

HRW said while attacks on Ethiopians along the border are not new, the recent violence “appear[s] to be a deliberate escalation in both the number and manner of targeted killings”

Report finds ‘deliberate mass killings’ of Ethiopians along Saudi-Yemen border

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Around 430 deaths and 650 injuries were recorded between 1 January and 30 April 2022, according to MCC.
 
The killings and attacks take place on the route between al-Jawf and Sadah in Yemen, a region which is controlled by Houthis. Attacks have also been taking place in the Jizan province of Saudi Arabia. 

The United Nations has previously highlighted the issue. In October 2022, several special rapporteurs highlighted the killings in a letter, describing “gross human rights violations against migrants”.

Data compiled by the UN states that 30 percent of the victims were reportedly women and that seven percent were children.

The letter also stated that some of the abuses included torture, arbitrary detention, trafficking and sexual abuse.