Saudi border guards allegedly kill hundreds of Ethiopian migrants
New York-based Human Rights Watch says the killings appear to be widespread and systematic
NEW YORK – Saudi border guards have fired “explosive weapons” at Ethiopian migrants trying to cross into the Gulf kingdom via Yemen, killing hundreds since last year.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), which has documented the attacks, said the killings appear to be “widespread and systematic
HRW interviewed 38 Ethiopian migrants trying to cross into Saudi Arabia from Yemen.
Respondents described 28 “incidents involving explosive weapons,” including attacks with mortar rounds.
“Saudi officials are killing hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in this remote border area out of view of the rest of the world,” HRW researcher Nadia Hardman said in a statement.
“Spending billions buying up professional golf, football clubs, and major entertainment events to improve the Saudi image should not deflect attention from these horrendous crimes.”
Some survivors described close-range attacks in which Saudi border guards asked Ethiopians “which body part they would prefer to be shot in.”
HRW called on Riyadh to “immediately and urgently revoke” any policy of using lethal force against migrants and asylum seekers.
The attacks occurred along the dangerous “Eastern Route” from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia, where hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians live and work.
The war in Yemen has created a humanitarian crisis, and many of the attacks described by HRW would have occurred during a cease-fire that took effect in April 2022.
Saudi authorities have not responded to the allegations.
In 2015, Saudi officials mobilized a coalition to topple the Huthis, who had seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa from the internationally recognized government the previous year.
One 20-year-old woman from Ethiopia’s Oromia region said Saudi border guards fired on a group of migrants they had just released from custody. “They fired on us like rain. When I remember, I cry,” she told the HRW researchers.
HRW has called on Riyadh to “immediately and urgently revoke” any policy of using lethal force on migrants and asylum seekers and urged the UN to investigate the alleged killings.
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