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| Aid workers from a Yemeni NGO distribute food to newly arriving Somali and Ethiopian migrants. Credit: UNHCR/J.Björgvinsson |
Increasing numbers of migrants who travel through Yemen en route from the Horn of Africa to the Gulf are suffering severe abuse and exploitation. Tens of thousands are stranded at the Saudi border. Humanitarian agencies are supporting them but funding shortages threaten to cut off this lifeline.
Aid organizations estimate that at least 50 people arrive daily in the
northern town of Haradh, which is located close to the Saudi Arabian
border. About 90 per cent of them are men in search of job opportunities
in the Gulf States.
The influx of migrants and refugees from the Horn of Africa, especially
Ethiopia and Somalia, doubled from around 53,000 in 2010 to over
107,000 last year. Many risked their lives crossing the Gulf of Aden by
boat to reach Yemen’s shores. The UN Refugee Agency estimated that more
than 100 migrants either drowned or went missing in 2011 while making
the crossing. But thousands of people continue to leave the Horn of
Africa with hopes of a better life on the Arabian Peninsula.
“In a desperate attempt to seek better opportunities, many migrants
have suffered gross physical abuse and severe economic and sexual
exploitation,” said Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed. “Many of them, including children, are stranded under
extremely difficult circumstances.”
In border towns like Haradh, the migrants live rough, often sleeping in
the open without enough food. Some 25,000 migrants are stranded in the
town after failing to make their way across the border, according to the
International Organization for Migration (IOM), which provides food, shelter and medical assistance to them at its Migrant Response Centre in Haradh.
“The border is manned by heavily armed guards,” said Tadese (not real
name), who was originally from Oromia in Ethiopia but is now stranded in
Haradh. “It took us days to reach the border, but we could not cross
into Saudi Arabia. All I want now is to go back home.”
As a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, Yemen provides a formal
protection framework to refugees. However, migrants have become
progressively more vulnerable to abuse and extortion by smugglers and
traffickers along the Yemen-Saudi Arabia border.
At the Yemen Red Crescent
clinic, migrants tell stories of torture, rape and harassment. Many say
they want to return home, but are not able to. Others seeking treatment
here and at the Migrant Response Centre were rescued form unscrupulous
kidnappers, traffickers and smugglers. Many of them have sustained
injuries, including broken limbs. According to IOM, there have also been
reports of organ trafficking.
“Humanitarian agencies that are providing assistance need to be
supported but these agencies are currently facing very serious funding
shortages,” warned Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
In January, funding shortages forced IOM to significantly reduce its
free meal programme at the Migrant Response Centre from 3,000 meals a
day to 300. The limited meals were only given out to the most vulnerable
migrants and refugees - women, the elderly and unaccompanied minors.
Shelter and medical referrals were also reduced, resulting in increased
hardship and illnesses. Many bodies of migrants are unclaimed at Haradh
hospital morgue.
The IOM has suspended its voluntary repatriation programme for those
who want to return home, due to lack of funds. The last flight to carry
migrants from Yemen was in September 2012, when 210 migrants went back
home to Ethiopia. OCHA is currently working with IOM to raise awareness
about the plight of the migrants and mobilise resources to assist them. A
recent donation from the OCHA-managed UN Central Emergency Response
Fund of US$1.4 million and food assistance from the World Food Programme
is expected to keep the Migrant Response Centre running for the next
six months, but operations after that are uncertain.
Reporting by OCHA/Yemen
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