What’s happening at the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen? In a report published on Monday, August 22, the NGO Human Rights Watch claims that Saudi border guards killed “hundreds” of Ethiopian migrants who tried to enter the rich Gulf monarchy from Yemen, from March 2022 to June 2023.
What the Human Rights Watch report contains
In its 73-page report, HRW relies on interviews with 38 Ethiopian migrants who tried to enter Saudi Arabia from Yemen, as well as satellite images but also videos and photos published on social networks “or collected from other sources”.
Interviewees spoke of “explosive weapons” and point-blank shooting, with Saudi border guards asking Ethiopians “what part of their body they would prefer to be shot at”.
“Saudi authorities are killing hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in this remote border area, out of sight of the rest of the world,” Nadia Hardman, migration specialist at HRW, said in a statement.
The “widespread and systematic” murder of Ethiopian migrants could even constitute a crime against humanity, HRW believes. The “billions spent” on sport and entertainment “to improve the image of Saudi Arabia” should not distract from “these horrific crimes”, she castigated.
NGOs regularly accuse Riyadh of investing in major sporting and cultural events to “divert attention” from serious human rights violations and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen where the Saudi army is involved.
What do the testimonials say?
In the testimonies collected by the NGO, migrants recount scenes of horror: “women, men and children scattered in the mountainous landscape, seriously injured, dismembered or already dead”.
“They were shooting at us, it was like a rain (of bullets)”, testifies a 20-year-old Ethiopian woman quoted by HRW. “I saw a man calling for help, he had lost both his legs”, but, she says, “we couldn’t help him because we were running to save our own lives” .
People, traveling in small groups or alone, said border guards beat them with rocks and metal bars, according to the report. Fourteen people interviewed either witnessed or were themselves injured by point-blank fire, adds HRW. Some said Saudi border guards came down from their observation posts and beat survivors.
Migrants told HRW that Houthi forces collaborated with smugglers and extorted money from them or transferred them to what migrants describe as detention centres. They claimed that people were being abused there until they could pay an “exit fee”. The Houthis denied working with the smugglers, describing them as “criminals”.
What Saudi Arabia responds to
The Saudi authorities dispute the facts reported by the NGO. “The allegations in the report” are “unfounded and not based on reliable sources,” a Saudi government source told AFP.
The United States, a longtime partner of the Gulf monarchy, has called for an investigation. “We have raised our concerns about these allegations with the Saudi government,” a State Department spokesman said.
What does the UN say?
The HRW report is “very disturbing” and makes “very serious” accusations, a UN spokesperson said on Monday, noting however that it is difficult to “confirm” these allegations.
“The use of potentially lethal force for law enforcement purposes is an extreme measure to be used only in cases of strict necessity,” the spokeswoman for the High Court told AFP. -Office of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell. “Attempting to cross a border, even if illegal under national law, does not meet this requirement,” she added.
Last year, UN experts reported “worrying allegations” that “cross-border artillery fire and small-arms fire by Saudi security forces killed around 430 migrants” in the southern Saudi Arabia and northern Yemen during the first four months of 2022.