According to a report by Human Rights Watch, soldiers of the oil-rich state systematically shoot Ethiopians who try to enter the country.
Soldiers of the Saudi Arabian border guard have shot hundreds of Ethiopian migrants trying to land, says the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW).
According to the organization’s report Saudi Arabian border guards have shot Ethiopians trying to enter the oil-rich nation through civil war-torn Yemen.
HRW says soldiers have been shooting at migrants and asylum seekers in a remote border area between southern Saudi Arabia and northern Yemen. The Yemeni migrant route has already been very dangerous in the past. So far, Saudi Arabia has not commented on HRW’s information.
There are an estimated 750,000 Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. In the very prosperous kingdom, migrant workers do most of the heavy work. The conditions of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are often very miserable.
HRW has been reporting on the mistreatment of Ethiopian migrants for years. According to the organization, the killings announced now seem to be the most extensive and systematic.
– Saudi Arabia spends billions on professional golf, buying football clubs and entertainment events to improve its image. This should not distract attention from the country’s atrocities, HRW researcher Nadia Hardman said in the release.
The organization’s report is based on interviews with 38 Ethiopians who aspired to Saudi Arabia, satellite images, and videos and photos posted on social media or obtained from other sources. Many of the interviewees said that Saudi Arabia had shot migrants with rocket launchers, among other things.
The report concerns violence from March last year to June this year.
According to the report, some interviewees said that the Saudi soldiers asked the migrants at close range “which limb they are shooting at”.
The interviewees told about horror experiences: There have been people who have been seriously wounded, lost their limbs and died in the vicinity of the border.
A woman in her 20s said Saudi border guards had fired on a group of migrants who had been released from detention.
– I saw a man who asked for help. He had lost both his legs. He screamed and begged us not to leave him there. However, we couldn’t help him as we were running for our lives.
Saudi Arabia’s coalition is fighting the Houthi rebels in Yemen’s civil war. According to the UN, Yemen is experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.