• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Monday, June 23, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Refugees

Saudi Border Guards Killed Hundreds of Ethiopian Migrants: HRW

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
08/21/23
in Refugees, World
Ethiopian migrants hold items as they walk out during an assistance packages distribution for migrants at an International Organization for Migration (IOM) center in the city of Hargeisa, Somaliland

Ethiopian migrants hold items as they walk out during an assistance packages distribution for migrants at an International Organization for Migration (IOM) center in the city of Hargeisa, Somaliland, on Sept. 19, 2021. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Saudi border guards fired “like rain” on Ethiopian migrants trying to cross into the Gulf kingdom from Yemen, killing hundreds since last year, Human Rights Watch said in a report Monday.

The allegations, described as “unfounded” by a Saudi government source, point to a significant escalation of abuses along the perilous route from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia, where hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians live and work. 

One 20-year-old woman from Ethiopia’s Oromia region, interviewed by HRW, said Saudi border guards opened fire on a group of migrants they had just released from custody.

“They fired on us like rain. When I remember, I cry,” she said. 

“I saw a guy calling for help, he lost both his legs. He was screaming; he was saying, ‘Are you leaving me here? Please don’t leave me’. We couldn’t help him because we were running for our lives.” 

HRW researcher Nadia Hardman said “Saudi officials are killing hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in this remote border area out of view of the rest of the world,” according to 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,” she said.

Longtime Saudi ally the United States urged “a thorough and transparent investigation.” 

“We have raised our concerns about these allegations with the Saudi government,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“We urge the Saudi authorities… to meet their obligations under international law,” the spokesperson added.

A Saudi government source told AFP that the allegations were unreliable.

“The allegations included in the Human Rights Watch report about Saudi border guards shooting Ethiopians while they were crossing the Saudi-Yemeni border are unfounded and not based on reliable sources,” said the source, who requested anonymity.

‘Concerning Allegations’

The New York-based group has documented abuses against Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia and Yemen for nearly a decade, but the latest killings appear to be “widespread and systematic” and may amount to crimes against humanity, it said. 

Last year, United Nations experts reported “concerning allegations” that “cross-border artillery shelling and small-arms fire by Saudi Arabia security forces killed approximately 430 migrants” in southern Saudi Arabia and northern Yemen during the first four months of 2022.

In March that year, repatriation of Ethiopians from Saudi Arabia began under an agreement between the two countries. Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said about 100,000 of its citizens were expected to be sent home over several months.

The HRW report said there was no response to letters it sent to Saudi officials.

Saudi authorities are spending billions on sports-washing to improve their image.

But out of public view, Saudi border guards have killed at least hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers, including women and children, who tried to cross the Yemen-Saudi border. pic.twitter.com/1XmJavfxWI

— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) August 21, 2023

But the Houthi rebels who control northern Yemen alleged “deliberate killings of immigrants and Yemenis” by border guards, in response to a letter from HRW.

According to the rights group, migrants said Houthi forces worked with people smugglers and would “extort” them or keep them in detention centers where they were “abused” until they could pay an “exit fee”. 

The Houthis denied working with people smugglers, describing them as “criminals.”

In 2015, Saudi officials mobilized a military coalition in an effort to stop the advance of the Iran-backed Houthis, who had seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa from the internationally recognized government the previous year. 

Yemen’s war has created what the UN describes as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions dependent on aid.

Mortar Fire

Many of the abuses described by HRW would have occurred during a truce that took effect in April 2022 and has largely held despite officially expiring last October. 

The HRW report draws from interviews with 38 Ethiopian migrants who tried to cross into Saudi Arabia from Yemen, as well as from satellite imagery, videos, and photos posted to social media “or gathered from other sources”. 

Interviewees described 28 “explosive weapons incidents” including attacks by mortar projectiles, the report said. 

Some survivors described attacks at close range, with Saudi border guards asking Ethiopians “in which limb of their body they would prefer to be shot”, the report said.

“All interviewees described scenes of horror: women, men, and children strewn across the mountainous landscape severely injured, dismembered, or already dead,” it said. 

Other accounts described forced rape and beatings with rocks and iron bars.

HRW called on Riyadh to end any policy of using lethal force on migrants and asylum seekers, and urged the UN to investigate the alleged killings.

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Opinion

Can the UN Human Rights Council Protect Rights While Abusers Sit at the Table?

by Mandeep Tiwana and Sigrid Lipott
October 28, 2024
Delegation on the river Seine, Saudi Arabia during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024
Opinion

Risky Business in Saudi Arabia’s Bid for the 2024 World Cup

by Mustafa Qadri
August 1, 2024
Hajj, the religious pilgrimage for muslims will be dramatically scaled back this year and will include social distancing measures.
World

Death Toll Tops 1,000 After Hajj Marked by Extreme Heat

by Staff Writer with AFP
June 21, 2024
migrants
Refugees

Migrant Channel Crossings Top 100,000 Since 2018: UK Data

by Staff Writer
August 11, 2023
Supporters of the Tunisian Free Destourian Party wave national flags and raise placards during a demonstration against President Kais Saied in the capital Tunis, Tunisia
World

Saudi to Give Cash-Strapped Tunisia $500M in Assistance

by Staff Writer
July 20, 2023
Saudi flag
Middle East

US Citizen Jailed in Saudi for Tweets on Khashoggi, Yemen: Son

by Staff Writer
October 19, 2022
Next Post
Activists stage a protest to denounce discrimination against women on public transport in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv

Israeli Women Protest Gender Segregation on Public Transport

A house is threatened by a huge blaze during a wildfire in Kineta, near Athens, on July 23, 2018

Greece Blaze is 'Largest Wildfire Ever Recorded in EU'

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

An Iranian protester

Iran’s Nuclear Program: From Its Origins to Today’s Dispute

June 23, 2025
Protesters and police clash during the “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles, California on June 14, 2025.

US Appeals Court Allows Trump Control of National Guard in LA

June 20, 2025
Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the sky over Beirut, Lebanon, on June 14, 2025. Iran launched multiple missiles toward Israeli targets, triggering interception attempts above several regional capitals, including Beirut.

Israel-Iran Conflict: Latest Developments

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
An Iranian walking in front of a wall painting of the Iranian flag in Tehran

How Much Damage Has Israel Inflicted on Iran’s Nuclear Program?

June 16, 2025

Opinion

Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post