Saudi security forces accused of killing of Ethiopian migrants on Yemen border

Saudi border guards reportedly "fired like rain" on Ethiopian migrants trying to cross through Yemen into the Gulf kingdom, killing hundreds since last year, according to an NGO report.

File Photo: Ethiopian migrants in April 2019, in Aden, Yemen. Human Rights Watch claims that Saudi Arabia has massacred hundreds of Ethiopians trying to cross into the Kingdom from Yemen. AFP - -

The allegations contained within a report published by Human Rights Watch this Monday point to a significant escalation of abuses along the perilous "Eastern Route" from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia, where hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians live and work. 

HRW researcher Nadia Hardman said in a statement, "Saudi officials are killing hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in this remote border area out of view of the rest of the world."

"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 added.

A Saudi government source told the French news agency AFP: "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."

1/6 🚨Breaking: @hrw new report finds that #SaudiArabia border guards have killed at least 100s of #Ethiopian migrants on its border with #Yemen. Using explosive weapons and shootings, these mass killings may amount to crimes against humanity: https://t.co/T7vR2PSzV4 pic.twitter.com/kIqxAjfxp3

— Nadia Hardman (@Nadia_Hardman) August 21, 2023

Killing of migrants 'widespread and systematic'

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.

Last year, UN 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.

The HRW report said there has been no response to letters it sent to the Saudi interior and defence ministries, the human rights commission and Huthi rebels who control northern Yemen. 

In 2015, Saudi officials mobilised a military coalition in an effort to stop the advance of the Iran-backed Huthis, who had seized the Yemeni capital Sana'a from the internationally recognised government the previous year. 

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

• Abused Tigrayan deportees from Saudi Arabia mistreated in Ethiopia too, HRW claims

Close-range shooting

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

Interviewees described 28 "explosive weapons incidents" including attacks by mortar projectiles.

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".

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

Human Rights Watch has called on Riyadh to "immediately and urgently revoke" any policy of using lethal force on migrants and asylum seekers and urged the United Nations to investigate the alleged killings.