HRW: Saudi Arabian border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopians on the border with Yemen

2023-08-21 19:38:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

HRW: Saudi Arabian border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopians on the border

The human rights organization Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Monday that Saudi Arabian border guards have fired machine guns and mortars at Ethiopians trying to cross from Yemen into the kingdom's territory, possibly killing hundreds of migrants. unarmed in recent years.

The rights group cited eyewitness reports of attacks by Saudi forces and footage showing dead bodies and burial sites on migrant roads, saying the death toll could be "perhaps in the thousands".

The United Nations has raised the issue with Saudi Arabia over its troops opening fire on migrants in an escalating pattern of attacks along its southern border with war-torn Yemen. Saudi officials did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press, but have previously denied that Arab troops have killed migrants. Yemen's Houthi rebels, who allegedly earn tens of thousands of dollars a week smuggling migrants across the border, also did not respond to requests for comment.

About 750,000 Ethiopians live in Saudi Arabia, with about 450,000 likely to have entered the kingdom illegally, according to 2022 statistics from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The two-year civil war in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people.

Saudi Arabia, which faces youth unemployment, has turned thousands back to Ethiopia in cooperation with Addis Ababa.

Human Rights Watch said it spoke to 38 Ethiopian migrants and four relatives of those who tried to cross the border between March 2022 and June 2023, who said they saw Saudi guards shoot migrants or throw explosive devices. on refugee groups.

The report said the group also analyzed more than 350 videos and photos posted on social media or collected from other sources filmed between May 12, 2021 and July 18, 2023. It also examined satellite images of hundreds of square kilometers of registered between February 2022 and July 2023.

"These show dead and injured migrants on trails, in camps and in medical facilities, the increasing sizes of burial sites near migrant camps, the expansion of Saudi Arabia's border security infrastructure and the routes currently used by migrants to try crossing the border", says the report.

Një pamje satelitore e 27 prillit nga “Planet Labs PBC” e analizuar nga agjencia Associated Press, tregoi të njëjtat struktura tendash të identifikuara nga grupi i të drejtave të njeriut pranë al-Raqw në Jemen, në kufirin saudit. Dy ngrehina penguese mund të shiheshin pikërisht në atë zonë përtej kufirit në Arabinë Saudite.

Vendi që Human Rights Watch e identifikon si kampi i emigrantëve në Al-Thabit mund të shihet gjithashtu në pamjet satelitore, gjë që vërteton pohimet e grupit se kampi kryesisht ishte çmontuar në fillim të muajit prill.

Të dyja zonat janë në Jemenin veriperëndimor, bastion i kryengritësve Houthi. Kombet e Bashkuara kanë thënë se zyra e imigracionit e kontrolluar nga Houthit "bashkëpunon me trafikantët për të drejtuar sistematikisht imigrantët" në Arabinë Saudite, gjë që u siguron atyre 50,000 dollarë në javë.

Kryengritësit Huthit kontrollojnë kryeqytetin e Jemenit, Sanaa, që nga shtatori i vitit 2014. Një koalicion i udhëhequr nga Arabia Saudite ka luftuar me kryengritësit Houthi që nga marsi i vitit 2015.

Emigrantët nga Etiopia e kanë gjetur veten të arrestuar, abuzuar dhe madje të vrarë në Arabinë Saudite dhe Jemen gjatë luftës. Por, në muajt e fundit ka pasur shqetësim në rritje nga trupi i OKB-së për të drejtat e njeriut se forcat saudite po sulmojnë imigrantët që vijnë nga Jemeni.

Një letër e 3 tetorit 2022, drejtuar mbretërisë saudite nga OKB-ja, thoshte se hetuesit e saj "morën pretendimet shqetësuese për të bombardime artilerie ndërkufitare dhe të shtëna me armë të vogla nga forcat saudite të sigurisë që shkaktuan vdekjen e deri në 430 vetave dhe plagosjen e 650 imigrantëve".

"If migrants are caught, they are often reported to be subjected to torture by being lined up and shot in the leg to see how far the bullet will travel, or asked whether they would prefer to be shot in the hand or the leg," the UN letter said. "Survivors of such attacks reported having to 'play dead' for a period of time in order to escape."

A letter sent by Saudi Arabia's mission to the UN in Geneva in March said it "categorically opposes" claims that the kingdom carries out any "systematic" killings on the border. However, she also said the UN provided "limited information" so it could not "confirm or support the claims"./VOA