Firing ‘Explosive Weapons’ Saudi Kills Hundreds of Ethiopian Migrants

A research released by Human Rights Watch on Monday claims that since last year, Saudi border guards have used "explosive weapons" against Ethiopian migrants attempting to enter the Gulf nation through Yemen.

Riyadh did not immediately respond to the charges that hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians reside and work along the dangerous "Eastern Route" from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia.

According to a statement by HRW researcher Nadia Hardman, "Saudi officials are killing hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in this remote border area out of sight 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."

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, 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.

Saudi officials did not respond to a request for comment from AFP, and the HRW report said there was 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 coalition to topple the Huthis, who had seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa from the internationally recognised government the previous year.

Yemen's war has created what the United Nations describes as one of the world's worst humanitarian situations.

But 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 and 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.

Apparently, Saudi border guards opened fire on a group of migrants they had just freed from prison, according to a 20-year-old woman from Ethiopia's Oromia region.

"They rained bullets down on us. I cry when I recall," she admitted.

"I overheard a man asking for aid after losing both of his legs. Are you abandoning me here? he said while screaming. Don't leave me, please. We were attempting to flee for our life, so we were unable to assist him.

HRW asked the UN to look into the alleged deaths and urged Riyadh to "immediately and urgently revoke" any policy of employing deadly force against migrants and asylum seekers.

Source: AFP