Tens of thousands of people migrate from Eastern Africa to Yemen each year – even though the country has been devastated by a civil war, and smugglers frequently blackmail and torture migrants. Most migrants are hoping to make it to Saudi Arabia, and find work there. Let’s take a closer look at this highly dangerous migrant route.
Tens of thousands of migrants from East Africa depart for Yemen each year hoping to eventually reach Saudi Arabia and find work. But on arrival in Yemen, many migrants are caught by ruthless traffickers who abuse and torture them.
A medal-winning athlete from Yemen has drowned while trying to reach Spain in a small boat. Helal Ali Mohammed Al-Hajj was heading for the Spanish enclave of Melilla on the North African coast.
A man reportedly used a letter opener to injure a soldier on patrol in Milan, a day after attacking people with a pen. Other soldiers managed to subdue the suspect, who allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" during the arrest.
Many migrants from East Africa choose a route that is less known, cheaper and even more dangerous than the Mediterranean: They cross the Gulf of Aden and land in war-torn Yemen. Many were unaware of the conflict.
Many Somali refugees have decided to return home from Yemen because of the worsening security situation, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR reports. Last week, 125 refugees boarded a ship to return to Somalia.
Over the past year, Saudi authorities have reportedly arrested over 50,000 migrants without papers. Almost all of them hailed from Yemen or Ethiopia.
There have never been so many people on the move worldwide, and they must be guaranteed healthcare, says the World Health Organization (WHO). This is why they just approved a five-year global action plan for migrant health.
The UN children's fund says acute malnutrition affects an estimated two million children in Afghanistan, and hundreds of thousands are at risk of death from its most severe form. Unicef says it urgently needs money to address the problem.
The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has launched a series of consultations to better protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) refugees. Consultations will take place over the next few months in different parts of the world.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said that last week it assisted in the voluntary repatriation of 222 Ethiopian migrants out of Yemen, with four flights from Sana'a to Addis Ababa. So far in 2019, the organization has helped 733 migrants voluntarily return from war-torn Yemen to their home countries.
Thousands of detained migrants, mostly Ethiopians, are facing serious health risks in Yemen. The UN is calling for the release of the detainees, including several hundred children. There are also concerns that some of the migrants are being forcibly recruited to fight in the civil war.