The United Nations criticizes Saudi Arabia for “crime against African immigrants”

According to Fars News Agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees accused the government of Saudi Arabia of directly targeting African migrants on the border with Yemen with the aim of killing them.

According to the Saudi Leaks website, this organization disclosed in a report that the reporters of this organization recorded 9 massacres in which more than 189 African immigrants were killed and about 535 others were injured.

This organization pointed out that the African refugees in the north of Saada province in Yemen are exposed to a crime, and pointed out that these migrants are targeted by the Saudi border guards with artillery and heavy machine guns.

Despite the implementation of the ceasefire, the border areas between Yemen and Saudi Arabia are still subject to bombing by the Saudi side. In recent months, the authorities of Saada province announced that a number of civilians were killed and wounded as a result of continuous shelling.

In its report, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has pointed out the increase in human rights violations against immigrants in Yemen due to the increase in their number and has stated that in 2021, about 27,700 African immigrants entered the country from eastern Yemen; This figure was 138,000 people in 2019.

The report of this organization also states that the arrival of African immigrants to Yemen, a country that is in the eighth year of war, is a source of concern. On the way to Saudi Arabia, these migrants are shot by the border guards and are killed and wounded. Many of them also took refuge in the mountainous areas to avoid the shooting of the border guards and sometimes spend months in these areas in bad conditions.

Christa Rocheiner, the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “We are increasingly concerned about the safety of those who are crossing the territory of Yemen. Because our teams deal with migrants every day who are injured due to conflict or who have lost their way in the middle of the journey.”

According to the commission’s report, the increase in the arrival of asylum seekers this year can be attributed to several factors, including the easing of travel restrictions imposed due to the corona virus, the presence of suitable weather conditions, as well as the security situation and drought in Ethiopia – the country from which most migrants come. – Attributed.

African migrants who are looking for work in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf have no choice but to cross the territory of Yemen, they often pass through areas of intense conflict and face serious abuses such as detention in inhumane conditions, exploitation and forced transfer.

This UN-affiliated body wrote in another part of its report that women and girls often said that they are subjected to violence, abuse and sexual exploitation by human traffickers.

According to local sources in northern Yemen, more than 1,000 migrants – including women and children – have been injured or killed this year due to attacks and deliberate targeting at the border by Saudi security forces. Every month, hundreds of migrants are admitted to hospitals and clinics supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees near the border city of Saada due to gunshot wounds. Some of them may be disabled or paralyzed.

At the end of its report, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees wrote that about 4,500 African migrants are stuck in the city of Marib and are unable to continue their journey to the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf or return to their country.

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