In a startling revelation, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Saudi border guards of a relentless assault on Ethiopian migrants attempting to cross into the Gulf kingdom from Yemen. The report, released on Monday, claims that these guards have fired on migrants “like rain,” resulting in the deaths of hundreds since the previous year. While the Saudi government has dismissed these allegations as “unfounded,” HRW argues that these accounts indicate a grave escalation of abuses along the dangerous migration route from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia, where a significant Ethiopian population resides.
According to HRW, one 20-year-old Ethiopian woman recounted how Saudi border guards opened fire on a group of migrants they had just released from custody. The woman painfully shared, “They fired on us like rain. When I remember, I cry.” The report suggests that the recent killings mark a disturbing pattern of abuses, potentially amounting to crimes against humanity. HRW researcher Nadia Hardman emphasized the urgency of addressing this issue, asserting that Saudi officials must be held accountable for their actions despite their public relations efforts.
Although the Saudi government has denied the allegations, the New York-based human rights organization has documented similar abuses against Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia and Yemen for nearly a decade. The United Nations also expressed concern about alleged cross-border artillery shelling and small-arms fire by Saudi security forces, which reportedly claimed the lives of around 430 migrants in southern Saudi Arabia and northern Yemen during the initial months of 2022. As the global community grapples with this distressing revelation, HRW calls on Riyadh to cease the use of lethal force against migrants and urges the UN to launch a comprehensive investigation into these alleged killings.
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