Sanaa (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Sintayehu Beyene is one of the many Ethiopians who left his country to clandestinely reach Saudi Arabia, but he ended up a prisoner of human traffickers in Yemen. He was beaten and detained for nine days with 30 other people, and forced to hand over all the money he had with him before being released.
Every year there are thousands of people who clandestinely leave Africa trying to reach Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, through Yemen, in search of economic well-being.
The migrants who reach Yemen, spend days traveling by land or by sea in inhuman conditions, and eventually arrive at Haradh. The armed groups pay the 'transporters' a figure that can vary from 98 to 390 Euros per person. On landing on the Yemeni coast, they are delivered into the hands of these groups, often after waiting for hours in the sun without food or water.
After being taken over by criminal organizations, the migrants are imprisoned in small camps set up in the desert areas near Harath. The rules are clear: if migrants do not pay a 'fee' to the traffickers, they cannot reach the border with Saudi Arabia.
Migrants who cannot, or will not, pay the 'tax', are detained in appalling conditions. Tortured, deprived of their few personal belongings, many of them are forced to call family or friends to send the amount demanded by the traffickers.
In an article dated 2 June, Bloomsbury cites an interview with 31 year old Wondiya Goshu. He said he left Ethiopia last year to reach Saudi Arabia. The Yemenis kidnapped him from the boat, then they contacted his friends and relatives to ask for a ransom of € 685. He says he was held for 28 days with 60 other people in a camp full of lice, surviving on warm water and small portions of rice.
In a report published in May entitled "Yemen's Torture Camps: Abuse of Migrants by Human Traffickers in a Climate of Impunity," HRW (Human Rights Watch) states that the trafficking camps are near Haradh, where some government officials assist smugglers in an activity that may be responsible for about 80 percent of the area's economy. "Officials have more frequently warned traffickers of raids, freed them from jail when they are arrested, and in some cases, have actively helped the traffickers capture and detain migrants".
The number of African migrants in the Yemeni northern city of Haradh has increased 10 times between January and March.
The migrants who reach Yemen by sea or by Dijbouti from Somalia has increased by 56% compared to 2013. According to the RMMS (Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat) based in Nairobi, 82% of migrants are Ethiopians.
Hamid Alawadhi, the Yemeni deputy-foreign minister for political affairs, said: "the treatment of Ethiopians in Yemen wasn't discussed during a recent meeting between government officials of the two nations, but the government takes the HRW report seriously and has formed a committee including all authorities accused to discuss its allegations ." He then adds that the support of international institutions and economic resources of the country are not sufficient to deal with this influx of migrants.
