The government of former Yemeni president Ali Abdallah Saleh faced international rights criticisms because it turned a blind eye to the way tribal leaders dealt with Ethiopian workers in Yemen. Saudi Arabia launched a campaign in 2017 against illegal workers, numbering over a million, driving rights organisations to accuse the kingdom of “mistreating” them, an accusation Riyadh denied. The majority of criticisms directed against Saudi Arabia in this regard concerned illegal Ethiopian workers, that numbered 200,000 in 2017, according to a US State Department report. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported their numbers could well surge to 500,000Sources told the UK’s Telegraph newspaper that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal Ethiopian workers detained in Saudi Arabia. Decades ago Saudi Arabia started the gradual replacement of foreign labour, the majority of whom came from Egypt, the Indian subcontinent and Sudan, to reduce unemployment among Saudi youth.

Source: Ethiopian News November 03, 2020 21:33 UTC