His final destination, he hoped, would be the oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by way of war-torn Yemen. Despite the ongoing war and the escalating humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the past four years have seen a spike in the number of arrivals of East African refugees and migrants to Yemen. Yemen’s al-Raghwah border area, located in the Munabbih district of Saada, is dotted with camps inhabited by thousands of migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia hoping to cross the border into wealthy Saudi Arabia. Most of Yemen’s border areas with Saudi Arabia have been rendered little more than burning battlefields where Saudi forces are pitted against Yemen’s resistance led by the Houthis. The bodies of migrants shot by Saudi border guards while attempting to cross the border are seldom removed, serving as a morbid warning to others who dare make the attempt.

Source: Ethiopian News December 23, 2019 13:30 UTC