Ethiopian migrants at the Red Sea port of Al Hodeidah board a ship leaving Yemen. Reuters
Ethiopian migrants at the Red Sea port of Al Hodeidah board a ship leaving Yemen. Reuters
Ethiopian migrants at the Red Sea port of Al Hodeidah board a ship leaving Yemen. Reuters
Ethiopian migrants at the Red Sea port of Al Hodeidah board a ship leaving Yemen. Reuters

Migrants stranded in Yemen hope to return to countries they risked their lives to leave


Ali Mahmood
  • English
  • Arabic

In Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, Naser Hamid sits under a palm tree with other Ethiopian refugees to escape the scorching heat of summer. His only concern now is to go back to the country he was so eager to leave behind three years ago.

“All I am thinking of is to return to Ethiopia, my life here has been very miserable,” Naser, 26, told The National.

Thousands of Ethiopian migrants, predominantly from the Muslim Oromo ethnic group, are smuggled to Yemen every year, risking their lives in packed small fishing boats to reach Saudi Arabia.

Such dangerous journeys from the Horn of Africa to Yemen could take days by sea. Hundreds of migrants have lost their lives taking the perilous journey.

Ethiopian migrants sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019. Reuters
Ethiopian migrants sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019. Reuters

“We spent two days in the sea. There were more than 120 migrants on a small boat, tightly packed that we had to sit on each other. It was such a horrible journey,” Naser said.

Despite the continuing conflict, Yemen continues to be a transit point for migrants travelling to Saudi Arabia in search of better employment opportunities, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Yemen said.

“They rely on smuggling networks that span from Somalia to Ethiopia, Djibouti, Yemen and other Gulf countries to facilitate their journeys. Some migrants fall into the hands of traffickers and face exploitation upon arrival in Yemen,” Angela Wells, Media and Communications Officer at IOM-Yemen told The National.

About 32,000 African migrants have been stranded in Yemen because of war and the mobility restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the IOM said.

“Yemen is not the final destination for the majority, yet nearly 32,000 migrants have become stranded for months in dire conditions at urban transit hubs in Aden, Shabwa, Al Bayda, Mar’ib, Sana’a and Sadah governorates,” Ms Wells said.

“The Covid-19 restrictions have undermined their travel plans to Saudi Arabia,” she added.

Arriving in Aden, Naser was slapped by reality. His thorny road to the promised land had only left him abandoned without any resources in a war-torn and famine-struck country.

“I arrived in Yemen three years ago to cross the border to Saudi Arabia and work there, but all our attempts were doomed to failure because of the war and the pandemic,” he said.

Ethiopian migrants gather to protest against their treatment in the war-torn country during a sit-in outside a UN compound in the southern port city of Aden. Reuters
Ethiopian migrants gather to protest against their treatment in the war-torn country during a sit-in outside a UN compound in the southern port city of Aden. Reuters

“We have been sleeping in the street, we have no food, no shelter. Sometimes we get lucky to eat leftovers from public restaurants. At other times we starve,” Naser said.

The majority of the African migrants in Yemen live in dire conditions, with many of them killed en route or exposed to violence and mistreatment. Women and children remain the most vulnerable.

“Women and children in particular face significant risks; many are held in smugglers yards and dens across the country and are subjected to physical violence and abuses,” Ms Wells said

A study by the IOM between 2019 to 2020 found that more than 80 per cent of female migrants experience at least one form of gender-based violence in Yemen, usually at the hands of traffickers and smugglers.

As part of its efforts to help the migrants stranded in Yemen, the IOM has operated many repatriation flights to help thousands of Ethiopian migrants in Yemen return home.

Since March 2021, the IOM has operated five repatriation flights through its Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) programme, and it aims to repatriate about 6,000 Ethiopian migrants who are currently stranded in Yemen, waiting to return home on VHR flights.

“We require urgent funding to meet this need,” Ms Wells said.

match info

Chelsea 2
Willian (13'), Ross Barkley (64')

Liverpool 0

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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

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Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

Profile of Bitex UAE

Date of launch: November 2018

Founder: Monark Modi

Based: Business Bay, Dubai

Sector: Financial services

Size: Eight employees

Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings

The specs

Engine: 5.0-litre V8

Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm

Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: L/100km

Price: Dh306,495

On sale: now

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed

Based: Muscat

Launch year: 2018

Number of employees: 40

Sector: Online food delivery

Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception 

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

Brief scores:

Day 1

Toss: India, chose to bat

India (1st innings): 215-2 (89 ov)

Agarwal 76, Pujara 68 not out; Cummins 2-40

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While you're here
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
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The bio

Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions

School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira

Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk

Dream City: San Francisco

Hometown: Dubai

City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala

Updated: November 01, 2021, 12:57 PM`