Thousands of Ethiopian Migrants Stranded in
Northern Yemen
24 December, 2011 | National Yemen
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from IOM headquarters in Geneva and says the organization has
run out of funds to repatriate the migrants.
For more than one year, the International Organization for
Migration has been providing critical humanitarian assistance to
thousands of Ethiopian migrants stranded in Yemen who want to
return home.
The agency so far has managed to repatriate more than 6,000
migrants. Thousands more are waiting to return, but the
International Organization for Migration says, except for a lucky
few, it cannot help them because it has run out of money.
IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya says thanks to some emergency
funding from Saudi Arabia and Japan, the agency will be able to
charter three planes to help another group of migrants return home
to Ethiopia soon.
“We have had 1,000 migrants travel-ready for some time now, but
until we received the stop-gap funding from Saudi Arabia and
Japan, we have not been able to take them home,” she said. “In the
next few days and weeks, we will be able to help most of them
through these three charter flights. Among them are unaccompanied
minors and medical cases. And, these medical cases include
migrants who have suffered torture at the hands of smugglers,
mainly through gunshot wounds or broken limbs.”
The International Organization for Migration is urgently appealing
for $2.5 million to assist an additional 6,000 Ethiopian migrants to
return home.
In the past year, nearly 18,300 Ethiopian migrants have been
registered in the northern Yemeni town of Haradh on the border
with Saudi Arabia. Many were returned by Saudi Arabia because
of their illegal status.
Every year, tens of thousands of desperate Ethiopians make the
perilous journey across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. They head
toward Saudi Arabia in hopes of finding jobs in the Middle East.
Pandya says the vast majority of migrants are living in open,
unprotected spaces in the town center without access to food,
water, sanitation, shelter, or the means to earn money. She says the
instability in Yemen has further marginalized the migrants.
“They have been made even more vulnerable by allegations that
they have been recruited by opposing factions to fight,” said
Pandya. “Their exhausting ordeal, their exposure to the elements
without adequate nutrition and sanitation and their exposure to
violence means that many migrants are suffering from diseases and
illnesses, from snake bites and are showing signs of mistreatment
from smugglers and traffickers. And these include severe burns,
broken limbs, gunshot wounds and other physical and sexual
assaults.”
The International Organization for Migration reports at least 30
migrants in Haradh have died in the past month, although it believes
that figure is probably higher. The agency says the situation is critical
and will only get worse the longer the migrants remain stranded
along the Yemeni-Saudi Arabian border.
The organization is repeating its call to donors for more money so it
can get the Ethiopian migrants home as soon as possible.
.Courtesy
Northern Yemen
24 December, 2011 | National Yemen
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- The International
Organization for Migration
says it is concerned and
fearful about the fate of
thousands of Ethiopian
migrants stranded in
deplorable conditions for
from IOM headquarters in Geneva and says the organization has
run out of funds to repatriate the migrants.
For more than one year, the International Organization for
Migration has been providing critical humanitarian assistance to
thousands of Ethiopian migrants stranded in Yemen who want to
return home.
The agency so far has managed to repatriate more than 6,000
migrants. Thousands more are waiting to return, but the
International Organization for Migration says, except for a lucky
few, it cannot help them because it has run out of money.
IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya says thanks to some emergency
funding from Saudi Arabia and Japan, the agency will be able to
charter three planes to help another group of migrants return home
to Ethiopia soon.
“We have had 1,000 migrants travel-ready for some time now, but
until we received the stop-gap funding from Saudi Arabia and
Japan, we have not been able to take them home,” she said. “In the
next few days and weeks, we will be able to help most of them
through these three charter flights. Among them are unaccompanied
minors and medical cases. And, these medical cases include
migrants who have suffered torture at the hands of smugglers,
mainly through gunshot wounds or broken limbs.”
The International Organization for Migration is urgently appealing
for $2.5 million to assist an additional 6,000 Ethiopian migrants to
return home.
In the past year, nearly 18,300 Ethiopian migrants have been
registered in the northern Yemeni town of Haradh on the border
with Saudi Arabia. Many were returned by Saudi Arabia because
of their illegal status.
Every year, tens of thousands of desperate Ethiopians make the
perilous journey across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. They head
toward Saudi Arabia in hopes of finding jobs in the Middle East.
Pandya says the vast majority of migrants are living in open,
unprotected spaces in the town center without access to food,
water, sanitation, shelter, or the means to earn money. She says the
instability in Yemen has further marginalized the migrants.
“They have been made even more vulnerable by allegations that
they have been recruited by opposing factions to fight,” said
Pandya. “Their exhausting ordeal, their exposure to the elements
without adequate nutrition and sanitation and their exposure to
violence means that many migrants are suffering from diseases and
illnesses, from snake bites and are showing signs of mistreatment
from smugglers and traffickers. And these include severe burns,
broken limbs, gunshot wounds and other physical and sexual
assaults.”
The International Organization for Migration reports at least 30
migrants in Haradh have died in the past month, although it believes
that figure is probably higher. The agency says the situation is critical
and will only get worse the longer the migrants remain stranded
along the Yemeni-Saudi Arabian border.
The organization is repeating its call to donors for more money so it
can get the Ethiopian migrants home as soon as possible.
.Courtesy
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