Saudi Border Forces Accused of Killing Ethiopian Migrants
Ethiopians Crossing from Yemen Face Machine-Gun Fire, Witnesses Report Seeing Rotting Bodies
Saudi Arabian border forces have been accused of using excessive and indiscriminate violence against Ethiopian migrants attempting to cross from Yemen, with reports detailing mass casualties, severe injuries, and sexual violence.
Multiple accounts from migrants who attempted the crossing between 2019 and 2024 describe coming under machine-gun fire, witnessing bodies decaying along the border, and enduring severe abuses. One Ethiopian survivor recounted an attempt to enter Saudi Arabia’s Najran province in 2022, during which three people next to him were shot dead. “One of my legs was blown away by the Saudi fire. There were body parts of the injured and the dead all around me,” he said.
Another migrant reported suffering shrapnel wounds to his leg and back, while a third claimed to have witnessed three Ethiopian women being raped by men in Saudi border guard uniforms. Others described brutal beatings and sexual assaults.
In January 2023, a man who attempted the crossing said the journey was horrifying, encountering decomposing bodies along the route. “The border guards continued to fire at us as we walked through treacherous terrain,” he said, recalling how two young women were fatally shot. “One was struck in the chest, and the other was hit in the back of her neck. Both died instantly. Many migrants fell off a cliff while trying to escape. Others were captured or injured by gunfire. We have no idea what happened to them.”
These harrowing testimonies align with findings from a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published in August 2023, which documented that Saudi border guards killed “hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers” between March 2022 and June 2023. HRW described the killings as “widespread and systematic,” involving firearms and explosive weapons, and suggested they could constitute crimes against humanity.
The report documented cases where Saudi border guards inflicted severe abuses on migrants. In one instance, a man was shot for refusing to rape two girls after surviving an explosive attack. In another, Saudi forces reportedly forced a teenage boy to commit rape. HRW also cited incidents where border guards ordered Ethiopian migrants to choose which body part they preferred to be shot in before executing them at close range.
“There is a complete culture of impunity and unaccountability at the border,” said Nadia Hardman, the author of the HRW report. “It’s impossible to know the true scale of the killings. No one has independent access to these areas. They are basically off-limits.”
Saudi officials, including government representatives and the Saudi embassy in Ethiopia, have yet to comment on these allegations.
Saudi Arabia hosts an estimated 750,000 Ethiopian migrants, with more than half believed to have entered the country illegally. These migrants endure dangerous journeys through the desert and across the sea, often falling prey to people smugglers, armed gangs, and Yemeni rebel groups before reaching the Saudi border. Those who succeed in entering the kingdom often find low-paid work in construction, agriculture, or domestic service. Saudi authorities have intensified security operations in recent years, detaining tens of thousands of undocumented migrants and deporting them to Ethiopia. The kingdom’s treatment of migrant workers is facing growing international scrutiny as it prepares to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup and constructs 11 new stadiums.
Many Ethiopian migrants fleeing poverty, conflict, and climate crises take perilous routes through Yemen in search of work. The UN reported a 32% increase in Ethiopian migrants attempting this journey between 2022 and 2023, reaching 96,670 people. A smaller number of Somalis also use this route.
There are no indications that Saudi Arabia has halted the use of lethal force against irregular migrants. In December 2024, one Ethiopian who attempted to cross from Al Raqw, a Yemeni settlement, reported being targeted by Saudi border forces using machine guns and artillery. “They shot at me and 10 others to push us back into Yemen. One person was wounded,” he said.
Hardman of HRW emphasized that Saudi Arabia continues to evade accountability despite international relations. “Saudi Arabia has thrown its money around to get into the diplomatic fold,” she said. “It doesn’t really matter what it does, the world just moves on. Unless states dealing with Saudi Arabia send a message saying they will not tolerate abuses, they will sadly continue.”
One Ethiopian man, a former rebel fighter from the Tigray war in 2020-2022, traveled to Yemen in hopes of reaching Saudi Arabia after his previous tourism job disappeared. Instead, he was captured and tortured by traffickers until his family paid a ransom. Upon release in early 2024, he worked for smugglers in Al Raqw, running goods into Saudi Arabia to repay his debt.
“I saw many dead bodies along the way,” he said. “Every trip, there would be bodies—five in one place, two or three in another. Some were fresh, while others were skeletons.” He also noted cameras along the border, likely used by Saudi forces to detect migrants. Eventually, he was detained and forcibly deported to Ethiopia, where he recounted his experience in a coffee shop in his hometown of Wukro, still marked by the scars of war.
Another man from Wukro, speaking from inside Saudi Arabia, described attempting the crossing four times between 2021 and 2023, each time facing gunfire. In May 2023, his group—mostly women—was detained at a Saudi border post, where he claimed border guards raped three of the women before forcing them back into Yemen.
His fourth attempt at crossing succeeded, and he now works as a goatherd in Saudi Arabia, earning 800 Saudi riyals (about £170) per month and sending most of his income to his family in Ethiopia.
However, he lives in constant fear. “I can’t say I’m truly living because, at any moment, the Saudi authorities could come and arrest me or even kill me. I can’t sleep peacefully. I always fear they will show up. Life here in Saudi is hell on earth.”
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