Burial site of the dead on the border of Yemen and Saudi Arabia
Saudi border guards fired rockets at migrants crossing the Yemeni border in a campaign of barbaric killings, as established a major new investigation.
Crowds of migrants fleeing riots in the Horn of Africa are said to have been gunned down with rifles and detonated by rocket launcher-like weapons as they attempted to cross land in the wealthy Persian Gulf state.
The border guards also forced teenagers to rape other migrants and forced others to choose which limb they wanted to be shot in, according to testimony from 42 survivors compiled by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The Yemeni border allegations will raise serious questions at Downing Street, which has invited Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman for a state visit this fall for the first time since he was accused of ordering the assassination and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
HRW's graphic 79-page report says Saudi border guards «systematically» fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at crowds of Ethiopian migrants trying to cross overland into the wealthy Gulf state from war-torn Yemen.
>'They didn't fire bullets'
«I saw people being killed in ways I never imagined,» said Hamdia, a 14-year-old survivor.
“Immediately after we arrived [at the border], they [Saudi border guards] opened fire on us… A lot of people died. Only 50 survived in a group of 200 migrants,” said Dahabo, a 20-year-old economic migrant.
He added: “They didn’t fire bullets. He was thrown out of the back of a car like a bomb. It kills a lot of people. They opened fire on many people.”
Saudi Arabia is fighting a surge in migration along the border with Yemen, where it has been bombing Iranian-backed Houthi rebels since 2015.
Downing Street has invited Mohammed bin Salman for a state visit this fall. Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP
An HRW report notes that rebels in Yemen helped smuggle mostly Ethiopian migrants who came by boat from Africa to the border with Saudi Arabia. Arabia.
The report indicated that «large-scale» attacks have been ongoing since March 2022 and that the death toll is clearly in the hundreds, but could potentially be in the thousands. The organization said they could potentially amount to a crime against humanity by Saudi Arabia under international law.
The UK and other Western allies this year attempted to smooth things over with the powerful Saudi leader, despite his alleged role in the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Khashoggi, a charge he vehemently denies.
The West is trying to do it. improve relations with Saudi Arabia to ease tensions in the Middle East with Israel and prevent the Gulf state from getting too close to China.
HRW said it did not receive a response from Saudi Arabia when it filed allegations against the Kingdom ahead of the release of the report. The Telegraph contacted the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Media Ministry and the Saudi Embassy in London, but received no response as of Sunday evening. The Telegraph also contacted the embassy in London by phone, but no one answered.
«Some people were torn in half»
Graphic video footage and photographs shown by The Telegraph HRW show survivors of alleged Saudi attacks with horrific limb injuries and faces. An image taken after one such attack shows injured migrants and at least one lifeless body in the back of a truck.
An unidentified survivor of one of the alleged Saudi attacks near the border. by name in the report, said: “First I ate with people, and then they died … there are people whom you cannot identify because their bodies are scattered everywhere. Some people were torn in half.”
Weapons experts interviewed by HRW researchers said the migrants' injuries appeared to be consistent with those sustained from explosive ordnance and gunshot wounds.
The vast majority of the victims came from Ethiopia, having moved to Yemen through the Gulf of Aden. and from there headed north to the border with Saudi Arabia.
Saudi guards at the border crossing with Yemen. Credit: AFP
About 750,000 Ethiopians work in Saudi Arabia, a figure made up primarily of economic migrants, but also a significant number of Ethiopians fleeing internal conflict.
The HRW report also criticized smugglers and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group. in Yemen who extort money from Ethiopians and then send them to camps on the Yemeni side of the border to try to cross into Saudi Arabia.
As part of its study, HRW also used satellite imagery to locate a large number of graves where victims of alleged massacres are buried.
“Saudi authorities are killing hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in this remote border region out of sight of the rest of the world,” says Nadia Hardman, researcher on refugee and migrant rights at HRW.
“Billions are being spent buying professional golf clubs, football clubs and major entertainment events to improve the image of Saudi Arabia should not detract from these horrific crimes,” she added.
Although human rights groups have documented killings of migrants near the border with Yemen since 2014 HRW said the most recent attacks «appear to be a deliberate escalation in both the number and manner of targeted killings.»
«If there is no justice for what appear to be serious crimes against Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers, this will only spur more killings and abuses,” Ms. Hardman added.
It is not clear why the Saudis are resorting to such brutal tactics as described in the report. When human rights groups have previously released reports with similar allegations, Saudi Arabian officials have dismissed them outright.
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