desperate choices conditions, risks & protection failures affecting Ethiopian migrants in Yemen | 1 desperate choices 2 | conditions, risks & protection failures affecting Ethiopian migrants in Yemen desperate choices This is a joint report of the Danish Refugee Council (Regional Office for the Horn of Africa & Yemen) with the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS). The research and publication of this report is funded by the European Commission and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Acknowledgements The lead researcher for qualitative data collection in Yemen was Dr Rebecca Roberts. Dr Roberts The Regional Mixed Migration is a research fellow at the Centre for Peace and Secretariat (RMMS) Reconciliation Studies (CPRS) at Coventry University in the UK. Dr Roberts worked with a research team Formed in 2011 and based in Nairobi, the overall of men and women comprising four Ethiopians objective of the RMMS is to support agencies, and one Yemeni. This research would not have institutions and for a in the Horn of Africa and Yemen been possible without the help and cooperation of sub-region to improve the management of protection numerous individuals and organizations. No names and assistance response to people in mixed migration are given to protect the identity of those individuals flows in the Horn of Africa and across the Gulf of Aden who wished to remain anonymous. Information or Red Sea in Yemen. The co-founders and Steering was provided by Yemeni and Ethiopian authorities, Committee members for the RMMS include UNHCR, members of the local and international assistance IOM, DRC, INTERSOS and the Yemen MMTF. The community, Ethiopian migrants and Yemeni citizens. RMMS is therefore a regional hub aiming to provide The text was developed using existing statistical data support and coordination, analysis and research, and information along with the findings of the field information, data management and advocacy. It acts research and compiled by the lead researcher with as an independent agency, hosted by the DRC, and staff from the RMMS. The views and opinions of this also aims to be a sector catalyst stimulating forward report are, however, entirely those of the RMMS and thinking and policy development in relation to mixed DRC. migration. Its over arching focus and emphasis is on human rights, protection and assistance. Special thanks to Dr Marina de Regt (fellow: Humbolt- Universitatzu Berlin) and Dr Sarah Philips (lecturer, www.regionalmms.org The University of Sydney) for reviewing drafts of this report. Cover photo : rural Yemen by Tim Smith/Panos Danish Refugee Council (DRC) DRC and RMMS are co-located at: The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organisation founded in DRC Regional Office for the Horn of Africa & 1956 that works in more than 30 countries throughout Yemen, the world. DRC fulfils its mandate by providing Lower Kabete Road (NgechaJunction) direct assistance to conflict-affected populations P.O.Box 14762, 00800, – refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and Westlands. host communities in the conflict areas of the world. Nairobi, Kenya Also, by advocating on behalf of conflict-affected populations internationally, and in Denmark, on the Office: +254 20 418 0403/4/5 basis of humanitarian principles and the Human Rights Declaration. DRC’s Regional Office for the Horn of Africa & Yemen co-funded and co-published this report with the RMMS. www.drc.dk conditions, risks & protection failures affecting Ethiopian migrants in Yemen | 3 desperate choices 4 | conditions, risks & protection failures affecting Ethiopian migrants in Yemen desperate choices corroborating information and testimonies from other Executive Summary sources, suggest an increasingly abusive environment for newly arrived migrants. Kidnap, torture, sexual Various reports compiled in recent years have not violence, abduction and extortion are becoming only detailed the perils of the journey to Yemen, but widespread and frequent hazards, sometimes lethal, also the main drivers causing migrants to leave their for migrants in transit to the Gulf States. The details 1 homeland and their ultimate chosen destination. of the brutality being used by criminals (both Yemeni This report aims to update existing levels of and Ethiopian gang members) were shocking to knowledge and understanding in light of new trends those conducting interviews with survivors, as they and developments, but, in particular, it aims to focus will be to the reader. on the protection risks faced by the largest group of irregular migrants: the Ethiopians. Field research was conducted in Yemen over a five week period in May and June 2012. Around 130 Yemen acts as a transit country for migrants from individual and group interviews were conducted with the Horn of Africa, predominantly Somalis and Ethiopian respondents. Additional information was Ethiopians going to Saudi Arabia and the Arab gathered from meetings with officials and staff from peninsula. However, Yemen also attracts migrants aid organizations. in its own right seeking sanctuary, asylum and work opportunities. Since 2006, when the humanitarian The main findings from this new research are community started collating estimates on irregular summarized here and combined with accumulated maritime migrants, the numbers of arrivals have been information and statistics held by the Danish Refugee steadily increasing. 2011 saw almost exactly double Council (DRC) and the Regional Mixed Migration the number of arrivals as 2010. Most notable has Secretariat (RMMS). been the increase in the number and proportion of undocumented migrants from Ethiopia, currently representing over 75% of all maritime arrivals in Travelling to Yemen Yemen. In 2011, over 75,000 Ethiopians arrived at • Most Ethiopians enter Yemen illegally as Yemen’s coast. Data for 2012 suggests that, as of the irregular maritime migrants, on boats from end of August at least 56,000 Ethiopians had already Djibouti and Puntland, Somalia. Some, entered Yemen. particularly women going to work as domestic cleaners, fly to Yemen. It is possible to obtain Migrants in Yemen, especially undocumented legal documentation illegally so the distinction migrants who move clandestinely through the country, between legal/regular and illegal/irregular2 are vulnerable to abuse and discrimination. Over the migrants can be unclear. last six and a half years, the cumulative number of new arrivals from Ethiopia - at least 230,000 - raises • A small minority of Ethiopian migrants cross the questions as to why they came to Yemen and what land border into Yemen irregularly from Saudi exactly happens to them once they disembark on Arabia. They entered Saudi Arabia regularly Yemeni sands. How do they survive and what risks as formal labour migrants but became illegal do they face? Where do they live and work and under because they overstayed their visa or ran away what conditions? What are their actual intentions? from their employer. In Yemen they obtain legal These are some of the questions this study seeks to documents to travel back to Ethiopia legally, answer. often in order to migrate again to Saudi Arabia. Recent and alarming accounts from migrants and those that work to assist them, indicate that many Profile of Ethiopian migrants to Yemen Ethiopian migrants face severe human rights abuses that have not been systematically investigated. The • The majority of Ethiopians are motivated to findings of the interviews conducted for this report, migrate by the lack of economic opportunities in Ethiopia. 1 Inter alia: (1) Soucy, Anne (2011) Mixed Migration from the Horn of Africa to Yemen: Protection Risks and Challenges, Nairobi: 2 The norm for humanitarian and right-based agencies is to refer Danish Refugee Council. (2) Human Rights Watch (2012) Hostile to international migrants moving without official documentation Shores: Abuse and Refoulement of Asylum Seekers and Refugees and approval as ‘irregular’ and those with official permission / in Yemen, New York: Human Rights Watch. (3) Mixed Migration documentation as ‘regular’. National authorities normally refer to Flows: Somali and Ethiopian Migration to Yemen and Turkey. Final them as illegal migrants or undocumented foreigners. Both terms report. May 2010. Prepared for the Mixed Migration Task Force by when used in this report reflect the context or perspective being Ray Jureidini, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies American discussed. University in Cairo (See references). conditions, risks & protection failures affecting Ethiopian migrants in Yemen | 5 desperate choices • Few Ethiopians claim asylum; in addition, some Ethiopians settled in Yemen, as insecurity has of the migrants to Yemen could also qualify reduced the number of profitable employment as refugees but are not seeking international opportunities available. protection. Employment opportunities in Yemen • The economic migrants can be divided into three main groups, mostly in transit towards • The main employment for Ethiopian men is on Saudi Arabia or farther afield: qat farms. o Migrants who have enough resources • The main income generating opportunities for and are able to travel regularly or Ethiopian women who are settled in Yemen is irregularly; they pay a high price to as cleaners in homes, commercial companies smugglers to ensure their safety. or public buildings such as hospitals. They normally have a clear plan and destination. • Ethiopians who fail to find regular employment clean cars, collect