Recruitment or smuggling.. Two Houthi options for African immigrants in Saada
English - Saturday 14 January 2023 الساعة 08:16 am
Sana'a, NewsYemen, exclusive:
"They died of snakebites." This is how the Houthi militia - Iran's arm in Yemen justified the killing of dozens of illegal immigrants who arrived in areas under its control, on the way to migrating to Saudi lands in search of work and an improvement in their living conditions.
Houthi gangs in Saada governorate - the main stronghold of the Houthi group in Yemen - capture groups of immigrants of "Ethiopian and Somali" nationalities, immediately after their arrival in the governorate's directorates, and recruit them and force them to implement their plans on the borders to Saudi Arabia.
In addition to the high probability of being killed by the Houthis, African immigrants are also subjected to different types of abuse. Beginning with being forced to join the fighting fronts, as Yemeni officials have stated more than once, and imposing sums of money on immigrants in exchange for their deportation, to sexual assaults and torture. They could also be exploited by the Houthis in reconnaissance and intelligence missions, or exploited to work in the service of their forces.
Houthi victims and repudiation
According to preliminary information, more than 70 African migrants have died during the past months. After the Houthi militia and smuggling gangs forced them to carry out military missions and deliver drugs to Saudi territory.
The sources indicated that the migrants are gathered in military sites and caves belonging to the Houthi militia in the Saada mountains, before they are sent to sites near the Saudi border to carry out some tasks, including reconnaissance, espionage and planting explosive devices, explaining that the Houthi caves in the mountains are weapons and explosives stores and a starting point. To carry out the military missions and the large-scale smuggling operations that are supervised by prominent Houthi leaders in Saada.
She indicated that a violent explosion shook one of the Houthi caves in the mountains of the "Shada" region, killing dozens of immigrants who were inside. The militia was quick to obliterate the features of the incident by submitting a report to a military committee before the Houthi Shura Council, explaining that most of the African migrants died as a result of exposure to snakebites.
Add to this the fall of immigrants at the hands of the Houthi smuggling mafia, which exploits their influx to the regions of Saada and their desire to cut off the northern Yemeni borders to Saudi Arabia, in order to recruit them and use them as smugglers for them, regardless of their lives and the danger of the mines spread on the Yemeni-Saudi border.
Houthi intelligence takes over the task
In turn, security sources in Sana'a revealed that the Houthi intelligence service, known as the Preventive Security Service, is currently managing the file of illegal immigrants coming from the Horn of Africa, noting that the Houthi agency quickly directed the burial of all African migrants who were killed in the Saada mountains in mysterious circumstances. While more than 20 other immigrants who refused to obey the directives of the Houthi leaders and engage in military actions or other smuggling operations were arrested.
It has become clear that justifying the killing of a number of migrants by snakebites in the Saada mountains is nothing but an attempt by Houthis to evade responsibility for the killings and executions of Ethiopians and Somalis.
According to the sources, the Houthi militia has admitted to establishing 3 camps to house illegal immigrants arriving in Saada. And subjecting those camps that are far from the eyes of the International Organization for Migration or human rights and humanitarian organizations to the direct supervision of the Houthi Preventive Security Service, noting that the migrants in those camps are subjected and involved in sectarian training courses before they are transferred to other military sites in preparation for carrying out some tasks on the borders.
Burning is a Houthi method
Great abuse is suffered by African immigrants arriving in Saada governorate. Those who are not spared from the Houthi recruitment and smuggling gangs will be prey to liquidation by burning. Many of the migrants in Saada insisted on staying in shelters, including an unequipped camp in the Al-Raqou border area between Yemen and Saudi Arabia. However, they were surprised by the burning of their tents and targeting them with fire in order to tighten the screws on them and force them to accept the options of military conscription or joining the smuggling gangs.
A human rights report issued by the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms revealed that immigrants were subjected to systematic liquidation, especially for those who refused to engage in Houthi recruitment or smuggling gangs, explaining that the Houthi militia had set fire to the shops and tents of African immigrants in the border area of Al-Raqo in Saada Governorate. As a result, about 20 immigrants were killed and dozens were injured.
The network indicated that the Houthi militia continues its crimes against unarmed civilians and is working to eliminate those who refuse to fall within its terrorist plans and fight in its ranks or work in the field of drug smuggling and cross-border contraband from Yemenis and Africans who use Yemen as a transit area to a number of countries in search of a living.
The statement considered this crime "a new addition to the militia's bloody record, especially after more than 150 Africans were burned to death in the passport prison in Sana'a in 2020, pointing out that Houthi crimes continue against Yemeni civilians and defenseless immigrants."
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms called on all international organizations and the United Nations to move quickly to save African migrants and civilians, activate international laws and procedures to protect the rights of refugees, and impose sanctions on those involved in crimes against defenseless civilians.
Systematic filtering
Confirmations of witnesses and human rights sources in Saada indicated that the Houthis deliberately push migrants to critical areas on the borders, or seam areas; In an effort to implicate the border guards or the Arab coalition forces in killing or harming them. As part of the rebels' war propaganda. Ultimately, the casualties are often the Houthi fire.
Human Rights Watch revealed in its reports that Houthi fighters brutally arrested thousands of African immigrants in Saada governorate. Then they forced them into pickup trucks and drove them to the Saudi border. Small arms and light weapons were used by the Houthis to shoot anyone who tried to flee from them. This barbaric and brutal act led to the death of immigrants.
For its part, the Yemeni Organization for Combating Human Trafficking described the violations and crimes against African migrants in Saada as mass massacres, and action must be taken to stop them.
The organization called for an immediate investigation into the migrant smuggling and human trafficking gangs involved in luring and smuggling migrants and bringing them to trial for their crimes, endangering the lives of migrants and crossing them on perilous journeys. The organization also called for the reactivation of the National Technical Committee for Combating Human Trafficking to play its role in curbing this phenomenon.
