Reports, images, and videos have confirmed Saudi Arabia's engagement in killing dozens of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers during their crossing of the Saudi-Yemeni border.
The information indicated that between March 2022 and June 2023, Saudi border guard forces utilized mortar shells and other explosive weapons to target and bombard individuals during their border crossing. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch conveyed testimonies from individuals affirming the direct firing upon others by Saudi military personnel.
The images and videos portrayed migrants, including children, women, and men, scattered across mountainous areas, bearing severe wounds, disfigurements, or dead. The information also pointed out that some who managed to cross the border were placed in detention centres where they were subjected to violations and extortion, compelling them to pay departure fees.
Human rights organizations have documented Saudi Arabia's killing of migrants across the border over the past years. Still, recent information confirms that there is an escalation in violence that appears to be a systematic policy.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights notes that violations against Ethiopian immigrants have been monitored during the past years. In 2020, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the Saudi government's violations of the right of Ethiopians in prisons. The decision was based on information that they were trapped in filthy cells and in appalling conditions that led to the death of at least 3 children.
In addition, according to the monitoring of ESOHR, foreigners constituted 40% of all executions carried out between 2015 and 2021, 16 of whom hold Ethiopian nationality.
ESOHR confirms that the information documented in the report and confirmed by photos and videos shows the extent of brutality in the treatment of the Saudi border guards and security forces. The organization considers that Saudi Arabia's mass killings in this way confirm the bloodshed that the government has pursued in recent years, which is evident in executions and extrajudicial killings.
ESOHR considers that the facts expose the misinformation practised by the Saudi government, and the attempts to whitewash using sports and entertainment. It also stresses that countries, as well as companies that conclude commercial and military deals with Saudi Arabia and contribute to supplying it with weapons and assisting in washing, share responsibility for the violations it commits.