This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
On August 15, 2019, Human Rights Watch reported that Ethiopian migrants who had traveled to Saudi Arabia in search of work were being deported in large numbers, leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the migrants faced exploitation, trafficking, and violence from the moment they set off on their journey across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden to reach the Arabian Peninsula.
The report, based on interviews with deportees in Addis Ababa, documents the abuses suffered by the migrants at the hands of traffickers and security forces in Ethiopia, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia.
Human Rights Watch senior Africa researcher Felix Horne stated, "Many Ethiopians who hoped for a better life in Saudi Arabia face unspeakable dangers along the journey, including death at sea, torture, and all manners of abuses."
He added, "Saudi Arabia has summarily returned hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians to Addis Ababa who have little to show for their journey except debts and trauma."
Despite the risks, up to half a million Ethiopians were in Saudi Arabia when officials there launched a crackdown on illegal migration in 2017, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
Between May 2017 and March 2019, around 10,000 Ethiopians were deported monthly, and Human Rights Watch says deportations have continued.
