In 2017 alone, 100,000 migrants were recorded entering Yemen. In that same year,
119,000 migrants arrived on the shores of Italy, constituting 67% of the European Union’s
migrant arrivals. While the number of migrants travelling to Europe fell between 2017 and
2018, the number of migrants arriving in Yemen increased by 50% in the same period. Yet,
Europe’s migrant crisis dominates the news, with little mention of this burgeoning crisis in
Yemen.
A majority of these migrants come from Ethiopia and some from Somalia, all
seeking to escape from the difficult conditions at home. Many of these migrants are
teenagers, with children as young as 12 years old embarking on the journey. On this route,
young migrants endure brutal treatment from their smugglers including physical and sexual
abuse and sometimes even risk being trafficked. The United Nations migration agency
recorded two instances where smugglers forced migrants off boats into the sea, with up to
50 casualties arising from this incident.
It is hard to believe that growing numbers are risking their lives to travel to Yemen,
which is in the midst of a civil war and has been suffering from one of the most severe
humanitarian crises on the planet (this includes near famine and a cholera outbreak). The
growth in numbers fleeing from the Horn of Africa for Yemen is due to the relative
affordability of this route as compared to the amount demanded to be smuggled into
Europe.
Furthermore, the conditions they face at home tends to be more dire than Western media
suggests, where high youth unemployment, droughts and fears of famine motivates them to
seek a better life elsewhere, even if it is in a war-torn country. Some are not even aware of
the situation in Yemen. Upon arrival, the situation they face tends to be bleak and at times, deadly. Thousands of migrants were left stranded near the front lines of a military offensive on Hodeidah, a port city in Yemen. Migrants also are at the mercy of criminals, often becoming the targets of armed men who kidnap them, rob them or force them to fight.
Despite these dire conditions, migrants in Yemen receive barely a fraction of the
world’s attention. Furthermore, because of the instability within Yemen itself, there is a lack
of data and information on the extent of the problem. The lack of data and attention
devoted to the migrant situation within Yemen means that there is little funding from the
international community channelled to protecting migrants who are incredibly vulnerable.
Written by Audrey Hau.
Sources:
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