From Sea Waters to Border Guards’ Bullets
Mwatana for Human Rights said in a statement issued today, marking the International Migrants Day observed on 18 December each year, that Yemen remains one of the most dangerous transit routes for migrants arriving from the Horn of Africa on their way to the Gulf countries. Thousands of transit migrants face multiple patterns of grave violations amid a protracted armed conflict and a near-total absence of protection systems and the rule of law.
Mwatana reported that between 18 December 2023 and the end of November 2025, it documented 70 incidents of violations against African migrants in Yemen, resulting in 488 victims, including 32 women and 78 children. The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group bears responsibility for 27 incidents; the Saudi border guards for 15 incidents; the Southern Transitional Council for 11 incidents; and the internationally recognized government for 6 incidents. In addition, one incident is attributed to U.S. forces and another to the Joint Forces, while other actors—most notably smuggling and human trafficking gangs—are responsible for 9 incidents out of the total documented. Mwatana emphasized that these incidents represent only what its team was able to access and document and do not reflect the full scope of violations migrants were subjected to during the stated period.
These violations were recorded across several governorates under the control of different parties to the conflict and included landmines and explosive remnants, arbitrary detention, abduction, enforced disappearance, forced drowning, recruitment and use of children, torture, restrictions on freedom of movement, forced displacement, being run over by military vehicles, live ammunition, sexual violence, and ground and aerial attacks, among others.
Mwatana further stated that its field team across various governorates conducted 121 interviews with surviving victims and their relatives and friends, eyewitnesses, first responders, and medical staff to document these violations. Interviews were conducted in Arabic, with trusted interpreters used when interviewing non-Arabic-speaking victims and witnesses. Various types of evidence were collected and analyzed, including photographs, medical reports, official documents, and other corroborating materials.
Examples of Violations
The Yemen Red Crescent Society in Saada, with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross and several local authority entities, worked to rescue and evacuate the victims and retrieve the dead from the targeted hangar, transferring the injured to the Republican Hospital Authority in the governorate center as well as to Al-Talh Rural Hospital in Sahar District. Following the airstrikes, a number of detainees attempted to flee; however, guards and staff at the detention center opened fire on the detained migrants, killing and injuring several of them. A number of witnesses and medical staff reported that delays in, and obstruction of, rescue operations by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group in the governorate contributed to the increased death toll.
One first responder told Mwatana: “I arrived at the scene in the first minutes, and what I witnessed at the site and later at the hospital was a terrifying scene beyond imagination—something I had never seen before. Large numbers of victims, with the dead mixed among the wounded; we could no longer distinguish who was dead and who was injured. Pieces of flesh were scattered across the targeted area, and the voices and moans of the wounded filled the place.”
He added: “I was walking, absent-minded and disoriented, as if I were in a dream or a scene from a horror film. Throughout the day of the incident and into the following day, we continued evacuating the wounded and providing essential services. The scene does not leave my mind; images of the dismembered migrants and blood appear before me even while eating. I am plagued by terrifying nightmares and have become afraid whenever I hear a sound—feelings I had never experienced before.”
The victim told Mwatana: “While I was walking, I tried to leave the main road to shorten the route and reach the top of the pass, as it is somewhat long. Shortly after leaving the road, my right foot stepped on a landmine that was slightly visible above the ground. I only noticed it at the very moment my foot landed on it, before it exploded and threw me to the side of the road. The mine caused the amputation of my right leg at the knee and shattered the bones of my left lower leg, with small shrapnel fragments scattering into different parts of my body.”
He added: “The pain was severe. I held my right leg tightly to reduce the bleeding. I saw chunks of flesh from my leg thrown beside me, and my other leg was also bleeding. As I began to lose consciousness, a Hilux vehicle carrying around eight people arrived, stopped beside me, lifted me into the vehicle, and took me to the hospital.”
The child’s mother told Mwatana: “After the incident, I rushed my daughter to receive medical care. She needed a blood transfusion and surgery and remained in the hospital for ten days. I then filed a report with Al-Basateen Police Station, but they were unable to establish the incident after the school denied it and evidence was tampered with by the soldier perpetrator. I was also threatened in the hospital by one of the perpetrators, who warned me that he would harm me and my daughter if I told anyone or filed a complaint.”
She added: “We have neither money nor influence, and I cannot obtain justice for my daughter. I fear she may be harmed again.”
It is reported that the incident stemmed from a dispute over the financial proceeds received by the commander of the Second Coastal Defense Brigade and his soldiers from migrant smuggling operations. After the brigade commander raised the crossing fee from 5 to 10 Saudi riyals per migrant, and the migrants refused to pay the additional amount, they were denied passage altogether.
Mwatana noted that in the final months of 2025, social media platforms in Yemen witnessed widespread incitement campaigns against African migrants, including hate speech, open incitement, and calls for forced deportation. These campaigns have had grave humanitarian consequences, contributing to an escalating climate of hostility and violence against migrants, pushing many into hiding or forcing them to flee toward more dangerous areas, depriving them of access to basic services—including food and healthcare—and exposing them to further exploitation by perpetrating parties.
Abdulrasheed Al-Faqih, Vice Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, said:
“African migrants in Yemen are living in one of the most fragile and dangerous situations imaginable. They are turning into victims of grave, multi-perpetrator violations that begin with exploitation, violence, and arbitrary detention and extend to forced displacement and public incitement.” He added, “Continuing to treat migrants as a humanitarian burden, rather than as rights-holders guaranteed protection under international law, opens the door to further violations and entrenches a culture of impunity.”
Al-Faqih further stated: “Protecting migrants is not an act of charity or an emergency response; it is a legal and moral obligation borne by all parties exercising control on the ground, as well as by the international community. It is no longer acceptable to turn a blind eye to the suffering of thousands of migrants stranded in Yemen without any form of effective protection.”
Mwatana for Human Rights’ report, Transit in Hell, documents the horrific violations endured by African migrants during their passage through Yemeni territory, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, sexual violence, extortion, forced labor, and deprivation of food, water, and healthcare, in addition to forced deportation and abandonment in remote and dangerous areas without any legal or humanitarian safeguards. Mwatana has also released a documentary film entitled Transit in Hell, which sheds light on aspects of migrants’ suffering and the violations they face during their journey through Yemen.
In the same context, data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—in its latest update in January 2025—indicate that Yemen does not host only transit migrants, but is also home to 61,240 registered refugees and asylum seekers.
Mwatana explained that these violations are not committed by a single party; rather, various conflict actors are implicated, including the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group, Saudi border guard units, Southern Transitional Council forces, the internationally recognized government, the Joint Forces, the Saudi/UAE-led coalition, and U.S. forces, in addition to smuggling and human trafficking gangs, all amid complete impunity.
Mwatana for Human Rights affirmed that migrants—regardless of their legal status—are entitled to the full protection afforded by international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits arbitrary detention, torture, and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and guarantees the right to life, liberty, and personal security, as well as the Convention against Torture, which absolutely prohibits the torture of any person or their return to a place where they may be subjected to torture or ill-treatment.
In the context of the ongoing armed conflict in Yemen, migrants are also protected under international humanitarian law, particularly the 1949 Geneva Conventions, as protected civilians. This protection prohibits targeting them, subjecting them to cruel treatment, forcibly transferring them, or detaining them in inhuman conditions. Mwatana stresses that the violations committed against migrants in Yemen constitute serious breaches of these international laws and require accountability and an end to impunity.
Mwatana noted that the multiplicity of perpetrating actors and the overlap of their roles, in the absence of accountability, have turned Yemen into an extremely dangerous environment for migrants’ lives and dignity, rendering them among the most vulnerable groups to grave violations.
Mwatana for Human Rights emphasized that the commemoration of International Migrants Day is an opportunity to shed light on the suffering of transit migrants in Yemen, and called on the parties to the conflict to immediately cease violations against migrants and to facilitate unhindered access for humanitarian organizations to affected populations so they can implement their interventions.
Mwatana renewed its call on the international community and the United Nations to pressure the parties to the conflict in Yemen to uphold their legal and moral responsibilities to protect civilians, including African migrants, to ratify relevant international conventions concerning migrants, and to ensure respect for migrants’ fundamental rights—foremost among them the right to life, dignity, bodily integrity, and freedom from torture or inhuman treatment.
