+ A
A -
AFP
Aden
In a disused football stadium in the Yemeni city of Aden, hundreds of African migrants find themselves in limbo -- banned from onward travel, but unable to return home.
The majority from Ethiopia, the migrants are facing tough conditions after being confined to the stadium in the government bastion, according to the United Nations’ migration agency.
“The site is not fit to be hosting anyone, not even one person, let alone thousands,” said Olivia Headon, the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Yemen spokeswoman. While most of the 1,789 migrants are adult men, they also include 389 boys and 28 girls under the age of 18, Headon said. The youngest is believed to be 11 years old. Yemen has descended into chaos over the past four years of conflict, with both the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and a rival pro-government military alliance led by Saudi Arabia accused of acts that could amount to war crimes.
But the country remains on an established route for migrants from the Horn of Africa, who typically first travel by land through Djibouti before eventually undergoing perilous boat journeys across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen.
Mohammed Nour took the well-worn route recently from his native Ethiopia, hoping Yemen would be a temporary stop en route to Saudi.
Aden
In a disused football stadium in the Yemeni city of Aden, hundreds of African migrants find themselves in limbo -- banned from onward travel, but unable to return home.
The majority from Ethiopia, the migrants are facing tough conditions after being confined to the stadium in the government bastion, according to the United Nations’ migration agency.
“The site is not fit to be hosting anyone, not even one person, let alone thousands,” said Olivia Headon, the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Yemen spokeswoman. While most of the 1,789 migrants are adult men, they also include 389 boys and 28 girls under the age of 18, Headon said. The youngest is believed to be 11 years old. Yemen has descended into chaos over the past four years of conflict, with both the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and a rival pro-government military alliance led by Saudi Arabia accused of acts that could amount to war crimes.
But the country remains on an established route for migrants from the Horn of Africa, who typically first travel by land through Djibouti before eventually undergoing perilous boat journeys across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen.
Mohammed Nour took the well-worn route recently from his native Ethiopia, hoping Yemen would be a temporary stop en route to Saudi.
