SANAA, Sept. 5 — The International Organization for Migration is warning that African migrants stranded in Yemen face a deepening humanitarian crisis, trapped between heavily guarded borders and a homeland they cannot safely return to. Each year, thousands of migrants make the dangerous crossing from the Horn of Africa across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, hoping to push onward to wealthier Gulf states. But for many, the journey ends in limbo.
Ethiopian migrant Abdulaziz Mohammed described his predicament: “I was trying to cross into Saudi Arabia, but now the border is heavily guarded. The military has closed the border, and the police have tightened security there.
We cannot cross, so I am here in Yemen. We have no place to stay. We look for food on the streets and sleep under the trees.”
From transit point to dead end
Before Yemen’s 2011 uprising, the country hosted more than a million African refugees, most from Ethiopia and Somalia. Since then, Yemen itself has been consumed by over a decade of civil war, leaving half its population in need of humanitarian assistance. Migrants now arriving find a country with little to offer — and face abuse, kidnapping, and forced recruitment by local militia, according to the IOM.
Mohamad Hatoum, IOM programme manager for protection, laid out the dangers plainly: “Migrants in Yemen face many risks, including human trafficking, exploitation, detention, violence and various forms of abuse. Many of them rely on smuggling networks to facilitate their movement, which exposes them to harm and risks that are not limited to crossing borders, but continue to affect them throughout the entire journey.”
A burden on a broken state
Between 100,000 and 200,000 migrants reach Yemen every year, according to the IOM, piling additional strain on a country already buckling under displacement and depleting aid supplies. Mansour Al-Jaradi, a humanitarian aid activist, said the pressure is unmistakable: “There are major economic, political, geographical and security challenges resulting from this migration. In Yemen specifically, because of the war and the difficult economic situation, there are certainly additional burdens on the host country.
We all know the situation we have reached, with international organisations absent and no aid available for internally displaced people. So they undoubtedly represent an additional burden.” The IOM’s warning underscores an urgent need for international attention.
With smuggling networks as the only route forward and no safe passage back, the migrants stranded in Yemen are left to wait — under trees, on streets, and in the shadow of a war that shows no sign of ending. What happens next depends largely on whether aid organisations can secure the funding and access needed to reach them.
