Two IOM-chartered flights will depart from Yemen’s al-Hodeida
International Airport on Saturday (28/7) and Tuesday (31/7) for
Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, carrying some 554 stranded
Ethiopian migrants.

The migrants were stranded in the north western Yemeni city of
Haradh, near the border with Saudi Arabia. The town is a stepping
stone for migrants from the Horn of Africa en route to Saudi Arabia
and the Gulf in search of work.

Unable to cross the border, due to tight Saudi border controls,
thousands of migrants become stranded there. Many suffer extreme
hardships including hunger, a lack of shelter and abuse from
criminal gangs.

Ethiopian consular officials and Yemeni immigration staff are
now in Haradh issuing emergency travel documents and exit permits
for the returnees. Pre-departure health checks and distribution of
clothing and hygiene kits are also underway. 

Extremely vulnerable migrants including women, children and
medical cases will be given priority on the flights. On arrival in
Ethiopia, the migrants will be met by IOM officials who will
organize onward transportation to take them to their final
destinations.

"I am happy to be returning to my country very soon. I have
received treatment from IOM and Yemeni Red Crescent Society medical
staff in Haradh for eight months and am now well enough to go
home," said one returnee, who had been beaten by smugglers. He
suffered severe injuries including a fractured vertebra.

 

In 2011 IOM’s voluntary return programme in Haradh helped
7,000 mainly Ethiopian migrants to return home. It was suspended
earlier this year due to lack of funding.

But a recent USD 2.1 million donation by the Dutch government
for IOM humanitarian activities in Yemen will now allow another
1,800 destitute migrants to return home to their countries of
origin.

IOM’s Haradh Migrant Response Centre was set up in 2010 to
help the most vulnerable migrants.  The centre, which was
designed to accommodate 150 people, is now home to 300.

 

For more information, please contact 

Nicoletta Giordano

IOM Yemen

Tel: +9671410568

Email: "mailto:ngiordano@iom.int">ngiordano@iom.int