Zamzam Ibrahim Hassan, 26, a Somali refugee, was deported by Saudi authorities 16 months ago when she tried to enter Saudi Arabia from Yemen. She then re-entered Yemen by boat from Somalia nine months ago.
[Read this report in Arabic]
"I worked as a maid in one of the houses in the province of al-Baidha [in southeast Yemen] for three months and saved 30,000 riyals [US$150]. I heard some of my friends talking about going to Saudi Arabia. We decided to go and I paid all my money to the smugglers who were Yemenis. When we reached the border, they left us when it was dark," she said.
Hassan added that two Somali men accompanied her. "We decided to continue the journey [in Saudi Arabia] although we had no idea about the area. We got lost and walked for 25 days. We came across people on the way who frightened us and tried to rape me. We managed to escape them," she said.
“We were praying day and night, and in the end we found a group of Saudi policemen. They brought us to a big detention centre in another city. We remained there for three months until we numbered 160 Africans. Then the authorities deported us to Somalia," she said.
Illegal employment
Many African migrants go to oil-rich Saudi Arabia looking for a better life, according to Somali leaders in Yemen. Most of the African women find employment illegally as maids in Saudi homes.
Mohammed Deriah, a leader of Somali refugees in al-Basateen area, a poor neighbourhood in the southern port city of Aden, told IRIN that about 40 Somali refugees are smuggled every day from Aden to Saudi Arabia. "Most of those going to Saudi Arabia are new arrivals. They get money from their relatives in other countries, and some come from Somalia with money and then decide to go to Saudi Arabia," he said, adding that the journey to Saudi Arabia costs between 1,000 and 1,500 Saudi riyals ($270-$401).
Sadat Mohammed, head of refugee affairs in the Somali community in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, estimates that between 5,000 and 6,000 Somalis have tried to enter Saudi Arabia from Yemen since September, including children.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), so far in 2007 more than 20,000 African migrants have crossed the Gulf of Aden by boat.
Hazardous journey
There are three main points for smuggling African migrants into Saudi Arabia: Sanaa, Aden and al-Hosoun, in the eastern province of Mareb. The border city of Haradh, in Hajjah province, is the main point from which traffickers access Saudi cities; others take the Haradh route.
According to Mohammed, traffickers often cheat those who intend to go to Saudi Arabia. "They ask them to pay for the expenses of travelling in advance, and then abandon them in the western province of al-Hudeida," he said.
Ridwan Hersi, cultural adviser at the Somali Embassy in Sanaa, told IRIN: "We keep contact with the Somali community here in Yemen and spread awareness among them of the dangers of smuggling. We also contact the BBC Somali Section in order to make people aware of this phenomenon," he said.
However, Yemeni authorities arrest very few traffickers and African migrants in Haradh. Ali Tamalah, head of Hajjah security, said they arrest about three migrants every month or two. "If we arrest them [migrants], we send them to the Migration Authority in Sanaa. If we arrest smugglers we prosecute them in court,” he said.
maj/ar/mw
see also
Trafficked children could become terrorists, specialists warn
[Read this report in Arabic]
"I worked as a maid in one of the houses in the province of al-Baidha [in southeast Yemen] for three months and saved 30,000 riyals [US$150]. I heard some of my friends talking about going to Saudi Arabia. We decided to go and I paid all my money to the smugglers who were Yemenis. When we reached the border, they left us when it was dark," she said.
Hassan added that two Somali men accompanied her. "We decided to continue the journey [in Saudi Arabia] although we had no idea about the area. We got lost and walked for 25 days. We came across people on the way who frightened us and tried to rape me. We managed to escape them," she said.
 Photo: Muhammad al-Jabri/IRIN  |
|
"We got lost and walked for 25 days. We came across people on the way who frightened us and tried to rape me. We managed to escape them." |
|
Zamzam Hassan |
Illegal employment
Many African migrants go to oil-rich Saudi Arabia looking for a better life, according to Somali leaders in Yemen. Most of the African women find employment illegally as maids in Saudi homes.
Mohammed Deriah, a leader of Somali refugees in al-Basateen area, a poor neighbourhood in the southern port city of Aden, told IRIN that about 40 Somali refugees are smuggled every day from Aden to Saudi Arabia. "Most of those going to Saudi Arabia are new arrivals. They get money from their relatives in other countries, and some come from Somalia with money and then decide to go to Saudi Arabia," he said, adding that the journey to Saudi Arabia costs between 1,000 and 1,500 Saudi riyals ($270-$401).
Sadat Mohammed, head of refugee affairs in the Somali community in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, estimates that between 5,000 and 6,000 Somalis have tried to enter Saudi Arabia from Yemen since September, including children.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), so far in 2007 more than 20,000 African migrants have crossed the Gulf of Aden by boat.
Hazardous journey
There are three main points for smuggling African migrants into Saudi Arabia: Sanaa, Aden and al-Hosoun, in the eastern province of Mareb. The border city of Haradh, in Hajjah province, is the main point from which traffickers access Saudi cities; others take the Haradh route.
 Photo: Muhammad al-Jabri/IRIN |
| Ridwan Hersi, cultural adviser at the Somali Embassy in Sanaa, says Somali refugees in Yemen live in bad economic conditions |
Ridwan Hersi, cultural adviser at the Somali Embassy in Sanaa, told IRIN: "We keep contact with the Somali community here in Yemen and spread awareness among them of the dangers of smuggling. We also contact the BBC Somali Section in order to make people aware of this phenomenon," he said.
However, Yemeni authorities arrest very few traffickers and African migrants in Haradh. Ali Tamalah, head of Hajjah security, said they arrest about three migrants every month or two. "If we arrest them [migrants], we send them to the Migration Authority in Sanaa. If we arrest smugglers we prosecute them in court,” he said.
maj/ar/mw
see also
Trafficked children could become terrorists, specialists warn
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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