According to a recent Human Rights Watch investigation, Saudi border guards are responsible for the widespread murder of migrants along the Yemeni border.
According to the story, hundreds of people have reportedly been shot to death, many of them Ethiopians trying to enter Saudi Arabia through a war-torn Yemen.
According to migrants who spoke to the BBC, they seen dead dumped on the routes and had limbs removed by gunshots.
Prior until this, Saudi Arabia has denied claims of systematic executions.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) study, They Fired On Us Like Rain, provides graphic testimonies from migrants who claim that Saudi police and soldiers on Yemen’s rough northern border with Saudi Arabia shot at them and occasionally targeted them with explosive weapons.
As they sought to cross the border in pursuit of employment in the oil-rich country, large groups of Ethiopians, including many women and children, came under fire. Migrants who were contacted separately by the BBC described these harrowing nighttime crossings.
The firing continued, Mustafa Soufia Mohammed, 21, told the BBC.
He claimed that when trying to cross the border illegally in July of last year, members of his 45-person group of migrants were slain when they came under fire.
“I didn’t even notice I was shot,” he admitted, “but when I tried to get up and walk, part of my leg was not with me.”
A three-month voyage filled with peril, malnutrition, and violence at the hands of Yemeni and Ethiopian traffickers came to a horrific, chaotic finish.
Hours later, a video was taken that appears to show his left foot almost entirely amputated. Mustafa’s leg was amputated below the knee, and he now uses crutches and an ill-fitting prosthetic limb to walk while living with his parents in Ethiopia.
The father of two claimed, “I moved to Saudi Arabia because I wanted to better the lives of my family, but what I hoped for didn’t come to pass. My parents now take care of everything for me.
Another Ethiopian immigrant, who we will refer to as Ibsaa for privacy reasons, claimed Saudi military uniformed personnel shot him at the border.
The ones who survived were taken to the hospital after they beat us and killed some of us. The victims’ bodies were left lying about on the ground, he told the BBC.
“My legs are now paralysed since I was shot between my thighs, close to my groyne. I’m unable to even walk. I was afraid of dying.
Deadly fields
Some survivors display indicators of severe trauma.
Zahra can hardly bring herself to talk about what transpired in the Yemeni capital.
She claims to be 18 but appears younger. To protect her identity, we are not using her true name.
Her voyage ended in a hail of gunfire at the border after having already spent almost $2,500 (£1,950) in ransoms and bribes.
One hand’s fingers were all shot out by one bullet. She looks aside when asked about her injury and is unable to respond.
