Tens of thousands of people cross the extremely dangerous eastern migration corridor spanning the Gulf of Aden every year. Most of them set out from Ethiopia and Somalia, countries ravaged by civil war and famine, in search of work opportunities and a better life; their most common destination is Saudi Arabia. During their journey, migrants are exposed to the cruelty of human traffickers and other criminal and armed groups. After crossing Yemen, which has been in civil war for more than ten years, they must cross the Saudi border, where border guards sometimes fire at them with firearms. Although the living conditions of migrants who successfully enter Saudi Arabia improve significantly compared to those at home, their situation is far from rosy. The kafala system places almost every aspect of guest workers’ lives under the control of their employers. Migrants who enter the country illegally, as well as disobedient workers who are reclassified as illegal, are deported en masse from the country by the Saudi state.
The full text of the analysis in Hungarian is available here
