YEMEN Press Agency

Sanaa discusses addressing phenomenon of illegal immigration

SANAA, June 07 (YPA) – The Shura Council in Sanaa discussed on Wednesday the report of the Defense and Security Committee on illegal immigration from the Horn of Africa to Yemen.

During its meeting today, the council reviewed the contents of the report as well as the committee’s vision on the importance of coming up with a unified national vision to develop radical solutions to the phenomenon of illegal immigration.

At the meeting, the Speaker of the Shura Council, Mohammed Al-Aidarous, stressed the importance of working to implement the recommendations and proposals contained in the report after submitting it to the Supreme Political Council in a way that contributes to finding solutions to illegal immigration, taking into account the humanitarian aspects of African refugees.

Al-Aidarous emphasized that the government and society should work together to address the refugee smuggling problem and establish a joint room between the competent authorities to monitor the refugees’ flow and prevent smuggling.

Since the signing of the 1951 Convention on Refugees, Yemen has received hundreds of thousands of immigrants from countries in the Horn of Africa, whose number in recent years has reached about 250,000 immigrants from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.

According to the report, international smuggling gangs, networks of different nationalities, and the Saudi-led coalition were the main drivers of the arrival of refugees, noting the coalition forces’ role in facilitating their entry and crossing to the coasts of the southern and eastern provinces.

The report attributed the reasons for the migration of Africans to the deteriorating economic conditions and civil wars in their countries, and the possibility of moving freely within the Yemeni lands.

The report recommended the need to address the issues of asylum and migration from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, and unify efforts, visions, and concepts about this phenomenon and its effects on Yemeni society in various aspects.

 

YPA