Human Rights Breaches in Saudi Still Demand Attention

all Africa:-Despite an attempt of sorts by the Saudi government to explain the atrocities, no extensive report has yet been conductedA month after efforts to rehabilitate returnees from Saudi Arabia began, the Ethiopian government expressed its commitment to helping to bring perpetrators of violations against illegal migrant workers in some countries to justice.Saudi Arabia began forcing foreign nationals that described as “illegal

immigrants” to leave their country following the deadline for amnesty,

which expired on November 4, 2013. The intention behind this drive was to reduce the 12pc unemployment rate among its own citizens.

Close to 38,000 Ethiopians live legally in Saudi – registered with Ethiopian consulates in Jeddah and Riyadh – from a total number of 160,000 Ethiopian women who went to work there over the 12 months, through to July 7, 2013. This is more than 10 times the annual figure a year earlier, according to the Ethiopian government. Tens of thousands more migrated illegally, according to the United Nations (UN), primarily by crossing over from Yemen.

So much anger and protest was provoked among Ethiopians across the globe, after video footage and pictures claiming to show violence against Ethiopians during the crackdown were posted on various websites, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

“It is high time that perpetrators of such outrageous violations are held accountable,” Minelik Alemu – Ethiopia’s In Geneva, warned, while addressing the 103rd session of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Council, held at Geneva between November 26-29, 2013.

The Ambassador, who was speaking on the occasion of his election as first vice chairperson of the Council, called upon countries of origin, transit and destination to work aggressively on the prevention of abuses. He also extended his call to the IOM and relevant organs of the UN to ensure that the safety and dignity of migrants is maintained.

Although vehement in his condemnation of human rights abuses against migrant workers, the Ambassador, nevertheless, did not mention any country by name.

The ambassador may have been reffering to Saudi Arabia, given the human rights violations against Ethiopians’ recently.