Amnesty denounces the forced return of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian migrants mistreated in Saudi Arabia

MADRID, 18 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The NGO Amnesty International has denounced the forced return of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian migrants after having been detained in "arbitrary and aberrational" conditions in Saudi Arabia, and has called for the investigation of numerous cases considered possible crimes of torture and the circumstances surrounding at least a dozen deaths in custody between 2021 and 2022.

This practice has been carried out since 2017 and right now, according to the NGO's estimates, there are more than 30,000 Ethiopian citizens detained in these conditions just for the mere fact of not having legal identification documents.

Around ten million migrant workers live in Saudi Arabia, but the case of the Ethiopians is particular. In March this year, the Saudi authorities announced their intention to deport some 100,000 undocumented Ethiopian migrants -- men, women and children -- by the end of the year, all with the connivance of the Ethiopian government.

At the center of it all is the kafala or "sponsorship" system, denounced by numerous NGOs as a model of labor exploitation by which undocumented migrants risk being expelled from the country if they denounce abusive labor practices.

Amnesty International has also interviewed former detainees who have described practices of torture and beatings in Al Jarj (in the capital, Riyadh) and Al Shumaisi (near the city of Jeddah) detention centers, both of which are overcrowded and without easy access to medical attention in case of emergency, usual due to the unsanitary conditions in which they lived, crowded to the point that they were forced to burn their hair to kill the lice.

The NGO has also documented cases of deaths at both centers, ten between April 2021 and May 2022, many of which occurred after being denied critical medical care, including in one case after injuries sustained from beatings. Amnesty International calls on the authorities to investigate these deaths in custody and to what extent they are related to lack of care.

"Saudi Arabia has been aggressively investing in rebranding its image," lamented Amnesty International's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, "but beneath this glaring veneer is a story of horrific abuse against migrants who They have been working hard to help the country realize their great vision."

"Continued abuses, which in some cases have resulted in the deaths of migrants, indicate the unwillingness of the Saudi authorities to improve the treatment of workers, and they should urgently investigate the deaths and torture of detainees or, better yet, should stop stop them, to begin with," he lamented.