Do you know about the Eastern Route?
the migration route from hell
I don’t know how many times I can start this newsletter with ‘The past week has been intense’. This week’s updates are heavier than usual and include the recent report by Human Rights Watch on violations suffered by Ethiopian migrants. I’ve kept the others updates brief but if you want more information on any of these below, just hit reply, and I’ll write back!
For all news subscribers, welcome to Sifter, a weekly newsletter that brings you the top 5 news items on Ethiopia, run by me, Maya Misikir, a freelance reporter.
Now, to the news.
Migration: the dreadful Eastern Route
Human Rights Watch released a report last week on the killings of hundreds of Ethiopian migrants by Saudi border guards. The report is not talking about a new phenomenon – the organization has been documenting the killings of Ethiopian migrants since 2014 when armed conflict broke out in Yemen. What the report says is different now, is that the response of Saudi security has grown in scale and there are grounds to believe their actions may amount to crimes against humanity.
Here's an excerpt from the report:
“The scale of the killings of migrants at the border documented in this report far surpasses those documented previously by Human Rights Watch. Saudi Arabia’s abuses against migrants and asylum seekers, committed historically and detailed more recently in this report, have been perpetrated with absolute impunity.”
How did the migrants end up there?
Ethiopian migrants, most looking for better work opportunities, make their way from Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula through what is known as the Eastern Route. The Eastern Route is a road taken by migrants – most of which are Ethiopian – from Ethiopia, through Somalia or Djibouti, into and through Yemen, and often to Saudi Arabia.
How do they get from their various towns and cities across the country all the way to Yemen or Saudi Arabia? This is possible through a network of smugglers and traffickers (with many other state and non-state actors complicit along the way). They walk for days through deserts and mountains, on packed vehicles and boats, through land and sea to get to Saudi Arabia.
Those that survive all this, get to Yemen, and try to cross over into Saudi Arabia are met with the border guards who open fire on them.
Here’s another excerpt from the same report:
“Saudi border guards have used explosive weapons and shot people at close range, including women and children, in a pattern that is widespread and systematic.”
How many people make this journey on the Eastern Route? According to another research report released in March of this year, nearly 100,000 Ethiopians make this journey every year.
This report argues that what is taking place on this route to Ethiopian migrants is not merely smuggling, but trafficking and commodification. What’s the difference? Consent is one defining difference. The report argues that smugglers ‘may be considered benign facilitators or passeurs performing a service’ on other migrant routes across the world (there are many) but not when it comes to the Eastern Route.
Migrants’ journey on the Eastern Route is filled with deceit and coercion and calling what is taking place there as ‘smuggling’ would be a miscategorization, it adds.
Here’s an excerpt:
“The migrants are transported towards the Ethiopian border and once in the border zones and away from urban eyes, many interviewees told of smugglers bearing weapons and arms and forcing migrants to do precisely as they instruct. They reported forced marches, sleeping rough, abandonment, neglect in terms of providing no food or water, extortion, sexual assault and rape, as well as violence and murder. At no point were they free to leave or extract themselves and they were coerced by threats and violence throughout.”
If they are caught trying to escape, they are heavily punished, sometimes by death.
A lot of migrants die along the way due to harsh conditions and treatments including ‘illnesses, disease, hunger and thirst, vehicle accidents, deliberate drowning, torture and beatings, the effects of gang raping, shootings by smugglers’.
The primary business model along this route, as argued by the author? Extortion.
‘The extortion business is estimated to be worth at least USD$9 to USD$13 million per month, or USD$ 108 million to USD$156 million per year. These sums accrue to gangs and their associates (and external bosses if they exist), living in the poorest countries in the world and extracted from some of the poorest communities in the world.’
The smugglers themselves are primarily Ethiopians, from those working in the country all the way to the ones operating in Saudi Arabia. The ransom money migrants are expected to pay to be set free, goes into Ethiopian bank accounts.
The full Human Rights Watch report here, a story on BBC based on that here, and the research report entitled Captive Commodities by Ravenstone Consult here.
Security: we don’t know her (III)
Federal government forces reclaimed control of main towns like Gonder and Lalibela from Fano militia in Ethiopia’s Amhara region about ten days ago. But fighting has continued in other parts. And we have been under a state of emergency – Amhara region specifically for now – since August 4. And the entire region – the second most populous one in the country – lost access to the internet a day before that.
Last week, Amnesty International asked that the region be open to media and independent investigators so that rights violations that happened under this state of emergency be investigated. This includes arbitrary arrests, media clampdowns, and internet shutdowns.
Here’s what Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa said:
“The sweeping state of emergency gives the Ethiopian government unchecked powers while internet blockages make it harder to monitor the situation in Amhara region,” said Tigere Chagutah.
That’s kind of the whole point.
The full report on Amnesty International report here and previous updates on the region here.
Oromia: government retaliation is costing lives
Twelve civilians were killed in Oromia region, in two villages in West Shoa Zone by government forces according to a story by Addis Standard. The troops were deployed to fight the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the rebel group operating in the region.
But the attacks took place on civilians and were indiscriminate according to the report, which also says that more people were abducted and taken to an unknown location by the same government forces.
In its annual report in July, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission called for urgent attention in Oromia region. I spoke to the deputy commissioner for a story for VOA who told me this at the time:
"The retaliation measures taken by government equally incurs human rights violations because civilians are affected, people are displaced, because of the retaliatory measures," Rakeb said.
The OLA and government representatives met for peace talks in Tanzania in May of this year. But the talks went nowhere and the fighting that followed immediately after was reportedly one of the worst according to residents in the region.
The full story in English on Addis Standard here.
Politics: mayor of Hawassa is no longer
The mayor of Hawassa City, Tsegaye Tuke, has been removed from his position following an assessment that found him unfit for the job. After serving in this position for nearly three years, he was removed last week after a session was held to assess the work of regional administrative heads in Sidama Region. Tsegaye was also found to be involved in corruption according to a story by Ethiopia Insider.
One of the projects that were appraised during this same session was a park project at the entrance to Hawassa City, which was initially slated to cost 90 million Birr. The project was finished last June, but it looks like an appraisal by engineers has now put those costs at no more than 30 million Birr.
If you remember in early June, Tsega Belachew, a resident of Hawassa City was abducted by the personal security guard of this very mayor. Can’t say I’m sad to see him go.
The full story in Amharic on Ethiopia Insider here.
Fintech: M-PESA is on
Safaricom paid 150 million dollars just for the license of M-PESA, its mobile money service in mid-May. Three months later, M-PESA is active. The service is now available for all Safaricom customers.
Here’s an excerpt from a story on Addis Standard:
“Using M-PESA, customers can send money within the country and receive money from within the country and abroad, pay to merchants, buy airtime, transfer to their bank accounts, and send money from their bank accounts to their M-PESA.”
The full story on Addis Standard here.
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That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!
In the meantime, you can help support my work by forwarding this email to friends and family who might benefit from keeping up with what’s going on.
Note: I go through all the major news outlets, newspapers, online publications, and will at times, include reports, notes on parliamentary sessions, and go through fact-checking websites as well. I try to provide links to both English and Amharic sources, and I usually time-stamp the video I link to unless I think the whole video is relevant.
This was a very sad read, but happy the Mayor go the boot. Thank you!