Ethiopians in Yemen describe kidnapping and torture

Exhausted survivors of the Gulf of Aden crossing wait for help on a beach in Yemen. Photo: J.Björgvinsson/UNHCR

SANA’A, 11 April 2013 (IRIN) – Record numbers of migrants from the Horn of Africa are crossing into Yemen, most of them on their way to find better opportunities in Saudi Arabia and other rich Gulf countries. But many do not make it any further. Seeking a new life, they end up unwitting victims of a smuggling racket designed to exploit the migrants at each juncture of their journey.
Recent years have seen Ethiopians make up the majority of these migrants: Of the 107,000 recorded migrants crossing the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden into Yemen in 2012, around 80,000 were from Ethiopia.
Four irregular migrants with diverse backgrounds, all from Ethiopia, told IRIN about their journeys to Yemen.* While their stories differ in details, they all share a similar set of experiences: brutality, broken promises and extortion.
Marta, mid-30s, from Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia:

Marta, mid-30s, from Dire Dawa, Oromio region, eastern Ethiopia. Photo: Casey Coombes/IRIN

Marta says she fled Ethiopia in 2010 when she and her family were accused of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a state-designated terrorist group. “The government said, ‘You are with the party of OLF,’ and chased us out of country. I don’t know where my family ended up.”
“I spent a year and a half in Djibouti, where I gave birth to my daughter. After her father disappeared, we left for Yemen. I paid a broker 10,000 Djiboutian francs [about US$55] to ride in a boat with 15 others from Djibouti to Yemen.
“Our night-time crossing of the Red Sea was calm until the end. As we neared the Yemeni coast, the owner of the boat, who was part of the smuggling operation, threw us into the sea. No one knew how to swim because in Ethiopia, we don’t have a sea, just lakes. The brokers and their thugs were waiting for us as we came ashore. They raped me and the other women. I’m 9 months pregnant with a child from that night.
“When I arrived to Sana’a, I was tired and decided to stay. For seven months, I was a house maid, but now I can’t work because of the pregnancy, so I have no income. [Ethiopian] migrants from the community in Sana’a are supporting me.
“I’m interested in tackling my problems, but at the moment I am pregnant and I am tired. All my money goes to my daughter, so this makes me tired. One day I will win.”
Alima, 18, from Miesso, eastern Ethiopia:

Alima Abd al-Salam, 18, female from Miesso, Oromio region, eastern Ethiopia. Photo: Casey Coombes/IRIN

Alima fled to Dijoubti after being accused of being a member of the OLF. “I worked for one year in Djibouti City, where life was not good but not bad, until gangs started robbing us near where we collected our salaries. That’s when I decided to go to Yemen, where I’ve been for five months.
“I paid a broker 20,000 Djiboutian francs [about $110] to take me to the island of Haiyoo, where we would take a boat to Yemen. Thugs captured us and demanded more money when we arrived to Haiyoo. Because I had no money, they raped me. Men who did not have money were beaten, and the women were raped. Eventually, I contacted family and convinced them to send $200.
“We arrived to Yemen, north of Bab al-Mandab [the Mandab Strait], in a 120-person boat, and were transferred to the Yemeni smugglers who control that part of the country. The gangsters raped most of the women and tortured and beat the men to extort more money.
“They sell women who can’t find more money to other brokers, who send them to work as maids in Yemeni households. A broker bought me and sent me to Radaa, where I worked for three months cleaning houses.
“One man who loved me paid for my release and married me. He was also in Radaa, working on a qat farm and raising livestock. We moved to Sana’a two months ago. He cleans in a restaurant and I’m a maid.
“If an opportunity arises, or if I make money, or if the situation in Yemen gets worse, I’m interested in going to a better country.”
Mesfin, 38, from Dese, north-central Ethiopia:

Mesfin Balay, 38, male from Dese, Amhara region, north-central Ethiopia. Photo: Casey Coombes/IRIN

“I was born an orphan in Ethiopia, and grew up there. I had no family, and no one was helping me. Life was boring, so I decided to explore.
“I travelled five days on buses, trains and hiding out on heavy trucks before arriving at the border with Djibouti. I could have cut straight across the Welo desert to the Red Sea, but it was too dangerous. Most people spend their lives there.
“I paid brokers 1,000 Ethiopian birr [about $50]. That was supposed to cover the entire trip from Ethiopia to Yemen, but I was forced to pay 400 Ethiopian birr [$20] extra at Haiyoo.
“We crossed the Red Sea in a small fishing boat loaded with about 80 people. While we were boarding, I heard the brokers contact Abd al-Qawi’s* people, who said they were prepared to receive them near Mokha. About five hours later, we hit land, and Abd al-Qawi’s gangsters started beating the men trying to escape and raping most of the women right there on the beach.
“They took me and some of the men and women to a detention centre, where they tortured them until money was transferred. The building was like a jail; people are not helped until someone sends them money. The women were raped there. I was detained and tortured for five days. On the fifth night, they untied me because I was in charge of feeding the others, and I managed to escape.

Ethiopia Ranked Last in Social Progress Index

by Astrid Zweynert
Source: alertnet

OXFORD, England (AlertNet) – Social progress is a powerful driver of economic prosperity, according to an index launched on Thursday, with Sweden and the United Kingdom ranked first and second and Ethiopia last.
The Social Progress Index (SPI), a new measure of human wellbeing, uses original research and data from the World Bank, the World Health Organisation and other sources to rank 50 countries on 52 indicators, including nutrition, sanitation, ecosystem sustainability and personal freedom.
“In both economic and business development, our understanding of success has been incomplete,” Michael Porter, professor at Harvard Business School, told delegates at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, where the index was launched.
“Previous efforts to go beyond economic measurement alone have laid important groundwork, but we need a more holistic, comprehensive, and rigorous approach,” said Porter, a leading authority on competitive strategy who helped design the index. “The Social Progress Index is an attempt to address these gaps and opportunities.”
The global debate about development has been focused on gross domestic product (GDP), an approach that had proved insufficient, said Porter, as it provides little information about the wellbeing of a nation but focuses on economic output instead.
Some of the biggest opportunities for business are in tackling social issues and social challenges, Porter said, and the SPI could be a powerful tool in helping government, business and civil society leaders to decide which social issues to prioritise.
The Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 have illustrated the “shortcomings of economic growth as a proxy for social progress,” said Porter.
“We’ve long understood that while economic development is beneficial for social progress, generally, it’s not sufficient,” said Porter. “Separating business and competition from social progress and social issues was a big mistake.”
No country scored in the top half for all 12 components of the index, which are: nutrition and basic medical care; air, water and sanitation; shelter; personal safety; access to basic knowledge; access to information and communication; health and wellness; ecosystem sustainability; personal rights; access to higher education; personal freedom and choice; and equity and inclusion.
Germany ranked fifth, the United States sixth, and Japan eighth, enjoying nearly double the score of the countries at the bottom of the table, which – apart from Ethiopia – include Nigeria and Uganda.
A low ranking on environmental sustainability (48) pulled down the United States’ overall ranking in the index. Other resource-rich countries, such as Australia and Canada were also poorly placed for