The war in Yemen has greatly affected migration and refugee movements from and to the Horn of Africa, but not in the way one would expect. Instead of a large number of Yemenis fleeing the country because of war, violence and the horrific humanitarian situation, relatively few have left. Yet, an astonishing number of migrants from the Horn has entered Yemen since the outbreak of the 2015 war.
Through the centuries, Yemen, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, forged close connections with the Horn of Africa. Ethiopians occupied Yemen in the fifth century AD and Yemenis were among the first Muslims to settle in Ethiopia, fleeing prosecution in the Arabian Peninsula. Yemenis migrated also to the Horn, first as merchants and traders, and later also as labour migrants. These long historical ties have affected communities on both sides, leading to a segment of the population of mixed parentage.
The establishment of the Republic of Yemen in 1990 coincided with the outbreak of the civil war in Somalia, which resulted in a large flow of refugees from Somalia to Yemen. Yemen is the only country on the Arabian Peninsula which ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and Somalis are accepted on a prima facie basis. Since 1990 more than one million Somalis have entered Yemen. Some of them moved on to Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States or were resettled in Europe and North America as part of family reunification programmes, yet others have built up their lives in Yemen. In addition to Somalis, Ethiopians and Eritreans also have migrated to Yemen in the 1990s. Ethiopians mainly came as labour migrants: a large majority of Ethiopian women were employed as domestic workers by Yemeni families. During the 1970s and the 1980s, labour migration had been restricted under Haile Mariam Mengistu’s regime, but everybody was allowed to leave Ethiopia when the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power in 1990. Eritreans also reached Yemen as labour migrants, and sometimes also fled the oppressive regime of Isaias Afeworki.
A few years before the outbreak of Yemen’s war, refugee and migratory movements towards Yemen were changing. Ethiopian migrants began to outnumber Somali refugees: this trend has continued till today. Despite the horrific humanitarian situation in Yemen, Ethiopian migrants are still entering the country, this time mainly men instead of women. Recruitment agencies that used to send Ethiopian women to Yemen for domestic work have stopped their activities almost completely, yet brokers and smugglers have become extremely active in Ethiopia, convincing Ethiopian men in rural areas to try their luck in Saudi Arabia. Many of these mainly young and uneducated Ethiopian men are not aware that they have to travel through Yemen in order to go to Saudi Arabia, nor that they will face war and violence, and may become the victims of criminal gangs and people exploiting their labour.
As a result of the war, the Yemeni government’s control on smuggling, trafficking of people and criminal activities, such as kidnapping and torturing migrants, is very weak. According to a recent report of the United Nations, in 2017, the number of new arrivals reached 100,000 people, while in 2018 more than 160,000 people arrived in Yemen from the Horn of Africa, most of them coming from Ethiopia, which shows a dramatic increase. In addition, 20 per cent of the migrants are unaccompanied minors.
The main route of migration has also changed as a result of the war: while more than 70 per cent of Ethiopians crossed the Red Sea between 2010 and 2013, now that figure has dropped to less than 20 per cent, most of them head for the coast of the Arabian Sea. These migrants arriving in Yemen are predominantly young men, who aspire to improve their own livelihoods and those of their families back home. While the government of Ethiopia is applauded for the rapid economic growth it has been able to generate, thus turning into a success story on the African continent, only a small part of the Ethiopian population benefits from the economic improvement. In rural areas, people suffer from limited access to land, poverty, drought and lack of employment opportunities outside of agriculture: as a result, Ethiopian women leave the country in large numbers as well, but not more to reach Yemen. Most of them migrate to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States facilitated by private employment agencies.
The number of Yemenis that left the country since the start of the war is relatively limited. Neighbouring states as Saudi Arabia and Oman did not sign the Refugee Convention and it is thus impossible to apply for asylum in these countries. In addition, crossing the desert is a very risky endeavour. Prior to the war, the Saudi government constructed a 1800 km fence along the border with Yemen, attempting to stop the smuggling of weapons, drugs and people. At the beginning of the war, Yemenis with sufficient economic means were able to move to Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia or even to Europe and North America. Those who were abroad when the war started got stuck in the countries they were in and, in many cases, applied for asylum, thus leading to the creation of small communities of Yemenis all over the world.
In 2017, more than 190,000 refugees and asylum seekers had fled Yemen to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. However, less than 50 per cent (64,000) of them were Yemeni nationals. Despite the geographical closeness, very few Yemenis have moved to the Horn of Africa: only those with historic ties (having parents, grandparents or even great grandparents with roots in the Horn of Africa) have made the crossing, by boat or by plane. In Djibouti, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) established a refugee camp for Yemenis, Markazi camp, where around 2,000 people are living.Most of them come from the coastal strip of Yemen or from smaller urban centers, having fled famine and violence: they hope to be resettled, but their chances are very slim.
While Yemeni refugees abroad have formed small communities and are relatively well accepted in the host countries, migrants and refugees in Yemen encounter famine, violence, exploitation and discrimination. A condition worsened by the current conflict: foreigners have to compete with the local population for basic resources such as food, housing, health care and employment, to which Yemenis have hardly access themselves. In addition, they mostly become victims of criminals who take advantage from their vulnerable position as migrants and refugees. The Yemeni population is the biggest victim of the war: however, those who are not of Yemeni origin but reside in Yemen, are victims as well, and therefore deserve much more attention.
M. L. Goldberg, 2019, Yemen Received More Migrants in 2018 than Europe. UN Dispatch, January 2, 2019. https://www.undispatch.com/yemen-received-more-migrants-in-2018-than-europe
H. Lackner, 2019, Migrant Crisis in Europe? Look at Yemen. Open Democracy, February 19, 2019.https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/migrant-crisis-in-europe-look-at-yemen/
 N. Peutz, 2019,Markazi: A Camp at Crossroads. Europe Now, March 5, 2019 https://www.euopenowjournal.org/2019/03/04/markazi/