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The number of women and children migrating from the Horn of Africa to Gulf countries through Yemen has significantly increased. This was revealed by the head of the International Organization for Migration Antonio Vitorino who added that such reckless migration would cause heavy hardships to the migrants
The number of women and children migrating from the Horn of Africa to Gulf countries through Yemen has significantly increased. This was revealed by the head of the International Organization for Migration Antonio Vitorino who added that such reckless migration would cause heavy hardships to the migrants.
The women and children negotiate the treacherous terrains of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti to reach Yemen, which is described as the Eastern Migration Route. The number of migrants has seen a 64% increase in the past year. The cause of large-scale migration is said to be for fending better livelihoods. To add to that, most of the women and children are travelling alone through insecure terrains, where they could face hunger, health challenges, and intimidation by criminal gangs.
In the past, women and children would often opt out of the dangerous journey through the desert mostly made on foot. Previously men would leave their families behind and make the trek in the hope of finding jobs and sending money back home. Desperate migrants are vulnerable to criminal gangs along the route and need protection against rape, violence, traffickers, and smugglers.
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Some of the migrants are unaware of the dangers including the war in Yemen and the U.N.’s migration organization needs to improve awareness of the perils, he said. For migrants who still choose to take the journey, the organization should offer basic healthcare and other services and in some cases return them to their countries of origin, he said. The IOM is striving to get more migrants into voluntary return programs in order to reduce those in detention. It’s difficult because the number of migrants who want to return is much higher than available flights from Libya, the IOM chief added.
