 |
|
Photo from the article: Sadiyo, a Somali woman, told Human Rights
Watch that while awaiting deportation in the Jeddah airport, a police officer
struck her in the back with a baton. Sadiyo was nine-months pregnant and gave
birth on the flight back to Somalia.
© 2014 Samer Muscati /Human Rights Watch.
|
(Nairobi) – Saudi authorities have deported
more than 12,000 people to Somalia since January 1, 2014, including hundreds of
women and children, without allowing any to make refugee claims. Saudi Arabia
should end the summary deportations, which risk violating its international
obligations not to return anyone to a place where their life or freedom is
threatened or where they face other serious harm.
Seven Somalis recently deported from Saudi
Arabia told Human Rights Watch researchers in Mogadishu, the Somali capital,
that the Saudi authorities had detained them for weeks in appalling conditions
and some said Saudi security personnel beat them. None had been allowed to
speak with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to discuss
possible refugee claims before being deported. UNHCR said in mid-January that
“south central Somalia is a very dangerous place.” UNHCR also said the Saudi authorities
have denied its staff access to detained Somalis in the country.
