Immigration to Yemen refers to the arrival of immigrants from countries outside of Yemen, often in search of asylum. There are currently about 700,000 Somali immigrants in Yemen in addition to thousands of migrants from other African countries such as Ethiopia.^[1][2]

Somali immigrants [edit]

Immigrants from Somalia fleeing the long-running Somali Civil War make up a significant number of immigrants in Yemen. The World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, estimates that 110,600 Somali refugees and asylum seekers lived in Yemen in 2007,^[3] which is a fraction of the estimated 700,000-strong Somali nationals already living and working in Yemen.^[4] About 50,000 immigrants arrived from Africa in 2008 compared with about 30,000 in 2007, with most coming from Somalia.^[5] Many of the asylum seekers attempt to make the hazardous trip from Somalia to Yemen through the Gulf of Aden, and many of them drown. According to Andrew Knight of the UNHCR, in 2008, at least 384 immigrants drowned at sea, while another 359 went missing; in 2007, the toll was 654 immigrants drowned at sea and another 654 missing.^[6]

Yemeni immigration [edit]

Yemenis also immigrate to countries around the Middle East for work. There were about 928,000 Yemeni immigrants in Arab and African countries as of 2003, including 700,000 in Saudi Arabia.^[7] In one controversial incident in April 2008, Saudi authorities burned 18 Yemeni illegal immigrants to death in a border village.^[8]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Illegal migration from Africa to Yemen on the rise - AP
• Hundreds of Africans Drown En Route to Yemen
• A word about our governments & Yemeni immigrants - The Yemen Times
• SOMALIA-YEMEN: Somali migrants’ death toll rises

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