Nariman El-Mofty

Photojournalist

Migrants endure sea crossing to Yemen and disembark in hell

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More than 100 Ethiopian men and women, boys and girls were ordered to sit in total silence. Only the smugglers spoke, in hushed conversations on satellite phones to their counterparts in Yemen on the other side of the sea. Tens of thousands of East African migrants depart for Yemen each year hoping to pass through to Saudi Arabia, where good jobs await. But many who land in the Yemeni town of Ras Al-Ara encounter extortion, rape and torture.

Obock, Djibouti, the shore closest to Yemen.

Obock, Djibouti.

Arriving from Obock, Djibouti to Ras al-Ara, Yemen.

A pickup truck carrying Ethiop...uot;hosh," in Ras al-Ara.

A pickup truck carrying Ethiopian migrants to be taken to a "hosh," in Ras al-Ara.

Boys ages 13 to 16, who crosse...ing to continue their journey.

Boys ages 13 to 16, who crossed at night from Ethiopian borders, rest in an abandoned one-floor, brick house in Ali Sabeih, Djibouti. Migrants take shelter here until early morning to continue their journey.

Obock, Djibouti.

A deceased bird on Lac Assal, ... journey on foot, in Djibouti.

A deceased bird on Lac Assal, where African migrants cross to continue their journey on foot, in Djibouti.

Long lines of migrants descend...nd eventually board the boats.

Long lines of migrants descend single file down mountain slopes to the rocky coastal plain, where many lay eyes on the sea for first time, and eventually board the boats.

Lac Assal, Djibouti.

Lahj, Yemen.

The journey from Aden from Lahj.

Lahj, Yemen.

Dhale province.

Yemenis chew qat, while Ethiop...nly a few hundred meters away.

Yemenis chew qat, while Ethiopian migrants, left, take shelter in a small shack at a qat market in Dhale province, Yemen. This is one of the stops where migrants take shelter to continue their journey to Saudi Arabia, and an active frontline between militiamen backed by the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels only a few hundred meters away.

Dhale province.

Dhale province, Yemen. The migrants, some as young as 13, dream of escaping crushing poverty by reaching the oil-rich kingdom to work as laborers, housekeepers, servants, construction workers and drivers. To get there, they undergo a dangerous journey across Yemen, a country torn apart by civil war.

WOMEN AND GIRLS

Ethiopian Tigray women stand i...s lavish households.

Ethiopian Tigray women stand in line as they are counted by smugglers after arriving to the coastal village of Ras al-Ara from Djibouti, in Lahj, Yemen. Girls as young as 13. They endure hunger and exhaustion walking through deserts, the dangers of a sea crossing and, often, rape and torture at the hands of traffickers. Still, they are fearless and determined to reach the oil-rich kingdom and work as maids and domestic servants in Saudi Arabia’s lavish households.

Fadya Mohammed.

Women being taken to "hosh," in Ras al-Ara.

A "hosh" owned by smugglers.

A "hosh," in Ras al-Ara, Lahj.

Obock, Djibouti.

Willo.

Raheema Sanu.

Medres.

Hamdiya, Ikram, and Safeya.

Fatma and her husband Yacoub, ...r several days by traffickers.

Fatma and her husband Yacoub, migrants from Mali, walk in Lahj, Yemen. The family traveled from Djibouti. Once they reached the shores of Yemen, they were held for several days by traffickers.

A "hosh," in Ras al-Ara, Lahj.

A sandstorm gusts over a road ...n, rape, hunger, and drowning.

A sandstorm gusts over a road where African migrants walk, around 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Djibouti. The number of girls among the migrants has had an enormous increase, quadrupling from 2,075 to 8,360 in one year. Despite the many risks of smugglers' exploitation, rape, hunger, and drowning.

SURVIVING TORTURE

Ethiopian migrants, from cente...inful to sit directly on bone.

Ethiopian migrants, from center background to right, Gamal Hassan, Abdo Yassin, Mohammed Hussein, and Abdu Mohammed, who had been imprisoned by traffickers for months, fed once a day with scraps of bread and a sip of water, pick rice from a bowl on the floor, at the Ras al-Ara Hospital in Lahj, Yemen. Starvation is a punishment used by the traffickers to wear down their victims. Their bones protruded from their backs, their rib cages stood out sharply. With no fat on their bodies, they sat on rolled-up cloth because it was too painful to sit directly on bone.

Mohammed Hussein, severely mal...rs to wear down their victims.

Mohammed Hussein, severely malnourished from imprisonment by smugglers, stands on a scale at the Ras al-Ara Hospital in Lahj, Yemen. He weighs 31 kilograms (68 pounds). Starvation is a punishment used by the traffickers to wear down their victims.

Abdo Yassin, 23, of Oromo desc...ave the money to pay a ransom.

Abdo Yassin, 23, of Oromo descent, stands for a photo at the Ras Alara Hospital, in Lahj, Yemen. Yassin says he was in a "hosh" locked up and tortured for months because he didn't have the money to pay a ransom.

Conditions of the Ras al-Ara H...rrival from Djibouti, in Lahj.

Conditions of the Ras al-Ara Hospital, where African migrants go to receive treatment after their arrival from Djibouti, in Lahj.

Ras al-Ara Hospital.

Eman Idrees shows her shoulder...er in Ras al-Ara, Lahj, Yemen.

Eman Idrees shows her shoulder with a wound from torture after being held and abused for eight months in a "hosh," run by an Ethiopian smuggler in Ras al-Ara, Lahj, Yemen.

Abdul-Rahman Taha, 17, shows h... dead migrants by traffickers.

Abdul-Rahman Taha, 17, shows his amputated leg, at his home, in Basateen, a district of Aden, Yemen. When he landed at Ras al-Ara, traffickers took him and 50 other migrants to a holding cell, demanding phone numbers. Taha couldn't ask his father for more money so he told them he didn't have a phone number. One night, a captor beat his right leg with a steel rod. Taha passed out and was dumped in the desert with three dead migrants by traffickers.

Ibrahim Bakalah Hassan, 24, sh... wants to go back to Ethiopia.

Ibrahim Bakalah Hassan, 24, shows scars from torture in a "hosh" in Lahj, Yemen. He says his arms were tied behind his back, and wants to go back to Ethiopia.

Ras al-Ara Hospital.

An Ethiopian Tigray migrant wh...ssed away several hours later.

An Ethiopian Tigray migrant who was imprisoned by traffickers for months, lies on a gurney accompanied by a nurse at the Ras al-Ara Hospital in Lahj. He passed away several hours later.

Lahj, Yemen.

THE STADIUM

Ethiopian migrants take shelte...patriation back home for some.

Ethiopian migrants take shelter in the "22nd May Soccer Stadium," destroyed from war, in Aden, Yemen. The stadium became a temporary refuge for thousands of migrants. At first, security forces used it as a place to house migrants they captured in raids. Others showed up voluntarily, hoping for shelter. The International Organization of Migration began distributing food aid at the stadium and arranged voluntary repatriation back home for some.

22nd May Soccer Stadium, Aden.