‘No work, no money’: Somali migrants in Yemen long to return home

IN makeshift homes lacking even the most basic necessities surrounded by piles of rubbish and flanked by dirt roads, thousands of Somalis in Yemen live in soul-crushing poverty in Aden’s “Little Mogadishu”.

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SOMALI refugee Abdallah Omar sits with his children at a UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) facility, as they wait for news of their repatriation from Yemen, in Aden. | AFP

(AFP)

Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, is not a destination in itself for migrants but a way station for those leaving East Africa in the hopes of reaching the oil-rich Gulf states and working in construction or as domestic staff.

But with security along its borders tight, many struggle to make it out of Yemen. During the day, the men fan out across the city and line the roads looking for work in the de facto capital of government-controlled Yemen, where more than a decade of war has led to mass unemployment and food insecurity.

To make ends meet, many search for odd jobs or scavenge rubbish heaps, looking for any food that can be salvaged to feed themselves and their families. “Some days we eat, some days it’s up to God. That's life” said Abdullah Omar, a 29-year-old Somali father of four in Aden.

Over a year ago, Omar decided to take his chances, shelling out $500 (about R8 600) to traffickers to board a boat with his family in hopes of escaping Somalia's instability and finding a better life abroad.