Last month at the airport in Aden, a group of 265 migrants lined up to board a chartered Yemenia flight to Addis Ababa. A father and son duo, Jamal and Mohammed, were among the 265. “I left Ethiopia four years ago, by foot and car. From Ethiopia to Djibouti to Yemen, it took me one month and 15 days to get to Yemen. For another 15 days, I was detained by a smuggler and beaten, before I was released and found employment at a farm in Ar Rawḑah. I stayed there working for the last three to four years,” shares the father, Jamal.

Jamal left his home in Ethiopia with the hopes of finding employment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was unable to make it all the way and was forced to settle for a job on a farm in Yemen.

Jamal worked under exploitative labour conditions and what he earned was minimal. One day he was seriously injured on the job, unsupported and in pain, Jamal finally decided it was time to return home following a serious injury.

“I was working in Ar Rawḑah as a farmer. While working, I fell from a tractor and badly injured my arm and leg. Once I realized I could no longer work I knew I had to go home.”

Jamal sought medical support following his accident at a nearby healthy facility in Rida. To pay for his medical bills, his friends, fellow migrant farmers, put their money together.

Mohammed seated with his father, Jamal, at Aden Airport in Yemen ahead of their voluntary humanitarian return flight home to Ethiopia (Photo: Eva Sibanda/IOM 2023)

One of the migrants that Jamal had originally travelled with, subsequently returned to Ethiopia. Once he was back home, he informed Jamal’s son, Mohammed, of his father’s condition. Mohammed left Ethiopia for Yemen, determined to bring his father home no matter the danger.

“I didn’t tell my mother or anyone else in the family, I just left but once I got to Yemen, I called my mother and told her I had arrived in Yemen to get Dad.”

It took Mohammed one month to travel to northern Yemen, close to the border with Saudi Arabia, where his father was stranded. Once reunited, they made their way south towards Aden. There they were registered and had their documents processed at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Departure Centre. After two months, they could finally take one of IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) flights to go home.

Jamal shared his happiness about getting back to his family: “They had been crying and had been very sad since I left.”

Two young men out of a group of 265 Ethiopian migrants proceed to board Yemenia chartered flight in Aden Airport, Yemen (Photo: Eva Sibanda/IOM 2023)

More than 1,800 stranded migrants, most of them Ethiopian, wait for weeks or months for opportunities to return home. VHR flights from Yemen are considered a life-saving response for stranded migrants in Yemen. Insecurity throughout the country, lack of food, shelter, health care as well as exploitative labour conditions and violence from smugglers make life in Yemen not just difficult, but dangerous.

Faced with both limited opportunities in Yemen and the constant risk to migrants’ safety, the primary objective of VHR is to evacuate those who are seeking to return to their home countries, provided conditions are safe. IOM enables as many individuals as possible to depart at the earliest opportunity to prevent further suffering for stranded migrants.

IOM’s movement assistance encompasses support at each stage of a migrant’s movement: from verification and registration, to offering shelter and relief items to traveling migrants, to chartering the flights, to helping migrants reach their homes and reunite with their families after landing in their home countries.

Last month’s flight allowed migrants like Mohammed and Jamal to reunite with their families just in time for Eid celebrations.

“Those who are practicing Muslims want to go home and spend Ramadan and Eid with their families in peace,” said Esam Al-Makhzomi, IOM Yemen Senior Protection Programme Assistant.

Aden airport officials check travel documents of young male migrants boarding the IOM supported chartered “Yemenia” flight to Addis, Ethiopia (Photo: Eva Sibanda/IOM 2023)

VHR flights for stranded migrants in Yemen are scheduled until September 2023. Without additional funding, IOM will have to pause this critical lifeline.

Vulnerable migrants returning to Ethiopia currently receive post-arrival assistance which includes onwards transportation and reintegration and livelihood support. However, IOM Ethiopia’s reintegration programming is facing an acute funding shortfall and may be suspended soon.

IOM’s humanitarian assistance and protection services in response to the needs of the returnees are aligned with the Regional Migrant Response Plan for the Horn of Africa and Yemen 2023, which aims to address the needs of migrants in vulnerable situations and host communities in countries situated along the Eastern Migratory Route, located between the Horn of Africa and Yemen.

VHR flights from Yemen are made possible by the generous financial support of the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration; and King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief). Health and protection services offered to migrants stranded in Yemen are supported by the Governments of Finland and Germany.

RELATED STORIES