Ilhan Omar urges ending security ties with Saudi Arabia after reports of migrant killings
According to the HRW report, the killings took place between March 2022 and June 2023 at the Saudi-Yemen border
WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has called for an end to security assistance to Saudi Arabia following reports that Saudi border guards have killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants.
A recent report by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleged that Saudi border guards killed Ethiopian migrants, including women and children, and tortured and raped them.
According to the HRW report, the killings took place between March 2022 and June 2023 at the Saudi-Yemen border.
Witnesses reported that Saudi forces used both small arms and light artillery to kill the migrants.
“The systematic murder, rape, and torture of migrants is a ghastly violation of international law and a potential crime against humanity,” Omar said on the social platform formerly known as Twitter.
“If we truly put human rights at the center of our foreign policy, we should be pursuing full accountability and justice for those responsible and ending all security assistance (including weapons sales) to the Saudi regime.”
Some survivors reported that dozens of migrants were massacred at a time, while others said they were tortured or witnessed torture or forced to rape other migrants.
Omar said Saudi Arabia must be held accountable for its human rights abuses. She called on the U.S. government to stop arms shipments and sales to Saudi Arabia.
In 2021, she introduced a bill to punish Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Omar’s latest call to action comes at a time when the Biden administration is coming under increasing pressure to reassess its relationship with Saudi Arabia.
The administration has been criticized for its continued support of the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen, which has created a humanitarian crisis.
Most recently, Omar in March introduced the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act, which would impose “universal human rights and humanitarian conditions on security cooperation with the United States.”
“I cannot remain silent in the face of children being bombed in buses in Yemen,” she explained.
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