The migrants — many, like Farrag, fleeing drought or poverty back home — are hoping to cross Yemen and reach neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia. The chaos caused by the civil war has raised migrants' hopes that they can slip through to Saudi Arabia, with no central authority keeping watch. After taking migrants' money as payment to transport them, the traffickers often demand more, sometimes even phoning their families in Ethiopia so they can hear the torment their loved ones are subjected to. It is not even known how many eventually make it to Saudi Arabia, as the kingdom does not release figures. "I am saving money to go to Saudi Arabia," he said.

Source: Ethiopian News January 28, 2017 12:01 UTC