News Rights Group Warns of Imminent Execution Risk of Ethiopian Migrants in Saudi…
Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Tuesday that Saudi Arabian authorities are moving to execute at least 65 Ethiopian migrants following convictions for drug-related offenses. In an urgent appeal for international intervention, the rights organization stressed that the lives of these individuals remain at immediate risk unless diplomatic pressure halts the judicial proceedings.
The group emphasized that the window for saving these detainees is rapidly closing as the kingdom accelerates its use of the death penalty.
The warning, published in an April 28 report, follows the recent execution of three Ethiopian nationals who were caught transporting khat, a stimulant plant that is legal and culturally significant in Ethiopia but strictly prohibited under Saudi law.
According to the findings, many of those currently on death row faced brief group trials without legal representation or adequate translation services.
HRW maintains that these imminent executions highlight a systemic failure to provide due process to vulnerable migrants fleeing conflict and poverty.
Based on the information extracted from three informed sources, the executed individuals were refugees, having fled from Tigray during the two year’s armed conflict in the region, citing the dire situation in the region still continues.
According to the report, human traffickers operating in the area forced migrants to carry the plant [khat] from Yemen into Saudi Arabia as a condition of facilitating the journey.
The report added that it has documented a wide range of human rights abuses against migrants taking the same route for years.
Denouncing executions for drug-related offenses as “incompatible” with international human rights law, the group urged Saudi authorities to reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty for such crimes, emphasizing the executions represent a clear violation of international legal standards.
“Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty is tied to systemic due process violations,” said Nadia Hardman, senior refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The death sentences should be commuted and the death penalty abolished.”
While demanding the Saudi officials to immediately commute the death sentences issued to Ethiopian migrants, it also calls for the Ethiopian diplomatic representatives in the kingdom to intervene urgently before authorities move forward with the judicial proceedings.
The surge in irregular migration from Ethiopia reflects a broader crisis that extends far beyond the findings of the HRW report.
According to reports from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) published in early 2026, irregular migration from Ethiopia—particularly through the “Eastern Route”—has reached record-breaking levels of volume and risk.
The reports stated that the Eastern Route, which connects the Horn of Africa to the Gulf States via Yemen, remains the most active and dangerous migration corridor for Ethiopians.
It added that outgoing movements along this route increased by approximately 18 percent, rising from 430,200 in 2024 to 506,600 by the end of 2025.
The organizations also documented a record-breaking surge in deaths and disappearances during 2025. This total, according to the reports, reached 922 individuals, nearly doubling the 558 fatalities reported in 2024.
The reports noted that migrants predominantly originate from the Amhara, Oromia, and Tigray regions, which are also the primary destinations for those forcibly returned from abroad.