{"id":1131,"date":"2026-03-29T12:59:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T12:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/?p=1131"},"modified":"2026-03-29T12:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T12:59:18","slug":"a-search-that-turned-into-a-nightmare-jamals-story-on-the-migration-route-to-yemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/a-search-that-turned-into-a-nightmare-jamals-story-on-the-migration-route-to-yemen\/","title":{"rendered":"A Search That Turned Into a Nightmare: Jamal\u2019s Story on the Migration Route to Yemen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jamal, an Ethiopian man in his early thirties, was not searching for a job or a better life when he decided to take the migration route known as the \u201cEastern Route.\u201d He was not driven by dreams of wealth or an escape from poverty. Instead, he had one goal: to find his sixteen-year-old nephew, who had disappeared while attempting to reach Saudi Arabia through Yemen\u2014one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jamal says: \u201cI had no choice\u2026 my brother had no other children, and I had to go after him.\u201d<\/em> With these words, he began a journey that would soon turn into one of the harshest human experiences anyone could endure.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In Yemen, where migrant routes intersect with smuggling and human trafficking networks, Jamal deliberately placed himself in the path of traffickers, hoping they would lead him to where his nephew was being held. His plan worked. He found him\u2014but pretended not to recognize him to avoid raising suspicion. During his captivity, Jamal tried to help others escape while secretly planning his own escape with his nephew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But his attempt did not go unpunished. Jamal recalls: \u201cThey forced me to watch others being tortured\u2026 they beat and burned them in front of us.\u201d<\/em> Then it was his turn. The smugglers wrapped his feet in plastic and set them on fire repeatedly, leaving permanent physical and psychological scars.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Their escape only became possible when clashes broke out between rival trafficking groups. Amid the chaos, Jamal and his nephew managed to flee. But survival did not come easily. He spent months in Yemen, working washing cars just to earn enough money to continue the journey, in a country torn by war where migrants are left without protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jamal says: \u201cI was living day by day\u2026 just trying to survive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, he managed to reach Djibouti, where he received medical treatment and psychological support. For the first time since his ordeal began, he felt that someone cared\u2014not just about where he came from, but about what he had been through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamal\u2019s story is not an exception. It reflects the reality of thousands of African migrants who cross Yemen every year. It is a story of a dangerous route where journeys turn into daily struggles for survival, in the face of violence, exploitation, and abandonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite everything he endured, Jamal\u2019s greatest concern remains his mother. He says: \u201cShe saw me leave in good health\u2026 I\u2019m afraid of how she will see me now. I will have to explain it to her gently.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Jamal\u2019s story lies the essence of the entire migration route: a journey that begins with hope, but too often ends in pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The source:
Kidnapped and tortured on an infamous migration route to Saudi Arabia<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamal, an Ethiopian man in his early thirties, was not searching for a job or a better life when he decided to take the migration route known as the \u201cEastern Route.\u201d He was not driven by dreams of wealth or an escape from poverty. Instead, he had one goal: to find his sixteen-year-old nephew, who…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanitarian-stories"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Red-And-Black-Breaking-News-Covid-For-Facebook-Post34.jpg",940,788,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Red-And-Black-Breaking-News-Covid-For-Facebook-Post34-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Red-And-Black-Breaking-News-Covid-For-Facebook-Post34-300x251.jpg",300,251,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Red-And-Black-Breaking-News-Covid-For-Facebook-Post34-768x644.jpg",768,644,true],"large":["https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Red-And-Black-Breaking-News-Covid-For-Facebook-Post34.jpg",940,788,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Red-And-Black-Breaking-News-Covid-For-Facebook-Post34.jpg",940,788,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Red-And-Black-Breaking-News-Covid-For-Facebook-Post34.jpg",940,788,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Red-And-Black-Breaking-News-Covid-For-Facebook-Post34-14x12.jpg",14,12,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"MRM","author_link":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/author\/mrm\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Jamal, an Ethiopian man in his early thirties, was not searching for a job or a better life when he decided to take the migration route known as the \u201cEastern Route.\u201d He was not driven by dreams of wealth or an escape from poverty. Instead, he had one goal: to find his sixteen-year-old nephew, who...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1133,"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131\/revisions\/1133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migrantsrightsmonitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}