Sameh Al-Jabri (36 years old) chose the path of emigration from Yemen for reasons that forced him to endure the hardships of a hazardous journey, in search of a job opportunity through which he could work and provide for better living conditions for himself and his family.
He told "Khuyut" that: "The loss of security in Yemen and the people's feeling of the weakness and fading of the state's role in providing the most basic rights of the citizens, prompted him and many young people to search for different ways and methods that would enable them to have security and stability in living and exercise their freedom and passion in life. In addition, their ambition to developing their professional skills and self-empowerment, which they did not find at home due to the current crisis.
These convictions and the escalation of immigration among the youth in Yemen are widely popular despite their understanding of the problems, difficulties and challenges they may face including; different cultures and customs, as the immigrant is a guest in a country whose norms and traditions are different from his country of origin.
Moreover, immigrants also need a period of time to integrate and adapt to this new and different life system, in addition to prices and costs of services that may be high compared to Yemen if the immigrant succeeds in overcoming the risks he is exposed to.
The young man added that there are positive and tangible gains that have been achieved by peer immigrants for themselves or their families, the most important of which are; better education, living in an environment that values people and empower them to be creative and develop their skills, improve their income level and openness to other cultures and experiencing some of its positive aspects.
However, Yemeni young immigrants are likely to be subject to looting and deception while doing the official travel procedures which represent a nightmare that exhausts Yemeni immigrants abroad, in the absence of accountability of the state and lack of protection. Some of them may sell everything they own in order to save the expenses of immigration, hoping that they will be relieved of the suffering and could improve their life in spite of all the painful details that immigrants may suffer from outside homeland.
Another young man, Bassem Abdullah (in his late twenties, who has already taken the first step in embarking on the tiring journey of immigration by moving to an Arab country), according to his interview with "Khuyut" - hopes that the state and the concerned authorities will pay more attention to immigrants and facilitate the official processing of their papers in all Yemeni embassies abroad as well as solving their problems and to properly follow up with their cases.
According to a report issued by the International Labor Organization for the year 2020, there are more than three million Yemeni workers abroad, constituting more than 10% of the total number of foreign workers in the Arab Gulf states. Additionally, as per a report issued by the United Nations Organization for Social and Economic Affairs for Western Asia in 2021, the percentage of Yemeni youth who are considering emigration has exceeded 50%.
An official statistic, seen by "Khuyut", shows that the percentage of unemployed youth in Yemen reached 35% in 2020, and this is one of the key drivers that pushes young people to migrate to other countries.
Motives and Circumstances
There are many reasons for Yemeni youth to migrate and leave Yemen. Moath Ghallab (26 years old), from Taiz Governorate, holds a bachelor's degree from Sana'a University, spoke to "Khuyut" about the reasons that prompted him to migrate. He stated that the war and ongoing conflict in the country is the key reason in addition to the impacts of the conflict in the deterioration of living conditions, and the lack of job opportunities.
Gallab continued by saying, "I hesitated a lot before emigrating and discontinuing my studies, but my friends and family insisted on completing my studies, which prompted me to borrow the fees of the visa that enabled me to travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
He added that "There are many difficulties I faced when I decided to travel, the most important of which are: the high costs of purchasing a visa, and the manipulation of some emigration offices with visas."
Many believe that leaving Yemen to another country is the first step of a better life and future, but this may not be the case, as the dangers that immigrants are exposed to constitute another nightmare that haunts them in the country of destination. Moath Abdulsallam (a Yemeni citizen who immigrated to a Gulf country about four years ago) confirmed that getting a job is not easy as most immigrants suffer of the lack of job stability, especially since most newcomers do not work under an official work contract, in addition to delaying their salaries and dues, and the difficulty of transferring from one sponsor to another. However, the most difficult challenges face of all is the psychological instability of the expatriate, as he suffers from the pain of alienation and distance from his family and relatives.
On the other hand, Fahmi Ahmed, a Yemeni immigrant in a European country, believes in his interview with "Khuyut", that there are great positive outcomes that immigrants have achieved and are achieving for themselves and their families, but it is not easy to accomplish them in a certain period, but rather as a result of the years of hard work to building his future that was wasted in his homeland. Fahmi confirmed that there is no radical solution to address this phenomenon or problem, except with ensuring the stability of the country on all political, security and economic aspects.
A report published by the Global Economy website, specializes in studying the economic prospects of countries, reveals high rates on the emigration index of qualified and skilled workers in the Arab world. The high index indicates that the country is suffering from an increasing volume of brain drain, as a result of the difficult and unstable internal conditions.
Cultural shocks and discrimination
Migrants are affected by the inequality in their hosting societies, and they clash with traditions related to the role played by the individual migrant, public attitudes towards foreigners, and discrimination in the labor market on the basis of skill and specialization. Unskilled and unspecialized immigrants often receive lower wages than those who are specialized. Nevertheless, immigrants contribute to the economic development of the hosting countries through the work they perform.
In this context, Ali Ba Alawi, a professor of sociology at the University of Sana'a, confirms to "Khuyut" that migration is closely linked to the economic, social and political transformations that Yemen is going through. He pointed out that young immigrants constitute an increasing form of labor flows, and they move on their own to become the chief breadwinners of their families.
Most of them may migrate voluntarily, despite the challenges and risks they may face and await, such as fraud, exploitation during travel procedures, or persecution and discrimination in the country of immigration.
In addition to the absence of official data and statistics documenting the significant growth in emigration outside Yemen, during the past eight years, whether young people or of different age groups.
In a report issued in 2020, the International Organization for Migration states that there are more than 100,000 irregular Yemeni immigrants in Saudi Arabia, more than 200,000 Yemeni irregular immigrants in Oman, and more than 18,000 Yemeni irregular immigrants in the United Arab Emirates.
Further, Ba Alawi stressed on the importance of understanding the causes and consequences of external migration from the perspective of the role played by both males and females, while the problem of individual migration depends on the desire to obtain a better standard of living, creativity, developing skills and capabilities, the ability to make decisions, and access to resources and services.
The class discrimination that exists in the countries of sending and receiving, and inequality is an important factor that leads to migration when individuals have economic, political and social expectations that cannot be achieved in their country of origin. In addition to that, the lack of security and economic stability, and high rates of inflation and unemployment, which drives many young people migrate in search of a reality change that commensurate with their aspirations and ambitions.
