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Biden Administration Knew Saudi Border Guards Were Killing Asylum Seekers

HeadlineAug 29, 2023

The Biden administration has known Saudi security forces were killing Ethiopian asylum seekers since at least last fall, but chose to keep quiet. That’s according to The New York Times, which reports United Nations officials in 2022 presented the U.S. with information about Saudi border guards shooting Ethiopian asylum seekers, including women and children. The gruesome abuse was exposed by a Human Rights Watch report earlier this month which documented how hundreds, and possibly thousands, of asylum seekers have been killed. The group said Saudi authorities fired machine guns and explosive weapons at asylum seekers who were fleeing human rights abuses in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and attempted to cross the Yemen-Saudi border. Guards also executed people at close range. The report cited firsthand accounts from 42 Ethiopian asylum seekers, over a hundred verified videos and photos, and an analysis of satellite imagery between 2021 and 2023. The Biden administration has not publicly criticized Saudi Arabia, a close ally, for the killings. Click here to see our coverage.

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