Gulf | Yemen
Deported Yemeni in critical condition
The 18 men arrived in Yemen last Thursday after being deported from neighbouring Saudi Arabia for violating immigration laws.
- By Nasser Arrabyee, Correspondent
- Published: 00:45 April 25, 2008
Sana'a: A group of young Yemenis are being treated in hospital after Saudi police set fire to their hideout after they entered the country illegally to look for jobs.
The 18 men arrived in Yemen last Thursday after being deported from neighbouring Saudi Arabia for violating immigration laws, local sources said.
They suffered severe burns after Saudi police hunted them down and reportedly set fire to their hideout in the Al Khamis area, east of Jizzan, south of the kingdom. One of the men is in a critical condition.
18-year-old Mohammad Mahmoud Zawbar, one of the deportees, said the police set fire to the hideouts but found no one.
These shanties had been set alight many times before as police suspected they were being used as hideouts , Zawbar said.
"Fearing death we got out of the hideouts, walking into fire and burning ourselves, and the police took us to Al Madani Hospital," Zawbar told Sahwanet, a local website.
A week later, the police came to the hospital and deported them all to Yemen, he said.
Now, the deportees are being treated at Al Thawrah Hospital in Hodeida. One of them, Ahmad Hakami, is in a critical condition. He is his family's only breadwinner.
The men have appealed to officials from both countries to help alleviate their suffering.
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