Saudi–Yemen barrier

It is a structure made of pipeline three metres (10 ft) high filled with concrete, acting as a "security barrier along sections of the now fully demarcated border with Yemen"[1][2] and fitted with electronic detection equipment.

[11] In February 2004, after extensive Egyptian and U.S. diplomatic efforts, Saudi Arabia decided to halt the construction, and Yemen agreed to take part in joint patrols and to set up watch towers to curb smuggling and infiltration.

[13] In February 2007 the Arab Times reported that the “Saudis have been quietly pursuing an $8.5 billion project to fence off the full length of its porous border with Yemen for some years”.

A local sheikh claimed that erection of the wall broke the Jeddah border treaty that established the rights of both Yemeni and Saudi citizens to roam freely.

Local sources from Harad stated that over 3,000 tribesmen from nearby gathered to rally against it, claiming their interests would be harmed by preventing them from crossing the border to visit their relatives and cultivate their farms.

This treacherous journey begins in the Horn of Africa, spans the Gulf of Aden, traverses war-torn Yemen, and eventually winds its way through the rugged terrain of Saudi Arabia's Jizan province.

[19] As of 2022, at least 30,000 Ethiopian migrants who come illegally through Saudi-Yemen barrier, remain detained in Saudi Arabia solely for lack of legal residency and continue to suffer in overcrowded detention centres, facing the looming threat of experiencing a similar ordeal.

[18] Amnesty International's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Heba Morayef, strongly condemned the deprivation of human rights solely based on the absence of legal documents.

[22][23] Accounts collected by Human Rights Watch suggests that explosive weapons were fired at Ethiopian migrants by Saudi border guards, dismembering and killing many.

[24] Saudi Arabia claimed the barrier was necessary to protect from terrorism and smuggling weapons and illegal drugs—namely qat (and Yemen's most important export, with border tribes reportedly earning upwards of £100 million a year).

[3] Two years after the Yemeni Revolution of 2011, the country found itself a "haven for foreign terror fighters" where the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has "remained resilient and even enjoyed a resurgence".

The Yemeni government initially opposed the construction because it violated the 2000 Jeddah border treaty, which allowed for grazing rights for shepherds in a 13-mile (21 km) buffer zone on both sides and stipulated that no armed forces be stationed within it.