Geography regards migration as a spatial process.

People are pushed from one location by economic, political, cultural and environmental factors, while being pulled to a new location by these same factors (eTextbook Human Geography: Human Aspects of Living on Earth, Chapter 3). http://www.opengeography.org/ch-3population--migration.html. Refugees and asylum seekers are defined as those persons who have been forced to leave their homes and cross internationally recognized borders. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are defined as citizens within a country who are forced to move to a different location within that country. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees Agency (UNHCR) has established these designations (UNHCR 2006 Global Trends Report, p. 3). http://www.unhcr.org/cgibin/texis/vtx/home/opendocPDFViewer.html?docid=467 6a71d4&query=refugee%20and%20IDP%20and%20asylum%20s. The UNHCR has also expressed support for all persons forced to flee their homes as persons of concern who are entitled to some assistance from the UNHCR and other relief organizations. I chose to focus on the Southwest Asian country of Yemen for this assignment, as Yemen contains large numbers of both refugees and IDPs.

Yemen is the only country in the Arabian Peninsula that is a signatory of the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees. The country currently has a semi-permanent refugee population estimated at 232,000. The majority of the refugees have arrived from Somalia. The refugee camp of Kharaz is home to over 14,000 Somali and a small group of Ethiopian Oromo people. The camp is located on a dust filled brutally hot plateau in a remote area of Yemens Lakaj Directorate. Basic needs for food and water are met. More shelters are desperately needed for the new arrivals. Although there is a school there are few opportunities for employment or self-reliance. The thousands of Somali that live in the main cities live in slums and

have to resort to begging. (Somali refugees in Limbo, IRIN Middle East , 2014 http://www.irinnews.org/report/99078/somali-refugees-in-yemeni-limbo). The reasons for the exodus of Somalis from their country lie in the 20 years of violence since the 1991 collapse of the Somali government and two terrible famines in 1992 and 2011. Somalia continues to be torn by civil war, Islamic militancy, extreme poverty, drought and a failed economy.

The IDP population in Yemen has been as high as 390,000 during the last 10 years. In 2004 militants from the Houthi (Shia Islam) movement rebelled against the government led by Ali Abdullah Salit (Sunni Islam) in the northern Yemeni Directorate of Sadah. There have been six sectarian wars since then, with fresh outbreaks of sectarian conflict after the 2011 Arab Spring demands for a new national government. This has caused repeated and protracted internal displacement. Sunni and Zaidi Shiite alike have fled as their homes, farms and domestic animals have been destroyed. As of 2012 security has improved in some northern areas with 227,954 IDPs returning to their home areas. (UNHCR Yemeni Factsheet, 2013). http://www.unhcr.org/4c907a4a9.html. However, continuing sectarian violence and vast unemployment are the reasons why many Yemeni IDPs continue to reside in the 10 camps set up for them. The camps can provide food and shelter, and their children can attend school. (Displaced in Yemen: A Life on Hold, You Tube Video ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFlX0Lz9SFw. The impact of refugees and IDPs on Yemen has been substantial. Yemen is the poorest country of the Arabian Peninsula. The main source of revenue has been oilbut the deposits are running out. The poverty rate has increased from 35% in 2004 to 42% in 2009, with a 12% drop in GDP (IMF, 2011). Two thirds of the population are under 25 years with widespread unemployment and pervasive government corruption. Many Yemeni people have been employed as guest workers in the bordering country of Saudi Arabia. Prior to 2004 the government could provide some assistance to refugees and a safe passage into Saudi Arabia where they could find employment and a better life. Recently the Saudi Arabian government expelled 300,000 Yemeni guest workers and has been constructing a 1,000-mile fence along their border with Yemen. (Index Mundi, 2014). http://www.indexmundi.com/factbook/compare/saudiarabia.somalia/demographics

Seeking a Better Life Pull Factors

Countries Somalia Yemen Saudi Arabia Population
2013 est. per 1,000 live births

Infant Mortality 102 52 15

Life Expectancy
from birth

10,251,568. 25,408,288. 26,939,583

51 yrs. 64 yrs. 75 yrs.

Data source: Index Mundi

Similarities exist between the two groups of refugees and IDPs. Both groups share a Muslim tribal based culture where women are subordinate to men and large families are common. Their home countries are arid, with few natural resources and a tradition of herding domesticated animals and farming. The people have had to flee their lands because of warfare and have had their economic livelihoods and homes destroyed. Both groups are also recognized by the UNHCR and have had to rely on international aid organizations. Education and employment opportunities are few or non-existent. Somali and Yemeni people each seek to immigrate to wealthy Saudi Arabia. However, stark differences are evidenced by the IDPs being able to re-locate in their own country where they are nationals and speak the same language, Arabic. They have easier access to jobs and schools. There have been 10 IDP camps established, but only one refugee camp. Yet their return to their homes is complicated by sectarian violence and hostility. While the refugees of Somalia must cross the shark infested waters of the Gulf of Aden and are at the mercy of brutal smugglers who beat, abuse and kill them. The Somali language is incomprehensible to Yemenis and the other Arabic speakers of the region. Returning to Somalia is almost impossible as the refugees have few assets left and there is not a national government in place to secure their safety.

Reflection: My thoughts about migration before this assignment usually centered on a

historical view of the mass movements of people. Studying the current situation in Yemen and Somalia has made this issue more immediate. I had not realized that Yemen was the host to so many refugees. That country certainly demonstrates more charity than its wealthy neighbor, Saudi Arabia. Building a border fence? Joining the ranks of the hated Israel and U.S. perhaps? It would have been inconceivable 100 years ago to think of masses of people trying to migrate to the unforgiving desert of Saudi Arabia. Lately I have been working with some students from Somalia. They have told me of the desperate conditions in their country. I am thankful to whatever organizations are responsible for bringing them to America. To think of these children being drowned or abused by criminal smugglers, trying to get to war torn, destitute Yemen makes me feel ill.