The disturbing photos of African migrants, including Nigerians being packed up in a detention center in Saudi Arabia are making its rounds on social media.
The photos which was obtained by Lailasnews show dozens of migrants held inside the detention center, emaciated men crippled by the Arabian heat lying shirtless in tightly packed rows in small rooms with barred windows.
The photos was sent via phone by one of the migrants.
The migrant wrote:
“Plenty of inmates are suicidal or suffering from mental illnesses as a result of living this for five months. It’s hell in here. We are treated like animals and beaten every day. If I see that there is no escape, I will take my own life. Others have already,” he added via an intermediary who was able to communicate on a smuggled phone.
“My only crime is leaving my country in search of a better life. But they beat us with whips and electric cords as if we were murderers.”
Meanwhile, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch in the Middle East Adam Coogle, has reacted to the pictures saying;
“Photos emerging from detention centres in southern Saudi Arabia show that authorities there are subjecting Horn of Africa migrants to squalid, crowded, and dehumanising conditions with no regard for their safety or dignity,”
He added:
“The squalid detention centres in southern Saudi Arabia fall well short of international standards. For a wealthy country like Saudi Arabia, there’s no excuse for holding migrants in such deplorable conditions,” Mr Coogle added.