Aden.. Government directives to prevent the employment of African migrants and refugees in Aden to provide an opportunity for local workers

The Yemeni Ministry of Interior has decided to ban the employment of African migrants and refugees in the interim capital, Aden (southern Yemen), in the private sector, in order to provide an opportunity for local workers and prevent the influx of illegal immigrants into the country.

According to the security media website of the Ministry of Interior, Major General Abdul-Jabbar Salem, Undersecretary of the Immigration, Passports and Nationality Authority, on Thursday directed the Director General of the General Department of Follow-up and Deportation at the Authority, Brigadier General Saleh Mohsen Al-Akimi, to follow up on what was approved from the work plan regarding immigrants and refugees.

The government plan stipulates: “Obligating all beneficiaries, including businessmen, companies, contractors, and all individuals, groups, or institutions with projects, to commit to preventing the employment or use of refugees and immigrants in any work, and prohibiting their employment, with priority given to Yemeni workers.”

The directives stressed coordination and cooperation with the relevant government agencies, the local authority and the security services in the interim capital, Aden, in a way that would ensure the success of the action plan and what was approved regarding immigrants and arrivals from the Horn of Africa.

The ministry's website indicated that the Immigration Authority's directives came in response to the directives of the Minister of Interior, Major General Ibrahim Haydan, "due to the fact that immigrants have taken over jobs in restaurants, shops, and all jobs in the private sector due to their cheap wages, which led to the private sector resorting to employing and hiring them, and this led to depriving Yemeni workers from obtaining jobs in the private sector."

He pointed out that employing immigrants encourages an increase in the entry of illegal immigrants in very large numbers, which happened in the last months of last year 2024 AD.

The directives of the Undersecretary of the Immigration and Nationality Authority stressed the need to find the necessary solutions for immigrants and refugees in coordination with the relevant international organizations to find them shelter or deport them to their countries.