Although Saudi Arabia resumed earlier this year the construction of its border-fence to curb the flow of illegal immigration and trades into the kingdom, officials have now revealed that African infiltrators continue to use Yemen as a by-pass country into Saudi Arabia.
The 1400 km border line which Saudi Arabia shares with impoverished and unruly Yemen is essentially rugged and mountainous, a terrain which makes any form of control rather complicated.
According to official reports African migrants walk from east Yemen to the west, across deserts and prairies until they reach al-Tuwal (Jizan province, in Saudi Arabia).
Ever since 2011, when Yemen underwent radical political and institutional changes, smugglers have used a breakdown in security to expand the range of their criminal activities: human trafficking, drug smuggling and arm trafficking.
Beyond the immediate impact such activities are having on Yemen and Saudi Arabia security, non-governmental organizations have been concerned over the rise in human suffering.
Vulnerable, African migrants have suffered horrendous abuses by the hands of their smugglers: torture, rape and extortion.
Yemen Non-Governmental Organization for Economic and Social is now calling on the state to criminalize human trafficking by issuing a law which would refer all cases to a specialized court.
Yemen Human Rights Minister, Hooria Mashour told reporters she would like to see all NGOs and government agencies get together to work on a draft law, one which would be comprehensive.
"The social, economic, and security aspects of such a law should be considered," she said.
A national committee for anti-human trafficking is already working on a draft law.
Officials at the Ministry of Interior have said they are most concerned about terrorists using organized crime organizations to smuggle men and weapon into or from Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this year Yemen security services captured a 23-member terrorist cell in Aden (southern seaport). The cell was trying to infiltrate into Saudi Arabia.