Saudi Arabia's borders are impenetrable.
At the end of August, a Foreign Policy columnist reported that Saudi border guards killed hundreds of migrants on the remote, mountainous border with Yemen. Saudi border guards have used explosive weapons against Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers trying to cross into Saudi Arabia. Only seven out of 150 people survived that day, said one survivor.
Human rights groups, particularly Human Rights Watch, have accused the United States and other Western allies of doing nothing to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for human rights abuses, emboldening the Saudi government to crack down on migrants. .
The brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was not followed by accountability either, and Washington is courting the kingdom in order to promote its economic and security interests.
The lesson from all of this is that borders can be protected if there is political will, and that human rights only matter as long as they serve someone's interests.
Featured Image: Ethiopian migrants walk on a highway to cross into Saudi Arabia/Photo: Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
