Gone are the days when thousands of Yemeni workers, pilgrims, and businessmen used to enter Saudi Arabia without any problems.

Following the escalation in a conflict with rebel Houthi fighters and the Saudis' involvement in it, many of them are being sent back from the border by the Saudi authorities.

The Saudis are seeking to deny the Houthis access to the mountainous area straddling the border of the two countries, but it is the common people who are being inconvenienced.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports from northern Yemen.