The Ethiopian government said it has repatriated over 71,000 undocumented migrants from Saudi Arabia as part of its renewed operations to bring back citizens from the Gulf nation. Ayano emphasized that repatriation operations will be further strengthened, with an aim to bring back close to 30,000 Ethiopian nationals from the Gulf nation in the coming months. According to recent figures from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 750,000 Ethiopians are living in Saudi Arabia, out of whom 450,000 are residing in the Gulf nation without documents. Estimates suggest that thousands of Ethiopians are trafficked to the Arabian Peninsula via Djibouti and Yemen every year, in hopes of finding jobs in Saudi Arabia. Desperate Ethiopian migrants, who attempt to cross the dangerous Red Sea route via neighboring nation Djibouti, often endure deadly incidents along the Red Sea as well as imprisonment and killings in Yemen.

Source: Ethiopian News November 25, 2022 21:02 UTC