Ethiopia says migrants in Saudi Arabia victims of human trafficking

03 Septembre 2020

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 3 (Infosplusgabon) – Ethiopia's foreign ministry has denied reports it was refusing to take back hundreds of migrants caught up in squalid conditions in Saudi Arabia and warned investigations showed some of them had been trafficked back and forth at least ten times.

“Our government and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have noticed a vicious circle of many repatriated migrants trafficked back for 10 times and more,” the ministry's Spokesperson Dina Mufti, said on Thursday.

Mufti, the East African country's immediate former Ambassador to Egypt, said said the processes of establishing a consultative body with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is imperative to take the task of controlling and monitoring the cycle of in and out movement of the migrants from Ethiopia to the Gulf states and to protect their human rights.

The Ethiopian government was responding to reports that it was refusing to take back hundreds of migrants caught up in poor living conditions and others in detention centres in Saudi Arabia.

Ethiopia has repatriated over 400,000 citizens from Saudi Arabia since May 2017 to March 2020, according to the foreign ministry.

“Ethiopia has never refused to receive its citizens from any country but operates according to principle and the availability of resources and capacity. Unfortunately, Ethiopia is the source, transit, and destination of migrants. And we have migrants in problem in Africa and the Middle East countries at a higher scale,” the ministry official said in the statement.

He said tangible cooperative ventures at the bilateral level are critical for dealing with migration issues and both countries are committed to make this a reality.

According to foreign media reports, Ethiopia was reluctant to accept the migrants from Saudi Arabia, citing the lack of capacity to hold large numbers of people in isolation facilities for an extended period as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to the government, when the COVID-19 hit in April 2020, with the unknown nature of the pandemic, the repatriation process of most of the migrants stalled. However, some 3,500 migrants were assisted to return, quarantined and transported to their villages and towns of origin in Ethiopia.

In the meantime, the Ethiopian government was working with Saudi officials who raised concerns about the increasing number of migrants crossing the Saudi border, the Ethiopian official said.

Mufti said Saudi Arabia cooperated with Ethiopia to create systems for ensuring a safe and dignified repatriation process for the migrants. Ethiopian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said it was in the process of getting 2,000 citizens and provide their identity documents to begin the process of repatriation.

The Ethiopian ministries of Peace, Health, Labour and Social Affairs have finalised the review to start repatriation of the migrants from 8 September to 6 October.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia has increased border checkpoints and is in the process of establishing five more and planning to reach at least 27 of them to stop the illegal trafficking network.

In preparation for the return of the migrants, the government is working on ensuring the Ethiopian migrants have proper identification and will be sharing data, doing background check and citizenship confirmation, repatriation, reintegration (psychosocial support), subsistence, and transportation to destination, the foreign ministry said.

“We have been successful in Beirut working with many stakeholders and we are working with the UN in Yemen and with Saudi Arabia. With an increasing number of migrants crossing the border into Saudi Arabia, the Ethiopian government is closely working with the Kingdom in many areas and assisting migrants being one of the priorities,” the Ethiopian government said.

Since the number of migrants is enormous, following their cases has become a full-time engagement for many of the diplomats in the Ethiopian Embassy in Riyadh and the consulate office in Jeddah. From April to July 2020, 3,500 citizens were repatriated.

Illegal migrants crossing the border of Saudi Arabia from Yemen experience a greater frustration because of a long traumatic journey through heinous condition caused by traffickers. The migrants are held in a detention centre waiting to be returned home.

According to the Ethiopian government, most of them have discovered the promises of traffickers and brokers were absolute lies. The number is escalating and Saudi Arabia is accepting them despite their increasing numbers.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/ASX/GABON2020

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