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Ethiopia moves to repatriate citizens from Saudi Arabia – after reports of Ethiopians suffering abuse, discrimination
Ethiopia has began the process of repatriating its citizens living in Saudi Arabia illegally, after reports that an Ethiopian was killed by police, officials said Saturday.
Last April, the Saudi government issued an amnesty period giving illegal immigrants 7 months to gain legal status or leave the country. “The ones who failed are the ones who are being repatriated,” the spokesman for the Ethiopian foreign ministry, Dina Mufti, told reporters.
Every year, large numbers of Ethiopians leave their country looking for work. Most are females moving to the Middle East seeking domestic work.
In 2012, 200,000 women left Ethiopia seeking jobs, according to Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Mufti said there were unconfirmed reports that an Ethiopian had been killed this week by Saudi police who were shifting illegal immigrants into camps. “They were trying to get them in the camp before repatriation and in that process an Ethiopian has been killed with a police bullet, but we are verifying it,” added Mufti.
He could not say how many illegal immigrants are in Saudi Arabia, and did not say when they would be brought home, only that it would be “as soon as possible.”
The International Labor Organization (ILO) said many Ethiopian domestic workers living in the middle east are subjected to emotional and physical abuse, poor working conditions, low pay and discrimination.
Last month, the government of Ethiopia announced it would restrict domestic workers from moving to the middle east after reports of widespread abuse.
With a population of 91 million people, Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country after Nigeria. The nation’s unemployment rate is 20 percent, with more than 27 percent of females and 13 percent of males jobless.
Copyright 2013 AFP