Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA, October 12 (EI) – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Saturday said that it has assisted the repatriation of some 142 stranded Ethiopian migrants from Djibouti.
The returnees, who were en-route to Saudi Arabia, were stranded in Djibouti where smugglers abandoned them after robbing them of their money, leaving them with no means to continue their journey or return to Ethiopia, the UN migration agency said in a statement on Saturday.
The 142 stranded Ethiopian migrants home from Djibouti on October 8, IOM said.
One of the repatriated is Edris Ahmed, who told IOM that “we paid 2,000 birr (about 70 U.S. dollar) for the smuggler to get us to Djibouti and we spent another 2,000 birr in Djibouti for food.”
“I worked as an assistant loader for a truck for two years to save four thousand birr (USD 135),” the statement quoted Edris (name changed) as saying.
The 17-year-old young Ethiopian was traveling with fellow teenage Ethiopians from Ethiopia’s Tigray regional state, as they were planning to go to Yemen, hoping to continue their journey to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to look for work.
“In Djibouti, we suddenly found ourselves with no means to get to Yemen: There was no boat to collect us as promised, and we had no idea where the smuggler was,” he added, explaining how he and five fellow teens ended up stranded.
So far in 2019, IOM has assisted 8,987 returnees who were stranded, an increase of 3,605 compared to the 5,382 returnees assisted in 2018.
This year, IOM has assisted 1,897 unaccompanied migrant children to safely return home, including many whose treacherous journeys brought them into the middle of the conflict in Yemen.
“I know of the hardships that the trip involves and about mishwar (being held for ransom) but I was not aware of the war in Yemen,” IOM quoted Mohammed Jebel, a 20 year- old young man who was stranded in Djibouti for months, as saying.
According to IOM, the returnees were assisted with accommodation at the IOM Emergency Migrant Response Centre in Djibouti and IOM Transit Centre in Addis Ababa, and were provided with transportation allowance so that they could reach their home.
As smugglers continue to target young men in Ethiopia, more and more migrants have been lured to travel through irregular means.
“In addition to the support it gives to vulnerable returning migrants, IOM carries out
Moonga, however, said that despite these efforts, the number of Ethiopian migrants heading through the Eastern route through irregular means continues to increase.
