Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA (EI): The Ethiopian government has repatriated more than 130,000 nationals facing dire conditions in various foreign countries during the just concluded Ethiopian fiscal year, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday.
Nebiat Getachew, spokesperson for the ministry, told a press briefing Thursday that the concluded fiscal year “a year of successful diplomacy for Ethiopia.” He said a number of diplomatic engagements were made to strengthen bilateral relations, regional integration, and continental and international cooperation that served the country’s national interests.
Nebiat noted that 11 international agreements that are in Ethiopia’s “best interests” were made and ratified by Ethiopian lawmakers, while legal reviews were also made on 198 international agreements and memoranda of understanding.
He further outlined successful economic diplomacy that boosted foreign direct investment, while 151 new market linkages were also created by promoting the country’s export products abroad.
The signing of these international agreements has ensured that our country could cooperate with various countries on comprehensive and multifaceted issues in a mutually beneficial manner, safeguarding our national interests,” he said.
Nebiat said as part of the Ethiopian government’s “citizen-centered” diplomatic commitment to bringing home its nationals stranded in difficult situations abroad, the East African country has successfully repatriated 131,014 nationals during the just concluded 2024/2025 Ethiopian fiscal year, which ended on July 7.
He said the repatriated nationals were facing “tough situations” across 21 countries. The ministry applied both bilateral and multilateral collaborative platforms to facilitate the ongoing large-scale repatriation efforts, it was noted.
In recent years, Ethiopia has intensified efforts to repatriate its citizens stranded overseas, particularly in the Middle East. A significant number of returnees have been undocumented migrants facing hardship in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, the government recently repatriated more than 700 nationals stranded in Myanmar, who were said to be deceived by smugglers over false employment opportunities.
(File MOFA photo shows Ethiopian returnees at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.)
