ህገ ወጥ ናችሁ የተባሉ 220 ኢትዮጵያዊያን ስደተኞች ከታንዛንያ ወደ አገራቸው ሊመለሱ ነው።

ህገ ወጥ ናችሁ የተባሉ 220 ኢትዮጵያዊያን ስደተኞች ከታንዛንያ ወደ አገራቸው ሊመለሱ ነው።

THE first batch of illegal immigrants from Ethiopia is ready for repatriation back to their home country following a one-week verification exercise that was conducted in six prisons in Coast, Iringa, Morogoro, Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions where they had been held.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam, the National Programming Officer at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Mr Charles Mkude, said the initiative to assist the illegal immigrants to return home follows the joint verification mission that was conducted by two teams formed by staff from IOM, immigration and prison officers and Ethiopian officials.

“As a result of the visits, a total number of 220 detainees, some of them minors when they were arrested, were verified and provided with travel documents and arrangements to travel back home,” said Mr Mkude.

He said that all of 220 detainees will be assisted by IOM to go back to Ethiopia in the next few weeks.

“We are much willing to assist IOM in this initiative; these immigrants live in adverse situations, they have no papers, they do not speak Kiswahili and are far away from their family and relatives,” Mr Mkude noted, adding that the government was hard pressed for funds to send them back home.

According to Mr Mkude, once back in Ethiopia, the returnees will be provided with assistance to facilitate their reintegration.

“This initiative has been possible thanks to the generous support of the governments of the United States, Bureau of Population and Refugees and Migration (PRM), to the “Addressing Irregular Migration Flows in Southern Africa” project.

Japan has supported the effort under the ‘’Voluntary Return Assistance to Migrants in Tanzania project,” Mr Mkude said.

In recent years, Tanzania has witnessed an increasing flow of irregular migrants from the Horn of Africa, especially Ethiopia and Somalia, who have been fleeing drought, economic deprivation, unemployment and conflict and try the southern route to look for a better life outside their own country.

However, Tanzania has become a transit corridor to Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia en route to South Africa and beyond.

As the country lacks specialised facilities to host irregular migrants, those who are caught are detained in prisons.