Ethiopia wants to repatriate more than 200,000 citizens from Saudi Arabia in less than two months

Tigrai Online, April 30, 2017

Temesgen Omer, Middle East Affairs Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis, in a consultative meeting on Saturday said more than 3000 Ethiopians have so far returned, but more than 200,000 Ethiopians still live in Saudi Arabia without residence and work permits, and the government is actively working to repatriate them.

The Saudi government recently launched “a nation without violations” campaign to give people, people without legal document, a 90-day amnesty period to help them leave the country without suffering penalties. According to the Saudi government, those illegal immigrants who failed to take advantage of the 90-day amnesty period will face certain deportation.

This is not the first time the Saudis have thrown out foreigners from their land. In 2013 they deported hundreds of thousands of people from many countries including Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government evacuated over one hundred thousand of its citizens from the Kingdom when it was apparent the lives of innocent civilians had been in danger.

Source: APA Read more