Mozambique: Survivors of the tragedy that killed 64 illegal migrants in Tete return to Ethiopia

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Mozambique: Survivors of the tragedy that killed 64 illegal migrants in Tete return to Ethiopia

2:37 CAT | 04 May 2020

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Photo: IOM Moçambique

Eleven of the 14 survivors of the tragedy that killed 64 illegal migrants on March 24 in Mozambique’s Tete Province returned to Ethiopia, their country of origin, in an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) operation supported by the European Union.

The migrants are part of a group of 78 individuals discovered by the Mozambican authorities in a container truck arriving Malawi in Moatize District, Tete province, in an attempt to cross Mozambique en route to South Africa.

“I suffered torture by smugglers, I walked in forests for several days, I barely had food and water. But the worst of all was the trip in the container, which could barely accommodate 20 people. But they packed 78 of us in, one on top of the other. We were screaming air, begging them to open the door. At the last checkpoint, we hit the sides of the container, screaming for our lives, that’s when the police heard us,” one of the survivors told IOM.

When the Mozambican authorities opened the container, they discovered 64 persons dead from suffocation, and 14 survivors, who received medical care and were quarantined due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an operation coordinated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), with the support of the European Union, 11 of the survivors returned to Ethiopia during the past week, travelling first to Maputo city and from there embarking for Addis Ababa.

Three of the survivors evaded the authorities in Tete province and have so far not been located.

“In Ethiopia I worked in casual jobs with no steady income, so I decided to go to South Africa to work, save money and return to a better life,” one of the survivors told IOM. Illegal migrants pay traffickers between US$2,500 and US$6,000 for travel to South Africa, he said, but, as soon as they leave Ethiopia, an agonising journey – on foot, in the darkness, without food or water – begins.

Source: A Verdade