Corrected: Seventeen irregular Ethiopian immigrants repatriated

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Corrected: Seventeen irregular Ethiopian immigrants repatriated

7:25 CAT | 17 Jul 2018

Photo: Notícias

The Mozambican authorities on Monday repatriated 17 irregular Ethiopian immigrants on a flight from Maputo International Airport.

According to the daily newspaper “Noticias”, most of those who returned voluntarily were youths who formed part of a group of 29 Ethiopian immigrants detained in April. The rest of the group are due to voluntarily return on Friday once issued with emergency travel documents by the Ethiopian Embassy.

Five of the Ethiopians were detained in the northern province of Cabo Delgado whilst the others were caught at a checkpoint at a bridge on the Save River.

The spokesperson for the National Immigration Service (SENAMI), Cira Fernandes, commented that Mozambique attracts immigrants because of its relative social stability and its proximity to other attractive countries.

SENAMI carried out the repatriation with the support of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Their return was financed by the European Union through a project to fund voluntary return and reintegration in the country of origin.

In February, 53 illegal Ethiopians immigrants were repatriated after they were detained in various parts of the country. Forty of them were discovered in the bush in the central district of Gorongosa. All of them had made the long overland journey from Ethiopia, via Kenya and Tanzania. They claimed they were in search of jobs and better living conditions. Although they did not say so explicitly, it is highly likely that their intended final destination was not Mozambique, but South Africa.

Some of the Ethiopians said they had been travelling for six weeks. One, Simion Sidebo, said he had paid 90,000 Ethiopian birr (about 3,280 US dollars) to transporters – a huge sum, given that the minimum monthly wage in the Ethiopian public sector is just 420 birr. Sidebo said most of the journey through Mozambique took place at night “to avoid the police and the immigration authorities”.

Correction: The wording in this article has been changed on July 18, following a request from IOM Mozambique. The words ‘deportation’ and ‘deported’ were changed to ‘voluntary return’ or ‘return’ and the expression ‘illegal immigrant’ has been changed to ‘irregular immigrant’, according to IOM Mozambique’s request.

Source: AIM / IOM Mozambique