PH
Ethiopia will return some 70,000 of its people living in Saudi Arabia beginning in early April.
According to State Minister Birtukan Ayano, the repatriation initiative, the third since 2018, will target “Ethiopians who are in a difficult situation”.
During the announcement last week, the minister did not specify whether the returnees were legally living in Saudi Arabia.
Regional authorities are obliged to guarantee that returns resettle in their original communities.
According to a government dispatch, repatriation costs would include flight tickets, temporary housing at transition centers in Addis Ababa, and some money to resume life.
Ethiopia now supports over 917,000 refugees from neighboring nations, including Yemen.
According to the Ethiopian Refugees and Returnees Service (RSS), four million Ethiopians have been displaced as a result of the country’s internal conflicts and natural problems.
However, budget cuts have been made specifically for these groups.
On March 22, RRS and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) convened stakeholders in Addis Ababa “with the intent to reach a common understanding on the rising fund cut for the refugee operation in Ethiopia and to stand together to respond to the crises thereon.”
They made it clear that they were “urging partners and donors to contribute the much-needed fund to respond to the burning needs of refugees and asylum seekers.”
In March 2022, Addis Abeba reached an agreement with Riyad to return approximately 100,000 of its citizens. It occurred as rights organisations accused Saudi Arabia of mistreating foreign workers.
