The International Organization (IOM) will voluntarily repatriate  253 Ethiopian migrants back to their country of origin. 

The migrants had been detained at Ruanda (Mbeya), Ubena (Bagamoyo) and Kigongoni (Pwani) prisons. This effort is made possible through close collaboration between IOM, the Tanzania Ministry of Home Affairs (Prison and Immigration Department), as well as the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The migrant group includes a total of 39 children, who will be provided with in-kind grants to allow them to continue their education, once they have returned. 

This assisted voluntary return operation is funded by the Government of Japan, as part of the ‘Voluntary Return Assistance to Migrants in Tanzania’ Project. Through this project IOM Tanzania has voluntarily returned more than 220 Ethiopian migrants this year alone, and is planning to return a total of up to 800 Ethiopian migrants by the end of the year. Since 2009, more than 2,500 Ethiopian detainees have been assisted by IOM to return home through generous funding from the Government of Japan. 

The assisted voluntary return (AVR) of the migrants follows a verification mission IOM conducted from 9 to 21 October 2014 in response to the heavy caseload of 453 Ethiopian migrants detained in Tanzanian prisons. During this period, a team composed of representatives of IOM Dar es Salaam and IOM Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian ConsulateGeneral, and the Prisons and Immigrations Departments visited 11 different prisons in five different regions.

 All 453 migrants were verified to have the Ethiopian nationality. The remaining caseload is expected to be voluntarily returned next week on a charter flight. 

Background 

Tanzania is a transit country for migrants seeking to make the journey to South Africa. 

Reports of migrants being intercepted by the authorities in Mbeya, Coast region and Tanga are common. Tanzania has virtually no reception facilities and as a consequence migrants are often locked up in overcrowded prisons with common criminals. 

Thousands of (mainly) young Ethiopian men embark on the perilous journey to South Africa each year. Migrants sacrifice their and their families’ savings to pay smugglers amounts of up to 4,000 USD to facilitate the journey. Human smuggling has become a thriving multi-billion dollar industry, which feeds off people’s desperation to establish a better livelihood. 

“The risks are enormous – injuries, disease, exploitation and detention are just some of the hazards that these migrants face when they leave home without proper travel documents,” 

said IOM Chief of Mission Mr. Damien Thuriaux. “We are happy that, at least for this group, the suffering is over and they can return to their families.” 

IOM’s voluntary return operation includes medical screening, flights to Ethiopia with escorts provided for minors, reception in Addis Ababa, onward transport to their places of origin and reintegration assistance.

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