Around 2,344 Ethiopians have been evacuated from Saudi Arabia and war-torn Yemen, said Dina Mufti, a spokesperson for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Thursday. "The Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs has in recent days helped return home 1,348 nationals from the Saudi capital, Riyadh as well as 904 nationals from another Saudi city, Jeddah," Mufti said. "In addition, as part of our citizens-based diplomacy, we've been able in recent days to return home 92 Ethiopian nationals who were stranded in war torn Yemen." Estimates suggest that thousands of Ethiopians are trafficked to the Arabian Peninsula via Djibouti and Yemen every year, in hopes of finding jobs in Saudi Arabia. Desperate Ethiopian migrants, who often attempt to cross the dangerous Red Sea route via neighboring nation Djibouti, regularly endure deadly incidents along the Red Sea as well as imprisonment and killings in the war-torn Yemen. In recent months, Ethiopia has stepped up efforts to return home its citizens stranded in various foreign countries, as part of the government's newly unveiled "citizen focused diplomacy." The Ethiopian government is also working to dismantle sophisticated human trafficking networks, as well as create economic opportunities for nationals with low incomes.
