Ethiopia - The Government of Ethiopia, in collaboration IOM, will help 223 Ethiopian migrants stranded in Malawi to return home later today.

The returnees – all adult males intercepted en route to South Africa - were arrested by Malawian police for irregular border crossing.

Ethiopia chartered flights to help the stranded migrants return home and IOM Ethiopia, with financial support of $9,000 from the Ethiopian Diaspora through the US Association for International Migration (USAIM), will provide post-arrival assistance, including money for onward transport to their home towns.

 The returnees received a warm welcome from Ethiopian government officials and IOM staff and were escorted to IOM’s Addis Ababa transit center, where they also received health assessments, food, blankets and clothing.

 The repatriation operation was one of several that began in September 2015 to bring home 387 Ethiopian migrants held in five different Malawi prisons (Maula, Dedza, Ntchisi, Chichire and Kachere) for immigration offenses. Most were young men, but one in six was an unaccompanied minor.

 The 387 migrants were charged with illegal entry, fined USD 35 and imprisoned from two to nine months. Due to limited reception and return capacity, they were incarcerated with common criminals and faced bad conditions in prison: overcrowded cells with limited or no sleeping space, minimal and irregular food, and poor health care.

 IOM, in collaboration with the Government of Malawi and Ethiopia, conducted nationality determination and issued travel documents.

 Earlier this year, IOM assisted the return of 164 of the most vulnerable cases, including post-arrival assistance funded by the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration (PRM).

 Every year thousands of Ethiopians risk their lives by paying large sums to smugglers to help them reach South Africa or Mozambique, where they hope to find jobs. En route, they enter Malawi through Tanzania.

 For further information, please contact Alemayehu Seifeselassie at IOM Ethiopia, Tel: +251.11. 6611117 (Ext. 455), Mobile: +251.91.163-9082, Email: salemayehu@iom.int