Tanzanian authorities are threatening to deport hundreds of Ethiopian migrants who have entered the country illegally while trying to get to South Africa. The Home Affairs Ministry says the Government has launched a special operation to arrest and prosecute any illegal workers it finds.
This is the latest move from the new Government in Tanzania that is keen on making a big impact in its first 100 days in office.
The authorities have launched this special operation to deport illegal migrants, and they are particularly targeting Ethiopians because it is believed that the East African country remains a transit route for smugglers to ferry Ethiopians and Somalians to both South Africa and Europe.
They’re often kept in safe houses, and driven around in trucks, and now police are going about making house-to-house searches.
Last month, they detained more than 40 Ethiopians who had been abandoned by their agent. And a few weeks ago 80 were found in the back of a lorry, in a very bad condition.
It is of course not just illegal, but dangerous for those migrants involved. In 2012, 40 died after they suffocated in the back of a truck.
But Tanzania has a big job on its hands, because there is a drought in Ethiopia – and more and more people, are trying to leave.
