Sudan arrests 600 Ethiopian migrants near the border with Egypt and Libya

ESAT News (August 3, 2016)

Sudan says its militia has arrested 600 Ethiopian migrants near the border with Libya and Egypt as the Ethiopians were on the perilous journey to Europe.

“The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has arrested about 600 illegal Ethiopian migrants and thwarted several human trafficking operations near Sudan’s border with Egypt and Libya and at Al-Nakheel area in the Sahara desert,” Sudan Tribune quoted the commander of the force, Mohamed Hamdan as saying.

“The migrants have been handed over to the authorities in North Darfur as a prelude to repatriate them into their home country,” he said.

Sudan is a transit route to thousands of immigrants heading to Europe. Hundreds die each year trying to cross the Mediterranean high seas.

Ethiopians flee persecution, poverty, economic marginalization and harassment perpetrated by the government in their country.