ADDIS ABABA, July 28 (Xinhua) -- More than 3,600 Ethiopians have been deported from Saudi Arabia between July 3-27, after serving prison sentences for violating Saudi rules and regulations.
Speaking to Xinhua on Friday, Asmelash Gebrehiwot, senior official at Ethiopia's National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC), said the deportees are separate from the 70,000 Ethiopians that have returned to Ethiopia ahead of a Saudi amnesty deadline for undocumented migrants to leave.
"The Ethiopian deportees were in Saudi Arabia jails over offenses ranging from being caught without valid expatriate residency identification cards to being engaged in petty crimes," he added.
Gebrehiwot further said the Ethiopian government is working with the International Organization for Migration to provide shelter, transportation, clothes and pocket money for the deportees.
Saudi Arabia announced in March a three months amnesty program for undocumented foreign migrants to voluntarily leave the country before the amnesty's expiration in late June.
