From Business Standard

The Ethiopian government is repatriating its citizens living in Saudi Arabia illegally, after reports that an Ethiopian was killed by Saudi police, officials said today.

Last April, the Saudi government issued an amnesty period giving illegal immigrants seven months to gain legal status or leave the country.

“The ones who failed are the ones who are being repatriated,” the spokesman for the Ethiopian foreign ministry, Dina Mufti, told AFP.

Every year, large numbers of Ethiopians leave their country looking for work. Most are females moving to the Middle East seeking domestic work.

Last year, 200,000 women left Ethiopia seeking jobs, according to Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Dina said there were unconfirmed reports that an Ethiopian had been killed this week by Saudi police who were shifting illegal immigrants into camps.

“They were trying to get them in the camp before repatriation and in that process… An Ethiopian has been killed with a police bullet, but we are verifying it,” Dina said.

He could not say how many illegal immigrants are in Saudi Arabia, and did not say when they would be brought home, only that it would be “as soon as possible.”

Read more at Business Standard.