Some 1,000 Ethiopian nationals kept in various detention centers in Saudi Arabia are to be released following an agreement between Ethiopia and the Gulf state.
Local media in Ethiopia said on Saturday that the prisoners were held for a variety of offences but would now be released after a request was made by the current Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed.
Abiy Ahmed this week paid an official visit to Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and used that moment to make the request. According to Fana Broadcasting Corporation, the Ethiopian media, the prisoners include 100 women.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia officials have started deporting hundreds of illegal Ethiopian migrants in that country with 160,000 so far deported.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed since coming into office this year has tried to restore order to his country where clashes have displaced nearly a million people.
Violence along the border of Somalia and Oromiya provinces have led to unrest and repeated violent demonstrations since 2015, with protesters calling for political and economic reform, and an end to state corruption.
Source: Africafeeds.com
