Five Ethiopians hold hunger strike in police cell, demanding repatriation

Five Ethiopians have gone on hunger strike at Shauri Moyo’s police cell in Nairobi, demanding their repatriation.

The group was arrested in the region on August 19 for being in the country illegally.

They were brought before a judge and police were ordered to plan their repatriation.

Police say they are working with immigration officials to ensure the group is returned to their country.

On August 26 and 27, the group refused to eat their meals and announced they were going on hunger strike.

They demanded that they be returned to their country as soon as possible.

Police said they had asked immigration officials to organise the repatriation as they feared some foreigners would become weak in their cells.

Some had not eaten by August 28, officials said.

This is yet another tragedy involving the arrest of Ethiopians.

According to police, more than 100 Ethiopians are currently being held in separate cells after being arrested during transport.

Plans are being made to return them to their country after the group complained about poor conditions in the cells.

According to police, most foreigners from Ethiopia use the Moyale route and try their luck on their way to South Africa and the Middle East, unaware of the dangers that await them.

Dozens of the aliens are usually arrested at various locations in the country while they are waiting to be moved to their next destinations. Some of them come to Kenya in search of work.

Transnational organized crime officials conduct joint operations to tackle human trafficking.

It is a mystery how the immigrants manage to avoid the roadblocks set up by the police on their journey from Moyale to Nairobi.

There are more than 20 roadblocks on the route, further underscoring the severity of the approach taken by security officials.

As part of measures to tackle the threat, an Ethiopian national was sentenced last year to 31 years in prison for trafficking 12 people.