| Govt faces dilemma over Ethiopia citizens | Send to a friend |
| Thursday, 04 August 2011 00:10 |
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The Citizen Correspondent Mtwara. Absence of an Ethiopian embassy in Tanzania makes it difficult to implement President Jakaya Kikwete’s directive to repatriate more than 700 illegal immigrants currently hosted in the southern regions.Visiting Mtwara last week, the President ordered the Immigration office to immediately send back to their countries more than 700 immigrants hosted in Mtwara and Lindi regions. He issued the order after being told by the Mtwara Region Commissioner, Mr Anatoli Tarimo, that in the last two months immigration officers in the region arrested more than 700 illegal immigrants from Ethiopia. Among them 300 were accommodated in the Lindi regional prison, he said. But speaking to The Citizen in his office yesterday, the acting Mtwara regional immigration officer, Mr Hamidu Mkambala, said absence of an Ethiopian Embassy was a barrier to implement the President’s directive. “Yes, the President issued the order, but how can we send them to their country if it has not recognised its people and issued passports to them…through Ministry of Home Affairs, we corresponded with the Kenya high commission to no avail. For, if we send them to Ethiopia that country will not accept them and that will be another problem for us,” lamented Mr Mkambala, He said although the the country was getting a loss in servicing them, there was no way of solving the problem. In his order President Kikwete said the immigrants should be repatriated to their home country even if they did not have passports and their country did not recognise them, to avoid costs of keeping them in Tanzania. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
