South Africa: Police Rescue Close to 100 Ethiopian Migrants

South African authorities have successfully rescued close to 100 Ethiopian migrants. Learn more about the circumstances surrounding their rescue.

A group of 90 Ethiopian migrants who were being unlawfully detained at a residence in Johannesburg have been saved by the South African police.

On Sunday, the police conducted a search at the premises for a reported kidnapping victim and stumbled upon migrants. On suspicion of human trafficking and kidnapping, two individuals were taken into custody. As per Monday’s announcement by law enforcement officials, they also managed to rescue the alleged kidnap victim successfully.

According to authorities, the Ethiopian migrants were unlawfully trafficked and confined in cramped quarters where they were forcibly detained.

The individuals were transported to a medical facility for treatment, and legal action will be taken against the two alleged perpetrators in front of a judge.

Concerns have been raised by various authorities, including Interpol, regarding the trafficking of Ethiopian migrants through multiple southern African countries with the ultimate goal of reaching South Africa. These migrants are frequently subject to dangerous conditions while being trafficked and detained.

At least 64 individuals from Ethiopia were discovered dead inside a cargo container in Mozambique during the year 2020. In Malawi, the corpses of thirty migrant Ethiopians were found buried together in a mass grave two years later. Simultaneously, twenty-seven males of Ethiopian nationality had been discarded and their lifeless cadavers unearthed within Zambia that same year.