By Kaleyesus Bekele

Human trafficking in Ethiopia has become a matter of grave concern to government authorities.

Zenebu Tadesse, State Minister of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, told The Reporter that illegal traffickers charge citizens looking for employment overseas to transport them through areas bordering Djibouti, Somaliland, Kenya, and Sudan. She added the traffickers also send citizens by air to Middle Eastern countries where they are subjected to harassment and exploitation for minimal wages. Zenebu indicated that a draft law on human trafficking has been drafted by the ministry.   

In his keynote address at a two-day conference this week which deliberated on illegal immigration at the UNECA Conference Hall, Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum Mesfin said development strategies had been put in place by the government to help curb poverty and backwardness, which are the main causes for illegal migration. According to Seyoum, the government had been striving to speed up development and reduce poverty with a view to preventing illegal migration.

Seyoum underscored that woreda and kebele executives, civic associations, religious institutions and other stakeholders, in particular the community at large, should work together to curb the problem.

“Illegal migration exposes citizens of developing countries to severe and complex problems.

Illegal traffickers reap a huge amount of income by trafficking humans from place to place while citizens are severely suffering.”

Seyoum said that human trafficking has a psychological and socio-economic impact on families, the community and the country.

The Head of EU Delegation to Ethiopia, Ambassador Dino Sinigallia, on his part said the lawful movement of people from place to place benefited both native and destination countries.

He added that the EU was working together with developing countries to prevent illegal migration and to encourage the legal movement of people.

Human trafficking generates up to USD 30 billion annually, which is next to drugs and weapons trafficking.

Representatives of pertinent federal and regional offices are in attendance at the conference.