TRAFFICKERS USE WORLD CUP TO LURE MIGRANTS
Mar 17th, 2010 by admin
Human traffickers in Ethiopia have been using the upcoming football World Cup in South Africa to attract people into smuggling systems, according to the Ethiopian government. IRIN News reported on Tuesday that the State Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, Zenebu Tadesse, claimed smugglers are using the notion that the World Cup had created employment opportunities in South Africa to deceive Ethiopians into being trafficked. The government estimates that up to 25,000 Ethiopians are trafficked to various countries annually. Tadesse vowed to tackle the problem and said that 2,000 Ethiopians have already been repatriated from Tanzania, Yemen, Libya and other Gulf countries. The International Organization for Migration estimates the smuggling business in Ethiopia and Somalia is worth up to 40 million US dollars a year.
