Ethiopians arrested in Huruma police swoop

Ethiopian aliens appear before the Mombasa Chief Magistrate on February 18, 2015 where they were charged with being in the country illegally. (Photo: File/Standard)

Nairobi, Kenya: Sixteen Ethiopians were Thursday night arrested by police in Huruma Estate, Nairobi for being in the country illegally.

The men were all in a house near Madoya Primary School when police raided. They told police they were being smuggled to South Africa for greener pasture.

Starehe OCPD Bernard Nyakwaka said the aliens did not have valid visas to warrant their being in the house. He added the men would be taken to courts before they seek for conviction and deportation.

“We were informed the men had just arrived in the house before we checked and confirmed their immigration status which we know is illegal,” said Nyakwaka.

Such cases of smuggling of Ethiopians have been on the increase in the past months.

On February 23, more than 100 Ethiopians were arrested from a house in Tasia area, Nairobi for being in the country illegally.

The 101 men said they were headed for South Africa and had stopped at the house for refreshments when they were nabbed by officers from Special Crimes Prevention Unit.

Police say they had arrived earlier from Ethiopia in separate buses when an informer tipped them.

The men did not have travelling documents to show they were in the area legally.

Police say the men had been coming there in small groups.

The officers also arrested three Kenyans who were hosting the aliens. They appeared in court and the case is ongoing.

Police and immigration officials have decried increased cases in which Ethiopian are nabbed in the country while on transit to either Tanzania or South Africa.

Most of them are brought to the country by merchants at a fee. Police face difficulties in dealing with the aliens because they cannot speak in Swahili and English.

Cases of human smuggling have been on the rise in the region with hundreds of young men from Ethiopia finding their way into South Africa through Kenya in search of employment.

The majority of them cannot however communicate in English.

Early last year, 95 Ethiopians were arrested near the Kenya-Tanzania boarder at Namanga as they tried to cross to the neighbouring country.

The middle-aged men were in a lorry, which they had abandoned and tried walk on foot as they approached the border to enable them avoid being seen.

Twenty-six other Ethiopians were last January arrested in Mariakani inside a container on a truck as they were being transported.

In August 2011, 14 Ethiopians and two suspected human traffickers were arrested in Isiolo.

What puzzled police then was that the Ethiopians were all found in possession of Kenya national identity cards.

Police in Nairobi said they have instructed commanders in the field to ensure the aliens are stopped and returned to their country.