Ethiopia has repatriated 1,708 nationals who had been living in difficult conditions in Saudi Arabia, arriving home over the past week via eight flights, according to the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs.
The returnees include 773 men, 677 women, and 76 infants, the ministry said, with 163 minors under the age of 18 among the group. The government described the operation as part of what it calls a citizen-first diplomatic approach — its own term for an approach it says involves protecting Ethiopians abroad, facilitating their return, and supporting reintegration at home. That characterization comes from the government's own statement and has not been independently verified in the source material available for this report.
The latest arrivals bring the total number of Ethiopians repatriated since the current return process began on September 15, 2025, to more than 92,000. That figure underscores the scale of an effort that has continued, largely out of international headlines, for nearly a year.
Ethiopia has sent labor migrants to Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf for decades, drawn by demand for domestic and construction work and, for many families, the prospect of remittances that can support several relatives at once. That longer pattern of migration is the backdrop against which this repatriation effort is unfolding, though the specifics of prior repatriation waves, and the conditions that have historically driven them, are not detailed in the government's account of this operation.
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The Ministry of Women and Social Affairs said it is providing returnees with assistance and care at airports and temporary accommodation centers upon arrival, while also working to reunite families. The ministry said this support extends to migrants who return after traveling through irregular routes to other countries, not only those coming from Saudi Arabia. Officials also said the government intends to intensify public awareness campaigns on the dangers of trafficking and to promote what it called safe migration, though the ministry's statement, as reported, did not specify new funding or programming tied to that pledge.
The government's statement described the 1,708 returnees only in general terms as having lived in difficult conditions in Saudi Arabia. It did not detail the specific circumstances they faced, and no returnee testimony was included in the account provided. Reintegration after return — securing income, resolving migration-related debts, finding work in the domestic labor market — is a process that typically unfolds over months rather than at the point of arrival, though this report has no independent data on how the current cohort of returnees is faring beyond the airport-reception and accommodation measures the ministry says it is providing.
No named officials or returnees were quoted in the government's statement on this operation, and only one source — Fana Broadcasting Corporate, reporting figures attributed to the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs — was available for this report. The cumulative repatriation figure of more than 92,000 since September 2025 has not been independently corroborated beyond that reporting.