Illegal Ethiopian migrants who reportedly pay between USD1,200 and USD2,400 to human traffickers to ferry them into Tanzania are regularly abandoned in thick forests at the mercy of hunger, thirst and wild beasts.
Tanzanian police and immigration officers recently apprehended 48 such Ethiopians in Ubena forest in Bagamoyo district in acute condition of malnutrition and fatigue.
They had been deserted by agents who collected their monies to take them to their destination but failed to keep to their promise, leaving the immigrants to wander in the forest for more than two weeks, without food or water.
Mr Ndelema Mwakipesilealso, regional immigration officer, said that the immigrants were found in a really bad condition due to hunger, thirst and fatigue.
“When we rounded them up in the forest, we gave them glucose and food as they were very weak,” he said, adding that the immigrants were expected to appear in court next week.
Tanzanian sources in Arusha disclosed that on August 22 some 11 Ethiopian migrants were arrested hiding in the bush in Chalinze town and taken to Bagamoyo town near Dar es Salaam for treatment with one of them passing away, victim of malaria.
Abdul Ndaishimiye, a human trafficker arrested early in the year, said that he and his colleagues charge USD1,200-USD 2,400 as transport for each illegal migrant who sought their help across the Ethiopian-Tanzanian border.
Earlier on August 14 this year, 21 migrants had been arrested in Makambako town, southern Tanzania hidden inside a lorry supposedly carrying cement.
Much earlier in January this year, more than 150 migrants from Ethiopia had been arrested in Mbeya, Kilimanjaro and Mwanza.
Back in 2012, 43 migrants from Ethiopia were found dead in Dodoma and 83 found in critical conditions in Dodoma town due to suffocation and hunger.
Tanzania is one of the few African countries where Ethiopia does not have diplomatic representation.