Forty-seven Ethiopians arrested for entering the country illegally while being smuggled to South Africa have staged a hunger strike at the Buruburu police station in Nairobi.
The aliens are demanding immediate repatriation after being arrested in Donholm on July 23.
They were rounded up in a house as they waited to be picked up and smuggled to Tanzania. They would later travel to South Africa via Mozambique.
Police say the group has on various occasions since July 30 refused to take meals prepared at a canteen, adding they have contacted immigration officials to repatriate them.
Police said most aliens from Ethiopia use the Moyale route and try their luck as they head to South Africa and the Middle East oblivious of the dangers ahead.
Tens of the aliens are usually arrested in various places in the country as they wait to be moved to their next destinations. A number of them come to Kenya to seek jobs.
Officials from the Transnational Organised Crime are conducting joint operations to deal with human smuggling.
What is puzzling is how the immigrants manage to evade the roadblocks mounted by police while travelling from Moyale to Nairobi.
There are more than 20 roadblocks on the stretch, which raises the seriousness of the security agents taming the practice.
As part of efforts to deal with the menace, an Ethiopian national was last year sentenced to 31 years in prison for trafficking 12 people.
